Capitalism, according to Dictionary.com, is “an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.” Communism, according to Dictionary.com, is “a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state” or “a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.” These are basically two different systems. Capitalism is specifically against state owned things that make money, like a business. Communism is all for that, all economic activity is run by the state. Capitalism is basically freedom, and communism is basically slavery, so how can China be both?

China is both capitalist and communist, but it is starting to become less communist, in turn becoming more capitalist. There are a lot more privately owned businesses in China than there used to be. There still are state owned businesses, and they are very strict, as I found out reading the last article. China’s economy has boomed ever since it became more capitalist, which is probably why they have kept it like that and why it seems to be ever more growing. But is there still communism?

      Communism is still very evident in China, mainly the fact that the government still controls a lot of things, maybe not businesses, but they control people’s lives. Look at the 2008 Olympics; the Chinese had the best opening ceremony, in many people’s opinions. The reason why it was so good was because the government sent in the army to run everything and train the people. Also using subliminal messages the government can control what younger people, like kids, think, buy, and do. The government also controls how many children you have. I have heard that scouts for their Olympic team go around and see if young kids have the talent in any sports. If they do they take them away from their parents and family and train them for years.

Mainly China is communist in everything except their economy, probably because they are making more money with a capitalist economy. So how can they be both? Well it is easy, I’ll combine the two definitions of the words, to make what I call Communist-Capitalism: An economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations and is also a system of social organization in which all social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.