China's Famine in the 1960's Lesson to Learn in the Face of Green Energy/ Climate Change Policies

YAF is hosting a seminar today about how to Escape Communism in 2022, with several speakers who used to live in Communist countries. It is a warning after warning from what people suffered then and now. https://www.theepochtimes.com/2022-escape-communism-seminar_4900194.html

One speaker from China, Helen Raleigh, who wrote Confucius Never Said, compared China's Great Leap Forward, a policy of Mao, which was followed by the Great Chinese Famine, when between 30 million and 40 million people died of starvation, with our current push to Save the Planet from Climate Change by Green Energy Policies. She said there are many similarities between what Mao did and what leaders in America and the world are doing right now, for the sake of "saving the planet". Here is an article about the Great Leap Forward for reference: http://https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/chinas-great-leap-forward/

1) Top down approach imposed on the public by the inpatient elite. Mao could not wait to make progress on his goals, so he insisted on radical changes that led to devastating losses. Now radical goals and policies without regard to the negative consequences are being forced on America and other countries, who now face food and fuel shortages this year. Sri Lanka insisted on only organic farming right away, which caused them to not be able to produce food at the same level, leading to hunger and riots.

2) Artificial deadlines. No scientific analysis behind these deadlines. They choose deadlines because they sound good. Such as net zero by 2030, etc. California is doing this, giving deadlines to get rid of gas stations, even though the current electric grid cannot support existing electric vehicles without black outs. http://https://www.prageru.com/video/a-zero-carbon-world-by-2035-is-a-multi-trillion-dollar-pipe-dream

3) They are divorced from realities of economics and science. Bad farming policies led to famine. Solar, wind, and EV all require fossil fuels and cannot replace the quantity of energy of fossil fuels, but they ignore that. http://https://www.prageru.com/video/can-we-rely-on-wind-and-solar-energy

4) Both shut down public debate harshly. Shocking similarity to Communist China and so true today. Back then farmers who complained were silenced. Now scientists are silenced. They can claim all scientists agree due to not hiring scientists who don't, not funding grants that might disagree, and blocking scientists from being published, but some scientists and studies still continue their work.

5) Both result in disasters regardless of any good intentions. We must not ignore true science because we think they mean well. Emotional campaigns even targeting children plead for an immediate solution to "save the planet" which sounds virtuous, but People will suffer much more and sooner than the problems they intend to solve, now as then. Helen quoted "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". When they silence debate, the masses don't hear about the impact of these solutions. Politicians want to look virtuous by supporting saving the planet from climate change and urgently, without regard to unintended consequences.

6) Anti-Science because they assume they can magically make things work in contradiction to actual science. Even solar and wind technologies use fossil fuels to produce them. Slave labor in China makes solar panels less expensive, but the solar panels are not good for the environment when used up and in land fills. They also don't last as long and need replaced more often than what we have now. They only focus on what supports their arguments. http://https://www.prageru.com/video/fossil-fuels-greener-than-you-think

Electric cars rely upon energy created by fossil fuels. They are unaffordable for most citizens, so they don't tell them they will no longer be able to move from state to state or may not be able to drive to church and go to work. CA has black outs now because the energy grid cannot handle the demand. When they say to decrease demand, that means radical decrease in standard of living, but even that will not work. TX suffered great losses in winter, because windmills could not provide in severe cold. http://https://www.prageru.com/video/the-great-texas-freeze-of-2021

Food is affected by energy. Cut off fuel, and it will have impact on heating, food, and travel this year. We must sound the alarm and get this information out to counter their emotional pleas for urgent policies that are reckless and frankly suicidal.

Recently pResident Joe Biden warned the nation of “very real” food shortages. So, with Bidens warning in mind let's examine Mao's Man-Made-Famine that killed millions!

Have you ever spoken to someone who thinks they know more about your job or industry than you do when they aren’t even in it? It’s annoying—especially if they know absolutely nothing about that industry.

It happens all the time. And, unfortunately, it happens on a much larger scale, too.

Take agriculture, for example. Politicians and billionaires have all sorts of ideas about agriculture going green. While this is a great idea (I mean, who really wants more pesticides in their body?), it's a lot more difficult and needs more time than they seem to understand. It can’t and shouldn’t happen overnight.

The problem is, when people with power start trying to modernize or “rethink” farming – an industry they know little to nothing about – it can result in devastating consequences.

Like the Great Chinese Famine that occurred under the leadership of Mao.

The Five-Year Plan Initiatives

In the early 1950s, the People’s Republic of China had big goals and embarked on a Soviet-style program of industrialization, known as a five-year plan.

So, they created five-year plans—or a set of economic initiatives that began in 1953 with hopes of gaining power and global recognition.

Here’s how it worked: The Chinese Communist Party issued directives for achieving goals during each five-year plan.

Each five-year plan built off the plan before it, with the previous ones paving the way for the next five-year plan, and so on.

