Latin America
Related: About this forumDo Western Leftists Hate Socialist Countries?
Weekend Edition November 14-16, 2014
The Anti-Socialist Western Left
Do Western Leftists Hate Socialist Countries?
by ANDRE VLTCHEK
The multitudes in Europe and North America did not really pay attention, did not notice, but in so many parts of the world, the Left was elected or it fought and won revolutions that propelled it to power. This is a totally different world than it was some twenty years ago; we are living in increasingly optimistic times, full of wonderful alternatives.
For the first time in centuries it seems possible to dream about a world that will not be defined by Western imperialism and colonialism!
In so many places, people are once again in charge of their countries, standing tall, building their cities and villages, erecting towers and bridges, putting to work mighty turbines, giving light to the poor, healing the sick and educating those who were kept in darkness, for decades and centuries, as a result of Western colonialism and savage capitalism.
Entire modern and ecological neighborhoods are growing up all over China; entire cities are being built, with enormous parks and public exercise grounds, with childcare centers and all the modern sanitation facilities, as well as wide sidewalks and incredibly cheap and super modern public transportation.
In Latin America, former slums are being converted into cultural centers, connected to the rest of the other urban areas by super modern cable cars.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/14/do-western-leftists-hate-socialist-countries/
FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)"China is the world's most populated country but it's full of vast, empty cities, including a replica Paris. Is it forward thinking or a crazy economic risk?"
FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)Fifteen years ago, China changed its policy so people could buy their own homes. Real-estate investments boomed, and new cities began popping up each year, many inspired by western design and mimicking iconic locales like Paris and lower Manhattan. The problem is: people don't live here. One ghost city in Inner Mongolia, built to house one million people, is now an empty shell of unoccupied skyscrapers and abandoned construction sites. VICE checks out this and other urban failures to figure out how China's preoccupation with growing its GNP turned "supply and demand" into "build now, sell later."