China At 60

by Dick Mac

How did it happen that China, which was once held-up as a paragon of savage Communism is today a shining example of savage Capitalism?

China has never done anything half-way: dictators, mass production, architecture, military development, Kewpie doll manufacturing, poisoned baby food; everything they do, they do all the way.

And although China has changed, it has remained so-much the same.

Let's compare the two patriotic photographs included in this article: Above there is the image of young women revolutionary soldiers and officers. A nearly lovely image that you would not have seen in print prior to Mao's death in 1976. To the right, the standard portrait of the great and glorious Mao, first Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, first President of China, first Chairman of the Central Military Commission, first Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and general first guy of modern China.

These pictures are quite a contrast for me: the first bordering on sexy while the second represents the staid imagery and repressive sensibility of 20th Century Communism. The new China is much more visually interesting than the old.

Is China going sexy on us? Will China be able to produce sex as a commodity as effectively as they have other commodities? Will there be tainted porn? Tainted fashion?

What can we expect from China in the next sixty years? Will there be any real change at the social level. or will socialization just become a commodity as it is in the United States? Will there be another Cultural Revolution that includes fashion from Top Design television shows and music by Hannah Montana? Will women fare better in a new China than they have in Western Civilization or the old China?

I look forward to seeing it all.

Happy Birthday, China!

Remember this wisdom that I am attributing to Chairman Mao: a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.