tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9560953.post2002593163028374942..comments2023-12-31T19:34:14.853-05:00Comments on Dymaxion World: Zhao livesjohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690430991814528863noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9560953.post-50488246115248033762007-03-13T23:05:00.000-04:002007-03-13T23:05:00.000-04:00In fact, a lot of people said exactly that -- incl...In fact, a lot of people said exactly that -- including, amusingly enough, my Chinese politics professor. He had the misfortune of putting it in writing... a decade ago. Haw.<BR/><BR/>I agree that people tend to under-estimate the capacity of the CPC to adapt. That said, I think having an elected leader of a major city would be quantitatively different. The Shanghai Commune -- like the Cultural Revolution generally -- was tightly controlled by Mao, so "independent" is a bit of a misnomer. Independent of the party itself, maybe...johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09690430991814528863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9560953.post-67584588163150982712007-03-13T20:43:00.000-04:002007-03-13T20:43:00.000-04:00"I have a hard time believing that these kinds of ..."I have a hard time believing that these kinds of reforms can be started and stopped to the liking of high officials."<BR/><BR/>But hasn't Chinese history over the last half century basically involved pushing just this sort of radical reform, and then crushing dissent when it gets out of hand? Which is not to say that it couldn't bring down the country, but I bet an awful lot of people would have said that the CPC couldn't survive introducing price-deregulation, labor "reform", and private enterprise.<BR/><BR/>I agree with you that there probably couldn't be a stable situation with elected leaders in charge of major cities, though there was a Shanghai Commune running Shanghai independently from the CPC during the Cultural Revolution, wasn't there?<BR/><BR/>-Sam L.Oberlinbloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12265700065987283596noreply@blogger.com