I think a better argument would be talking about how the current Chinese government regularly has an approval rating higher than 90%. The average Chinese person seems at least satisfied with the current state of domestic political affairs. I know there’s widespread youth disillusionment with employment though, but I think that was inevitable with how quickly China industrialized, now the youngest generation of workers perhaps feels too much pressure to keep up competitive production.
The 90 million members of the CPC should still be brought up, because my understanding is that it’s more like a job than simply something with voluntary membership. You have to apply and most people get denied. It’s my understanding that being a party member comes along with job-like duties, paying dues, keeping a clean public character and stuff like that. And yet despite that there’s still a lot of members.
I agree that the approval rating is a much better indicator, even if there are still problems with it.
You are right that membership is much harder to get and maintain, though I think the dues are pretty cheap, at least for poorer members (which is a good thing!), but I don’t think people going through the trouble of getting the membership on its own is a great argument either, since even the crassest China detractors can tell you (and by coincidence, be correct in this case) that it’s beneficial to many types of careers to be a CPC member.
I think a better argument would be talking about how the current Chinese government regularly has an approval rating higher than 90%. The average Chinese person seems at least satisfied with the current state of domestic political affairs. I know there’s widespread youth disillusionment with employment though, but I think that was inevitable with how quickly China industrialized, now the youngest generation of workers perhaps feels too much pressure to keep up competitive production.
The 90 million members of the CPC should still be brought up, because my understanding is that it’s more like a job than simply something with voluntary membership. You have to apply and most people get denied. It’s my understanding that being a party member comes along with job-like duties, paying dues, keeping a clean public character and stuff like that. And yet despite that there’s still a lot of members.
I agree that the approval rating is a much better indicator, even if there are still problems with it.
You are right that membership is much harder to get and maintain, though I think the dues are pretty cheap, at least for poorer members (which is a good thing!), but I don’t think people going through the trouble of getting the membership on its own is a great argument either, since even the crassest China detractors can tell you (and by coincidence, be correct in this case) that it’s beneficial to many types of careers to be a CPC member.