[Analemma_]

If nothing else, we should be thanking China for exposing the bullshit "end of history" promises of neoliberalism and globalization: namely, that more free trade and laissez-faire capitalism will automatically lead to democracy spreading everywhere.

Actually, no: companies are pure amoral profit-seekers, and so if the most important market in the world demands these companies fall in line, then they do, freedom and Western values be damned. Womp womp.

[phs318u]

In fact China proves that capitalism (of a "curated" kind), can be successfully decoupled from Western values. And capitalism has proven that Communism (of the CCP kind), cares more about authority over it's citizens than the democratic engagement of it's citizens (and by this, I'm implying that the bread-and-circuses of capitalism can be used as a lever to stifle dissent, through sufficient satisfaction of materialistic desires).