My kind of Chinaman! It's very strange and unfamiliar to many Westerners to be able to reconcile with Communism. I suspect it takes many years of living within the culture and meeting what is a wide variety of people who display many different perspectives. Indeed, one has to go *way* back to understand that these are really only labels and the *true* Communists are a lot more democratic than you might think. It was the fear induced by more modern Communists that changed the understanding of present-day China and Communism...and the same ones that held back China's progress, and still do, even today...they are not the 'old-school' - but those who ruled with questionable intent and the 'Neo-Maoists', like Xi JinPing. This guy has a lot of attitude. Much of it has come as a result of influence by the Neo-Maoists and years of experience living under more modern Chinese rule, not to mention, a great deal of suffering for being so outspoken. Nevertheless, he does know what he is talking about - and he is fearless! I can respect that... ^_^ Ultimately, I don't place these labels on my own ideology. I consider labels - democracy, communism, republican, democrat, liberal, etc. - to be constraining and that none of them allow for a truly fluid, all-encompassing description of any personal perspective unless used to describe people who choose their perspectives based strictly on the definition of these labels, which I consider to be a bit lazy and unenlightened. 'Progressive' seems to be the only label that has room for flexibility and dynamic definition, which is a clear necessity when living in a dynamic world. I think this brief interview with a very wise, accomplished, old man can be educational for many who may not quite understand the 'old-school' philosophies.

My kind of Chinaman! It's very strange and unfamiliar to many Westerners to be able to reconcile with Communism. I suspect it takes many years of living within the culture and meeting what is a wide variety of people who display many different perspectives. Indeed, one has to go *way* back to understand that these are really only labels and the *true* Communists are a lot more democratic than you might think. It was the fear induced by more modern Communists that changed the understanding of present-day China and Communism...and the same ones that held back China's progress, and still do, even today...they are not the 'old-school' - but those who ruled with questionable intent and the 'Neo-Maoists', like Xi JinPing. This guy has a lot of attitude. Much of it has come as a result of influence by the Neo-Maoists and years of experience living under more modern Chinese rule, not to mention, a great deal of suffering for being so outspoken. Nevertheless, he does know what he is talking about - and he is fearless! I can respect that... ^_^ Ultimately, I don't place these labels on my own ideology. I consider labels - democracy, communism, republican, democrat, liberal, etc. - to be constraining and that none of them allow for a truly fluid, all-encompassing description of any personal perspective unless used to describe people who choose their perspectives based strictly on the definition of these labels, which I consider to be a bit lazy and unenlightened. 'Progressive' seems to be the only label that has room for flexibility and dynamic definition, which is a clear necessity when living in a dynamic world. I think this brief interview with a very wise, accomplished, old man can be educational for many who may not quite understand the 'old-school' philosophies. - The extraordinary story of Li Rui: Chinese Communist, journalist, exiled, jailed, freed, then shunned.