[yongjik]

I'm no fan of communism but that's a reductive take. China of today is communist in name only, but it's still very centrally managed, and that didn't stop China from becoming a global economic superpower. One could say something similar for Japan of the early 20th century, or, to a lesser extent, South Korea in the 60s when the economy was very much centrally planned under a dictator.

[victorbojica]

I'd call that luck. Wait until a bad or stupid actor gets to power. This is the main problem with communism. It all depends on one single person and how they are.

[gruez]

>I'd call that luck. Wait until a bad or stupid actor gets to power.

See: their zero covid policy. Great at first, but the stuck dogmatically to it even after omicron, which led to massive deaths.

[yongjik]

I'll grant that communism makes it easy for a single person to have all the power, but "one single person in power can ruin everything" is not exactly unique to communism, and I am unconvinced that it explains why communist nations tend to stay poor.

[victorbojica]

Happens everywhere, but the way power in communism works makes bad stuff happen many times faster. In democracy there is a long time until a bad actor can do real damage. There are policies and various mechanisms that prevent that(to a point). Even bureaucracy works to some extent.