In the accompanying TIME Magazine article from the September 27,

2021 issue, the author writes about China's "common prosperity"

policy. (Image Attached)

Based on the article, discuss which "ism" China appears

to be currently practicing. Your answer should be supported with

how the three questions of scarcity are being

answered and any other learned attributes of that "ism".

TheBrief Postcard no denying that some of the biggest socioeconomic changes since reformist leader Deng Xiaoping unleashed market forces in 1985-with the now infamous words, "let some people get rich first"- are under way. Many forget that Deng went on to say that those who did "get rich" would be expected to pay it forward. His suc- cessors look poised to make good on that bargain; rumors are swirling that Beijing may bring in property, inheri- tance and capital-gains taxes to level the playing field in a society where the top 1% now control 31% of wealth. HAVING ALREADY DECLARED absolute poverty in China eradicated, Xi in July reaffirmed the goal of building "a mod- ern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious" by 2049, the cente- nary of the People's Republic. Of course, "democratic" means dif- ferent things in China than in the West, What's behind China's but there's little doubt that the goal of common prosperity' slogan a "socialist country" is more important to Xi than it was to his immediate pre- By Charlie Campbell/Shanghai decessors. "Xi doesn't want to be seen as someone who's in league with these IN A SIGN OF HOW FAR ITS LEADERS HAVE DRIFTED FROM giant tech companies and billionaires, their revolutionary roots, the biggest shock currently grip- so he's cracking down," explains Moser. ping China is that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 'It's a populist move, so ordinary people might be socialist after all. That's because the mantra "com- feel the CCP is on their side." mon prosperity," first introduced by Mao Zedong, has been Unsurprisingly, China's wealthi- taken up by current strongman President Xi Jinping. est have been throwing money at the Xi used the term 15 times while addressing top officials Pedestrians in problem, pouring billions into chari- on Aug. 17, declaring common prosperity "a key feature of Shanghai watch a table foundations as a gesture of ap- Chinese-style modernization." Official media says the goal is live broadcast of peasement. Jack Ma's e-commerce to build a fairer China by reducing income inequality. Nobody President Xi Jinping giant Alibaba has pledged 100 billion doubts that the CCP also wants to use the campaign to reas- speaking at a CCP yuan ($15.5 billion) to fund common- sert authority over China's digital highfliers. ceremony on July 1 prosperity initiatives through 2025. "Billionaires and tech companies are very risky to the CCP That came after an earlier pledge of because they are seen as an alternative form of social and po- 100 billion yuan from Tencent, and litical power," says David Moser, an associate professor at Bei- 10 billion yuan from bosses at tech gi- jing Capital Normal University. ants Pinduoduo, Xiaomi and Meituan, All this makes the markets nervous. Up to $1 trillion has for various social projects. And many of been wiped off the valuation of Chinese firms since February, the country's most famous tycoons have after regulators began targeting electronic-payment quietly stepped back from boardroom providers, real estate developers, private tuition companies positions in recent weeks to take roles (a $120 billion industry in education-hungry China) and the with a social focus. ByteDance's Zhang gaming sector. The latter generated $44 billion in earnings Yiming, JD.com's Richard Liu and Pin- last year; it is now reeling from directives banning children duoduo's Colin Huang have, like Ma be- from playing more than three hours of online games a week. fore them, backed out of the limelight. The party-run People's Daily ran an editorial on Sept. 8, "The fact of the matter is that these saying the moves are not designed to hurt businesses, not people are excessively rich," says Moser, long after a senior CCP official said that common prosperity "and donating a little bit of that money does not mean "killing the rich to help the poor." But there's is not going to hurt them." 20 TIME September 27/October 4, 2021