It's all just a little bit of history repeating...

``The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilization. The cheap prices of its commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls ... in one word, it creates a world after its own image.``

- The Communist Manifesto (Friedrich & Engels) 1848

We're entering a world, it seems, where China is in all but liberty, the new great embodiment of a national capitolist dream. The world's biggest country (by population) struts about the global free market with a steadily urbanizing economy, jettisoning its reliance on agriculture in favour of centralized industrial labour. China is, in fact, the most significant industrial revolution in living memory.

But the hypocricy of using the words `industrial`, `centralized` and `urbanizing` for a communist state seems to somewhat detatch from the nature of arms based egalitarianism on which Chariman Mao first founded the republic.

The truth is that the course of capitolism is so permiated by human nature one nation cannot help but be seduced by it. One nation's rocks are another one's jewellery; and to recipricate their own labour costs are the diamond wearer's year-on-year performance growth margins in the manufacturing sector.

Mutual trans-national exploitation is a worthy substitute for war.

This is the situation China has reached now. Gone are the days when cheap manufacturing kept our bourgeoisie in Jaguars and the People's Republic's people in leaky shanties. China has reaced an economic critical mass - the fine line is being toed where their labour force can unionise like the Western industrial revolutions that preceeded it - demand better healthcare, a vote and ultimately a stake in the businesses that run them - or at least the freedom to start their own enterprises without the legal obligation to nationalise 50% of their business. The alternative outcome to the critical mass is China keeps its work force subdued and Stalin's dream of the proleteriat's ambivolence to ambition will be acheived.

In this just as likely instance, China will not cease its growth, will continue to outsource its lesser industries to poorer African states and use its economic and sheer geographic might to envelop the West. And the West, crippled by the laws that protect workers, will be powerless to stop Hu Jintao's empire.



The irony is that in this doomsday scenario, it will be the West's indolent overunionised industrial-reactionists that caused their own demise because they didn't bank on another nation growing their industries in the areas in which they put up roadblocks. And that is history full circle from the time when imperial China became the PRC.