THE NEW FACE(S) OF COMMUNISM

One of the reasons The Economist remains my favorite news magazine is that it is unafraid to show its sense of humor. This week's cover is a demonstration of that. As it is not the cover story in US and European editions, I'll reproduce a section of it here:

Hu done it

The inner content is, as always, also decent. From the leader (not premium content):

It has frequently proved tempting to see Mr Hu as a Chinese Gorbachev, though the evidence for this has always been tenuous (see article - subscription required) . True, when he ran the Communist Party School, it pondered the possibility of limited democratic reform; but that school's job has always been to think radically, in a theoretical way at least. In the past two years, Mr Hu has proved disappointing as a reformist. China has crushed Hong Kong's hopes for democratic change, cracked down on contentious discussion on the internet, and shown little enthusiasm for allowing proper elections even to party posts, let alone national ones. There has been a bit more openness, particularly in the way the government admitted to its failings in handling the SARS respiratory disease, though even that was a position forced upon it, and has not been sustained. The overall record is poor. How far was this a result of Mr Jiang constraining Mr Hu? With Mr Hu secure in his position, might things start to change? All that can confidently be said is that if Mr Hu is indeed a reformist, he can now start to show it.

But enough about those old-school communists and their opaque politburo decision making. As the Economist notes, real political change may have to wait while. Perhaps a generation or two.

On that count, there may be reasons to be optimistic. Capitalism has found its way into the classrooms of the Communist Youth League.

This is the new face of communism:

Comrade Mickey

Material produced by Disney will now become part of the syllabus for China's Communist Youth League.

Forty-five years ago, during the Maoist era, Chinese people were ordered to kill
rats as part of a hygiene campaign.
This week, Walt Disney Co. announced it had entered into a partnership with China's Communist Youth League to promote Mi Laoshu, or Mickey Mouse, whose Chinese name means rat as well as mouse.
The California-based entertainment giant is organizing "outreach programs" through the Youth Palaces run by the Communist Youth League to teach Chinese children about the travails of Daffy Duck and Goofy, how to draw Mickey, and the many other delights of North American consumerism.

I'm sure some people will be upset about Disney aligning itself so openly with a party that has been responsible for the Great Leap Forward, Tiananmen massacre, use of political prisoners for forced labor and other nasty things. But I'm not one of those.

Disney has long had a tendency of softening-up commercially unpalatable stories - take for example the cheerful endings added to Hugo's Hunchback and Hawthorne's Scarlett Letter. So, if this new alliance with the Communist Youth League goes far enough, I think we could see the editing of some of the more reactionary elements of Maoism.

KFC recently decided that it would be better for business if the Colonel was reinvented as a cartoon. I can't see any reason that that could not be done for the Chairman. They already have a perfect jingle.

Who's the chairman of the club that's made for you and me?
M-A-O, T-S-E, T-U-N-G
Mao Tse-tung, Mao Tse-tung
Forever will we waye our red books high!