Raymond Lotta Responds to Ridiculous and Harmful New York Times Article Linking Donald Trump and Mao Zedong
April 6, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
On April 4, the New York Times featured an article by Chris Buckley entitled “Maoists for Trump? In China, Fans Admire His Nationalist Views.” The article details the views of some self-described “Maoists” in China, apparently in and outside the Communist Party of China, who see in the fascist Donald Trump a voice of neglected working people and the poor—and whose ultra-chauvinism is a model for an aggressive “China first” nationalism. Who exactly these “Maoists” are, and how accurate the article’s characterizations, I cannot say—but some basic truths need to be set forth! On April 5, I sent the letter below to the New York Times.
For deeper analysis of Mao and the historical experience and lessons of the Chinese revolution, see Bob Avakian, The Cultural Revolution in China...Art and Culture... Dissent and Ferment...and Carrying Forward the Revolution Toward Communism, and the e-book/interview with me on the history of communist revolution in the 20th century—available at thisiscommunism.org.
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TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
The “Maoists for Trump” profiled in Chris Buckley’s April 4 article have as much in common with what Mao actually stood for as China today has with socialism and communism—which is to say, nothing. The principal point of Mao’s life was to free humanity from the yoke of capitalism-imperialism, the system Trump embodies.
Mao launched the Cultural Revolution precisely to prevent a neo-capitalist elite within the Chinese Communist Party from seizing power and dragging China down the road of capitalism. These “capitalist roaders” won after Mao died in 1976—turning China into a society of savage exploitation, social inequality, and environmental pillage.
Mao may have had a secondary aspect of nationalism. But overall he fought to carry socialist revolution forward and advance world revolution—not to make China an equally oppressive, prideful plunderer of the planet. Mao and Trump are polar opposites. To try to link the two by showcasing some in China who falsely claim Mao’s mantle for their nationalist chauvinism would be a cruel joke were it not for the long-standing distortion by the mainstream media, the New York Times included, of Mao and the history of the Chinese revolution.
RAYMOND LOTTA
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