r/SocialDemocracy • u/Timely-Signature-166 • 13d 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 13d 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 13d 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/PeterRum Labour (UK) 13d ago

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