Chairman Mao - Another Stalin?? Any thoughts?

Question

I'm living in China, but don't get chance to speak to many Westerners about Chairman Mao Zedong. I'd be interested to hear your opinions on his actions and influence.

Thank you.

By the way - I AM living in China - their censorship is not that powerful. Only certain things are flagged. The three T's for example are impossible to google so I won't risk typing them here. Actually, people know the truth about Mao, but they seem to repect him still. It's fascinating really.

Answer 1

He began as a great guerrilla leader and rallier and motivator of the people.

He became pig-headed, obstinate and corrupt. His policies such as The Great Leap Forward and The Cultural Revolution were disastrous and caused millions of deaths, mostly by starvation.

Did you know about the sparrow-killing episode? He saw sparrows eating "the people's grain" and decreed that they were to be exterminated. For two weeks all other activity in China stopped while everyone went into the streets and fields day and night, banging drums and blowing whistles to scare the birds so that they kept flying until they dropped dead of exhaustion. They collected the dead birds by the truckload and for a short time there was plenty of sparrow meat. The following year there were no sparrows to eat the insects that fed on the growing rice and wheat and there was a huge crop failure; millions starved to death.

Answer 2

He killed just as many people as Stalin, and his propaganda tool was also as powerful as Stalin. He purged many of his oppoents through the culture revolution like Stalin did with his purges. The only difference is that Mao had absolutely ZERO idea how to run a country, and Stalin actually was successful in bringing Russia to a superpower. All Mao did was liberate China, aftert that, he did absolutely nothing except run this country to the ground. If it werent for Deng XiaoPeng and his economic reform policies, China would still be living under that Maoist idiotic idea of closed door economy and no private ownership.

Answer 3

There are a lot of similarity between Chairman Mao and Stalin as far as bringing death to their own countryman, setting their country back economically for decades. Chairman Mao looked up to Russia as their big brother for a long, long time. They are in the same league causing human misery, but both command esteem from other communist countries around the world. These are facts that speak for themselves. My opinion based on these facts are pure disgust. There is nothing either one did that justified the death and misery of tens of millions of people.

Answer 4

Mao encouraged young kids to bully and kill teachers etc so god knows what psychological damage he did to those that now rule.
If Mao were alive today there'd be another revolution because China has gone back in time and every day it goes another few years further. Rich richer and the poor poorer. Good luck with the people's revolution to come.

Answer 5

I do not know specific acts of him but he must be a very strong personality. Stalin was one to, even if many people stand against his beliefs, me among them, this does not mean he was not a great man that is why people in China still respect Mao. Though i belive his beliefs are different that Stalin's. Actually the Chinese model tends, at least tends, to become capitalistic.

Answer 6

Wow. You live in a horribly polluted country that's a corrupt dictatorship under communism, initially led by Mao.

Same thing happened to my parent's country, which is Vietnam. Ok, Mao. Not a nice man. Quite the opposite. 1945. Communism. China. He's evil, and bribing The Dalai Lama 14th to claim Tibet isn't going to work either.

That's what I think of Mao Zedong. Maybe thrill yourself with John Lennon's song 'Revolution'.

Answer 7

If you were really living in China you could be thrown into prison for posting that question. Nevertheless, The communist government of China honors Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin as founders of communism. Their portraits were everywhere in China under Mao (I have the pictures ;). Communism doesn't have a nationality, just a party. It's atypical of them.

Answer 8

I'd compare Dawkins to the story of the the Frog in the boiling pot. If the water in the pot gets gradually hot the frog just sits there and dies. Stalin and Mao were like the frog going from cold to boiling all at once and thus it jump out of the pot.

Answer 9

There is no difference between Mao and Stalin.Both of them surived suppressing personal freedom of the people.Mao was a more popular dictator.

Answer 10

Mao is a great man, without Mao, more chinese people will die, thoug he had some fault , as you say i know the truth about Mao, but i respect him still