Deng And David Had Same Teacher So You Have To Wonder...

...why Deng succeeded and David has failed?

 

Neil Hrab: Toronto needs to be saved from its leaders

Posted: February 19, 2010, 1:15 PM by NP Editor

"The main task of socialism is to develop the productive forces, steadily improve the life of the people, and keep increasing the material wealth of the society. Therefore, there can be no Communism with pauperism, or socialism with pauperism. So to get rich is no sin."

Those words were delivered by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the mastermind of his country's early free market reforms, speaking on Sept. 2, 1986. There's a lesson behind this Deng quote. If an aging Communist leader (Deng joined the party in 1924, at the age of 20) can shed some cherished ideas after discovering they don't work out as hoped, then there's room for the rest of us to bow to reality and reconsider some of our own closely-held beliefs. Maybe someone could point that out to David Miller, Toronto's lame-duck mayor. Let's compare Deng's view to what Miller said this week as he delivered a budget with a big  tax increase and a raft of new fees and charges.

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Globe Essay

The Chinese Confucian Party?

Communism has lost its capacity to inspire the Chinese people and the old master is an obvious replacement. But take heed, outsiders – Confucianism may also offer an alternative to Western political ways Feb 20, 2010