It's all as foreign to me as medieval peasants and nobles so I don't know how it works from day to day. The fact that China now has billionaires, and billionaires spoiled kids doing donuts in supercars also confused me.
The government/party says a new farm will be created here, the order goes out.
It is all controlled from the top (communist party) through the regional council, through the local council (often a few councils inbetween). After the farm is established, a few inspections by party officials and it's all set up and operating.
This created the perfect opportunity to fudge reports like there's no tomorrow and essentially the party had no idea what is actually going on.
Papers say production is fine, orders are to maintain levels, report comes back saying everything is proceeding as ordered. In reality, production was higher than reported (with no room to grow if ordered), workers are skimming product, managers are skimming product, local council is skimming product and money, regional council is skimming money. To make up for the shit pay, but also because why not, the party won't miss it.
Orders come in to increase production, report says "no can do, need more equipment, need more land, need more workers". Of course, more than is actually needed, so someone can have their own tractors.
The black market, often in barter, was huge.
The party in Moscow could not contain its spread even with their network of spies. People trusted each other, not the party, the police were in on it.
Not sure if that's how it works in China, but they have the advantage of instant communications, instant checks on any level, modern surveillance.
This turned out messy, I'm too tired.
Homelessness is definitely a thing. If you can’t afford a place to live then you’ll just have to make do.
2. But because of funny accounting (When your business can operate at a loss, it's easy to overhire), there was no shortage of jobs. There was a shortage of good jobs.
3. Food and housing (At least in the USSR) was very heavily subsidized.
[1] Unless you were a collectivized rural farmer, in which case, you had very few options for leaving the kolhoz. It was shitty, hard work, that paid very little, and most of the people doing it, as well as their children had few alternatives.
Anyone know what the closest remaining country is to actual communist dogma is? Vietnam? Cuba?
Also interested in what the most purely socialist country might be.
I fundamentally reject that filial piety is the reason for this (filial piety causes all sorts of other social problems, too).
People in Confucian cultures hide things they see as shameful to protect their 面子.
If anything, I think this indicates there are far darker unseen truths in Chinese society that we are insulated from through the 'face' system.
Regarding homelessness, it definitely exists, although differently from the US etc. If you go into a 24hr McDonalds or KFC you'll see lots of homeless people slumped over tables sleeping because nobody there will kick them out. It's also very common to see homeless people congregating in the lower levels of major railway stations at night.
China took this kind of social-government structure and paired it with a central director, persistently and steadily marching towards a self-sustainable future, at the expense of the freedom and prosperity of its people. Chinese had difficult time buying in the world economy due to a surpressed currency. The gains were seized by its government.
The power was more centered on its government and its government delivered, but not without losses. Famine, environmental waste, and loss of property were all ways through which they learned.
All in all, China took the world's developments and owned them. They stuck with poverty and low income to keep their efficiency super high.
The only free markets that exist are in employment systems. Everything else is state chartered, controlled, or influenced.