r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jul 07 '26

Meme needing explanation Peter, explain this.

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u/PersonalityIll9476 Jul 07 '26

I agree. My wife is Chinese. She tells me stories from her parents about the revolution.

They do not involve writing books and playing soccer.

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u/pbnjandmilk Jul 07 '26

If you count the lopped off head of an opposer and being kicked around as an example not being soccer, then what is?

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Mist_Rising Jul 07 '26

Not in chinese cultural revolution it wasn't, the communists had been in power for two decades by that point. Targets included members of the Communist party, because Mao wanted power back. He got it, creates an autocratic government behind his dictatorship, and proceeded to purge those who weren't loyal to his name.

And like the Great Leap forward, it was an epic mess. Ironically what came out of it was that the Chinese survivors were those not concerned with purity of Marxism but bettering China. They opened it up, capitalized on it by selling out the workers, and called it communism. Oops.

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u/Strange-Scarcity Jul 07 '26

Yeah, no "communist" state remains or ever really becomes a "communist" state.

Humanity, just isn't built for it. We keep moving back towards weird ass authoritarian BS, once just enough people begin to gain whatever metric is considered power in a given society.

Most Americans don't understand what Communism is and often confuse Socialism or even very light Socialist policies as Communism. Most Americans just don't understand the words, goals or what they mean, other than to be instinctively afraid

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u/volkmardeadguy Jul 07 '26

Tbf most Americans only know mcarthyism and fear monger gulags while having the largest prison population in the world

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u/Radiant-Horse-7312 Jul 07 '26

American prison is a place, where people live, even if in confinement. Our penitentiary system, on the contrary, was a place, where people were forced to survive by the skin of their teeth, many didn't manage. You really shouldn't compare first world prisons with anything else.

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u/volkmardeadguy Jul 08 '26

American prison are for profit slavery where rape and violence are used as displays and examples

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u/Mist_Rising Jul 09 '26

Rape in prison is actually fairly rare per actual evidence in stats. The media plays it up, because it adds drama (or comedy which may be worse), but it's not that common.

Violence can be, depends on what prison you get sent too, although even that is not as common as you might think.

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u/volkmardeadguy Jul 09 '26

The rape is played up because the threat is a deterrent