Mao also wrecked China's economy for ideological reasons. His "Great Leap Forward" (1957) immediately crashed agricultural production causing the Great Chinese Famine in which tens of millions more died. His "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" was designed to rid China of any criticism, at any level, of Mao. It threw China into violent chaos. All people with higher education were suspect.
"On August 22, 1966, Mao issued a notice to stop "all police intervention in Red Guard tactics and actions." Those in the police force who defied this notice were labeled "counter-revolutionaries." Mao, drawing on his experiences from prior to 1949, suggested that "the sign of a true revolutionary was his desire to kill." Mao's praise for rebellion was effectively an endorsement for the actions of the Red Guards, which grew increasingly violent.[32] Public security in China deteriorated rapidly as a result of central officials lifting restraints on violent behavior.[33] Xie Fuzhi, the national police chief, said it was "no big deal" if Red Guards were beating "bad people" to death.[34]
The police relayed Xie's remarks to the Red Guards and they acted accordingly.[34] In the course of about two weeks, the violence left some one hundred teachers, school officials, and educated cadres dead in Beijing's western district alone. The number injured was "too large to be calculated."[33]
The most gruesome aspects of the campaign included numerous incidents of torture, murder, and public humiliation. Many people who were targets of 'struggle' could no longer bear the stress and committed suicide. In August and September 1966, there were 1,772 people murdered in Beijing alone. In Shanghai there were 704 suicides and 534 deaths related to the Cultural Revolution in September. In Wuhan there were 62 suicides and 32 murders during the same period."[35]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution#Great_Leap_Forward
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was strongly anti-education, except for reading from Chairman Mao's Little Red Book.
Are you seriously suggesting that Obama and Mao are comparable?
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