Memes

Yeah lots of people died but the cultural revolution and Great Leap Forward but it has been over for 50 years now, meanwhile how many millions of people have had their lives ruined by US sanctions or wars in the last 70 years? Imperial countries export their misery so that people like you and me can live nice comfortable lives. Meanwhile we point at other countries who were deliberately impoverished for our benefit. When leaders in those countries try to take back their wealth they’re assassinated, when trade unionists try to organise to give the workers better rights they’re tortured and then assassinated. At least the Great Leap Forward only negatively impacted Chinese people, meanwhile you get to sit smugly on your computer or phone and eat your chocolate bar that was built or farmed with the blood of poor labourers in Africa and when those poor people try to rise up to better their conditions our governments and their fascist lackeys will be there in minutes killing them for you so you can keep getting cheap treats.

In short, no, that was cold war propaganda. These intro articles get into some of the details of the Mao era:

• Monster or Liberator? by Carlos Martinez
• How did Mao manage to kill ~78 million people? by Godfree Roberts
• The Long Game and Its Contradictions. Audiobook
• The Rise of the Chinese People's Communes by Anna Louise Strong

Lazy strawman

Don't forget, most of the countries in Europe bad also. Oh, and Japan very bad at times.

"The US is bad, but I believe everything it says about its enemies without question"