China’s Great Leap Backward

On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong announced the formation of the People’s Republic of China. The goals of communist China were not so different from the goals of many socialist and communist movements today: equality, economic rights, an end to exploitation, and democracy. But goals are not the same as outcomes. Chairman Mao could not conform the Chinese economy to his will. Under his rule, millions starved and discontent grew as people’s rights were stripped away. Mao’s plans for a socialist utopia instead resulted in 45 million people dead, the largest mass murder in history. Never forget that #SocialismKills.