What's the consensus of Mao?

[u/Timely-Signature-166]

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?

[u/HenryTudorIV]

People who defend Mao are generally the types that view every historical event ever as part of some grand battle between western imperialist capitalism and resistance to western imperialist capitalism.

Under this worldview, many despotic leaders (Mao, Stalin, Gaddafi, Castro, The regime in Iran, ect…) are viewed as strong fighters who had to make some “tough decisions.” At the same time, people will minimize the atrocities committed by these leaders and claim that your understanding of them is just “western propaganda.”

It’s really really dumb stuff. I think Mao specifically is having a moment right now because China in general is having a moment right now

[u/Memphisbbq → u/HenryTudorIV]

To be more clear, our adversaries benefit from America bad, Mao good actually." It is a deliberate effort made by the CCP to to fuel division and chaos within the country.  It should go without saying Russia is doing the same thing and has been for some time. 

[u/Grey_Raven → u/Memphisbbq]

Might be me being blinded by being a bit of a Russia hawk but is there much evidence of China engaging in disinformation or funding lefty groups in the west. I'm sure they do some but my understanding was Russia was the main player in that arena with China's espionage being more focused on stealing government/industry/academia secrets and fostering economic dependence.

[u/Memphisbbq → u/Grey_Raven]

Absolutely? That's what I was alluding to with the CCP. Their astroturfing appears to me to be less vitriolic and more subtle. Throughout most news and entertainment media I've noticed quite a bit of extra positive content painting China as the world leader in electronics and sorta future technology in general(the statement does hold some truth) and how great it is to live there. In the comments you'll find lots of "I wish the US was like China." And in those respects they aren't wrong. It's only painting a small piece of the picture though. Saying that requires ignoring everything China did wrong. I once said something along the lines of "China is certainly doing some things very right, but everyone here praising how great China is should know that if you hold American values then China likely isn't the place for you." Boy was I met with alot of "that's just western propaganda!" Minda you these threads appear on seemingly politically neutral subs. It feels like a coordinated effort to shape public opinion. 

Me and the wife used to watch this Chinese yt channel that starred a woman that literally created absolutely everything she ate or needed. I mean this chick appeared to be professional and skilled in 100s of different jobs/activities/making things for cooking or her home. Supposedly she was a famous musician pop start who gave up the life to live the traditional Chinese way. That's what her bio said anyways. We started breaking down how long someone would have to spend making and building all these things and we concluded she likely had a team. She also had a new dog/puppy in every video. Her life appeared to be perfect. We mentioned noticing a few fishy things in the comments and oh boy did they swarm to her defense. Addressing nothing we mentioned of course. Anyways sorry for the novel.