The five-year plans are still used today, with China currently in its 14th iteration.

The First Five-year Plan (1953 - 1957)

The first five-year plan began under the leadership of Mao in 1953. The main goal was to decrease foreign imports significantly and increase the outputs of heavy industry, such as steel.

The initial plan was for the agriculture yields to feed the urban Chinese population and help support industrial growth.

Not a bad idea, right? Except, as with many lofty goals politicians promote, it didn’t exactly happen—and it set the stage for one of the worst man-made catastrophes the world has ever seen.

From 1953-1957, industry increased significantly in China, and there was a huge shift from rural to urban populations. At the same time, the rural agricultural community already showed signs of suffering.

One part of the first five-year plan involved turning to agricultural collectivization—forcing farming households to become collectivized.

Essentially, farms went from individual ownership to collective ownership grouped by village. Families received income based on how much land they contributed to the collective. Then, income shares were based on how much labor was contributed.

According to reports, “The collectivization process began slowly but accelerated in 1955 and 1956. In 1957 about 93.5 percent of all farm households had joined advanced producers' cooperatives.”

With all these changes, officials were shocked to see that they still needed to significantly increase agricultural outputs to keep up with urban needs.

The Second Five-Year Plan: The Great Leap Forward (1958 - 1962)

But this wasn’t enough for the government. Mao wanted to industrialize China even faster, so in 1958, the Great Leap Forward was announced. This ushered in the second five-year plan.

Mao aimed to “make China a major industrial power overnight rapidly raising industrial and agricultural production.”

It was too much, too fast, and put into play by someone with no knowledge of farming.

Now that the agricultural community was collectivized during the first five-year plan, the Communist Party completely controlled them.

Citizens were mandated to create backyard factories for steel production, and the Party encouraged peasants to melt their cooking pots and utensils into steel for the cause.

Farmers were encouraged to make steel this way rather than grow crops – which was counterproductive to their plans to produce enough food yields to feed the urban Chinese population and help support industrial growth.

Add in Mao’s ridiculous ideas about farming and bad weather problems, and there was no “great leap forward.”

Instead, the second five-year plan resulted in absolute devastation.

From Bad to Worse: Mao’s Mandates on Farming

We’ve already made it clear that Mao didn’t know much about farming—and had no business dictating farming methods to actual farmers.

I think you’ll agree when you consider the following.

Mao pushed agricultural collectivization and placed military leaders in charge. These leaders had little to no knowledge of agriculture.

Mao pushed the farmers to plant more than one rice crop a year, even when he was told the weather didn’t support it.

Mao ordered deeper plowing of the soil, which destroyed the topsoil.

Mao ordered farmers to plant seeds closer together – not allowing them the breathing space they needed.

Mao ordered the killing of birds (sparrows) because they ate grain seeds. According to FEE, “In what is one of the most bizarre and ecologically damaging episodes of the Great Leap Forward, the country was mobilized in an all-out war against the birds. Banging on drums, clashing pots or beating gongs, a giant din was raised to keep the sparrows flying till they were so exhausted that they simply dropped from the sky. Eggs were broken and nestlings destroyed; the birds were also shot out of the air.” Without birds, the locusts and grasshoppers were free to devour crops.

Mao militarized agriculture with forced military-like routines for farming.

Human waste was used as fertilizer. Note: California who has been recycling sewer wastewater into the irrigation system announced it will now recycle sewer wastewater into the natural underground aquifers and directly into the Potable-Drinking water system!

Farming tools were melted down for steel, disabling production.

Mao’s lack of knowledge about agriculture produced farming strategies that damaged acres of farmland and significantly decreased crop yields.

And his leadership brought devastation to the land and left millions of people dead.

The Result: The Deadliest Famine in Human History (1959 - 1961)

Stories of the suffering and death of the Great Chinese Famine—brought on by the Great Leap Forward—are so horrific, it’s hard to retell them. And, for the purpose of this article, we’re not going to go into details.

Here’s what you need to know: Millions upon millions of Chinese citizens starved to death or lost their humanity trying to survive.

San Jose Department of Economics explains, “Altogether about thirty million people died in the famine. The famine was caused by the shortfall in food production but this was a result of the bad policies and centralization of power in the central government. It was made worse by the refusal to admit the problem.”

Yang Jisheng breaks it down further, “It is ‘equivalent to 450 times the number of people killed by the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki … and greater than the number of people killed in the first world war.’”

Takeaways for Today

It’s been said that whoever controls the food, controls the people. There is no better example than the Great Chinese Famine under Mao. A mix of power, greed, and ignorance resulted in utter devastation.

Unfortunately, something similar is happening today.

When governments try to “rethink” how farmers have successfully produced food for centuries, it leads to problems.

Let’s use green energy as an example. While setting a goal of switching to renewable energy sources is admirable, it cannot be rushed.

