Mao Zedong

"This appealing theory was also naive, and it remains so. It assumes that once the theory is developed, and thus the strategy formulated, implementation goes without saying. In fact, as with the Chinese Great Leap Forward and as the Soviets also experienced, implementation is the crux of the matter. Human beings are capable of idealistic mobilization, but only when the outcome is not in doubt or when they have no choice. That was the case with the national liberation struggle. When results are lacking, they discredit the strategy, and demobilization of people follows. This accelerates the movement toward defeat, regardless of the strength of the leaders and the political parties that support them. Mao Zedong was a powerful man, and his party controlled all of China. This did not prevent the catastrophes now revealed by the Chinese government. The Great Leap Forward caused famines that resulted in the deaths of more than 30 million Chinese. The Cultural Revolution was even worse for China’s economic development capacity."

"“You can ascend to the nine heavens to grasp the moon and descend to the five oceans to snare a turtle.” This line, from a poem by Mao Zedong, means you can do both the idealistic and the practical. That’s because in China a turtle is a euphemism for a bastard. It might be a little hard on the ear, but here the truth behind the vulgarity is not vulgar."

"Mao Zedong was not an engineer. He was a librarian at Peking University who then helped found the Communist Party, after which he became a warlord. After he established the People’s Republic in 1949, Mao’s stature became nearly godlike. He spent much of his time reading literature and philosophy, leaving the details of running the state to technocratic deputies like Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and Chen Yun. Mao’s gifts in military leadership as well as poetry collided in a folksy slogan he was fond of repeating: *Ren duo, li liang da*. With people come power."