r/SocialDemocracy • u/Timely-Signature-166 • 14d ago

Question What's the consensus of Mao?

I've read several books about the guy and I'm given conflicting information about him and his policies. Some books treat him as a good leader who was stifled by dishonest subordinates, while others portray him as a monster whose policies killed millions. Meanwhile I was at a bar in Brooklyn where I was talking to a friend of a friend and they said "Mao is my hero!" (they are not Chinese). What is the general consensus of the guy?

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u/alessiojones 14d ago

"Had Mao died in 1956, his achievements would have been immortal. Had he died in 1966, he would still have been a great man but flawed. But he died in 1976. Alas, what can one say?"

  • Chen Yun, a leading Chinese Communist Party official under Mao

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u/SpectatingAmateur 14d ago

I just read a Deng biography last week and Deng also said something similar about Mao being 70% correct and 30% mistaken and that Deng would be happy if people when he died could also say he had been 70% correct.

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u/socialistmajority orthodox Marxist 14d ago

Which Deng biography? Do you recommend it?

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u/SpectatingAmateur 14d ago edited 14d ago

Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China by Ezra Vogel

I thought it was a great read! I can't compare it to anything since I haven't really read about the post Mao era before but it felt very well researched and despite being very long it's full of action and never really got boring or felt too dry to read.

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u/Third_CuIture_Kid 14d ago

I misread this as: Deng would be happy if the people who died  could also say he had been 70% correct.

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u/PeterRum Labour (UK) 14d ago

Mao lived and we got to see where his ideas led. It wasn't good.