Republican Party Maoism

So Sarah Palin is attempting to mobilize the "pro-American" parts of the US against the rest, presumably the anti-American parts of America (think about that for a moment...). In seeking to clarify precisely what she meant by this distinction, she said:

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation."

    This, for me, resonates with Mao Zedong's guerrilla strategy of surrounding or encircling the cities from the countryside.  The concept is perhaps most fully developed by Lin Biao:

To rely on the peasants, build rural base areas and use the countryside to encircle and finally capture the cities — such was the way to victory in the Chinese revolution.

        That seems to be the Republican Party strategy these days.  The Moderate Voice sees this as a loser, as does  Steve Chapman:

One of these days, the 80 percent of Americans who live in more populated areas may tire of being obliquely insulted. Most urbanites and suburbanites don't think they're any better than their country cousins. But Palin might want to think twice before telling them they're worse.

   That 80 percent number is interesting.  When Mao developed his strategy of "people's war," drawing on Sun Tzu, he was working pragmatically from the circumstances that surrounded him.  He was, as Sun might have advised him, creating a battle plan based on the "ground" or "terrain" or, we might say, realities that confronted him.  It just so happened that something like 80 percent of the Chinese population then lived in the countryside.  Pretty smart that Mao: mobilize the 80 percent against the 20 percent!  

    The contemporary Republican Party Maoism seems doomed to failure, however.  Somebody in the McCain campaign should read Sun Tzu.  They then might realize that they must create a political strategy that conforms to the "ground" or realities of present day America.  And one of the most brute of those realities is that the vast majority of American voters - Chapman's 80 percent - do not live in small towns.  

   Then again, as an Obama guy, I should just keep quiet.  Don't let McCain and Palin in on Sun Tzu (maybe it was one of the books McCain did not read during his rambunctious days at the Naval Academy!).  Don't point out the obvious demographic flaw in their small town strategy.  Rather put out a slogan that urges them on:

     Long Live the Victory of the Republican Party People's War!

Comments

[Ahistoricality]

More to the point, it resemble's Mao's use of rural peasants as "authentic" and politically pure, whereas urbanites and educated citizens were suspect and required retraining. This woman really does worry me.

[isha]

Thanks for reminds me about Comarade Lin's teachings.

This part could be used by Americans at the current economic crisis:

"
Adhere to the Policy of Self-Reliance
"

It can be useful for the Wall Street Bankers, so they don't need to relying upon stealing from the common tax payers;
It can be useful for the U.S. gov., so they don't need Asians to buy up their T-bills;
It can be useful for the U.S. consumers, so they learn not to charge their over-charged plastic cards to buy cheap, lousy and dangerous Chinese imports at the W-Marts... as the price is rising anyway...

It is great also to remind the WTO addicted Chinese that the game of self-willed enslavement should be over and rather than relying the model of exporting real value for declining IOUs, trying some Comrade Lin's policy of self reliance for a change, before it is too late...

My friend know how this game is played, and it is not nice for the workers both in China and U.S.:

"The new slaves for us were the Chinese. We expected them to flood our stores with goodies at low, low prices. So even workers in the anti-union south or the elderly could happily buy up appliances, toys and things while not getting any pay raises or seeing incomes actually fall. The flood of credit granted to the US by trade partners allowed anyone who owned even shanties to get cheap loans as the supposed value of even crummy shanties shot upwards like a rocket. Anyone who could, loaded these things with debt so they could buy Chinese, Japanese and European imports.

Well, that is now over. Even mansions can't rise much higher in price. All have hit that invisible ceiling where incomes can't pay even 1% interest on more loans. The principal value of all this real estate can't rise except via pure, simple inflation. And this inflation HAS to be in incomes! It can no longer be loaded onto properties anymore. This harsh fact is still being ignored by the sex-mad banking gnomes.
"
http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/ezmoneymatters/

Thanks again for remind me this piece from Lin Biao:

"During the War of Resistance Against Japan, our Party maintained that China should rely mainly on her own strength while at the same time trying to get as much foreign assistance as possible. We firmly opposed the Kuomintang ruling clique’s policy of exclusive reliance on foreign aid. In the eyes of the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek, China’s industry and agriculture were no good, her weapons and equipment were no good, nothing in China was any good, so that if she wanted to defeat Japan, she had to depend on other countries, and particularly on the U.S.-British imperialists. This was completely slavish thinking. "

Isha

[isha]

Sorry, the link on self reliance:

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/lin-biao/1965/09/peoples_war/ch06.htm