In April 2021, Sri Lanka banned chemical fertilizers in an effort to move the country toward a fully organic agricultural industry. The quick push devastated one of their largest industries by drastically reducing crop yields and damaging the trade balance.

As a result, the country was forced to rely on imports for food. Then, when Sri Lanka was unable to pay for these imports, they quickly experienced shortages. And we all know the rest of that story: People are starving.

And now, our Federal government is pushing green practices with the new Inflation Reduction Act, which most experts agree won’t do much to combat inflation. Instead, it’s packed with climate change initiatives—including paying farmers NOT to farm and manipulating centuries-old farming practices. Stop and let that last sentence sink in.

As we’ve seen, it’s already happened in centuries-old Europe. And thanks to pResident Joe Biden, it now looks like it’s going to happen here, too!

Replies

Concern Citizen December 4, 2022 at 6:38pm

Recently pResident Joe Biden warned the nation of “very real” food shortages. So, with Bidens warning in mind let's examine Mao's Man-Made-Famine that killed millions!

Have you ever spoken to someone who thinks they know more about your job or industry than you do when they aren’t even in it? It’s annoying—especially if they know absolutely nothing about that industry.

It happens all the time. And, unfortunately, it happens on a much larger scale, too.

Take agriculture, for example. Politicians and billionaires have all sorts of ideas about agriculture going green. While this is a great idea (I mean, who really wants more pesticides in their body?), it's a lot more difficult and needs more time than they seem to understand. It can’t and shouldn’t happen overnight.

The problem is, when people with power start trying to modernize or “rethink” farming – an industry they know little to nothing about – it can result in devastating consequences.

Like the Great Chinese Famine that occurred under the leadership of Mao.

The Five-Year Plan Initiatives

In the early 1950s, the People’s Republic of China had big goals and embarked on a Soviet-style program of industrialization, known as a five-year plan.

So, they created five-year plans—or a set of economic initiatives that began in 1953 with hopes of gaining power and global recognition.

Here’s how it worked: The Chinese Communist Party issued directives for achieving goals during each five-year plan.

Each five-year plan built off the plan before it, with the previous ones paving the way for the next five-year plan, and so on.

The five-year plans are still used today, with China currently in its 14th iteration.

The First Five-year Plan (1953 - 1957)

The first five-year plan began under the leadership of Mao in 1953. The main goal was to decrease foreign imports significantly and increase the outputs of heavy industry, such as steel.

The initial plan was for the agriculture yields to feed the urban Chinese population and help support industrial growth.

Not a bad idea, right? Except, as with many lofty goals politicians promote, it didn’t exactly happen—and it set the stage for one of the worst man-made catastrophes the world has ever seen.

From 1953-1957, industry increased significantly in China, and there was a huge shift from rural to urban populations. At the same time, the rural agricultural community already showed signs of suffering.

One part of the first five-year plan involved turning to agricultural collectivization—forcing farming households to become collectivized.

Essentially, farms went from individual ownership to collective ownership grouped by village. Families received income based on how much land they contributed to the collective. Then, income shares were based on how much labor was contributed.

According to reports, “The collectivization process began slowly but accelerated in 1955 and 1956. In 1957 about 93.5 percent of all farm households had joined advanced producers' cooperatives.”

With all these changes, officials were shocked to see that they still needed to significantly increase agricultural outputs to keep up with urban needs.

The Second Five-Year Plan: The Great Leap Forward (1958 - 1962)

But this wasn’t enough for the government. Mao wanted to industrialize China even faster, so in 1958, the Great Leap Forward was announced. This ushered in the second five-year plan.

Mao aimed to “make China a major industrial power overnight rapidly raising industrial and agricultural production.”

It was too much, too fast, and put into play by someone with no knowledge of farming.

Now that the agricultural community was collectivized during the first five-year plan, the Communist Party completely controlled them.

Citizens were mandated to create backyard factories for steel production, and the Party encouraged peasants to melt their cooking pots and utensils into steel for the cause.

Farmers were encouraged to make steel this way rather than grow crops – which was counterproductive to their plans to produce enough food yields to feed the urban Chinese population and help support industrial growth.

Add in Mao’s ridiculous ideas about farming and bad weather problems, and there was no “great leap forward.”

Instead, the second five-year plan resulted in absolute devastation.

From Bad to Worse: Mao’s Mandates on Farming

We’ve already made it clear that Mao didn’t know much about farming—and had no business dictating farming methods to actual farmers.

I think you’ll agree when you consider the following.

Mao pushed agricultural collectivization and placed military leaders in charge. These leaders had little to no knowledge of agriculture.

Mao pushed the farmers to plant more than one rice crop a year, even when he was told the weather didn’t support it.

Mao ordered deeper plowing of the soil, which destroyed the topsoil.

Mao ordered farmers to plant seeds closer together – not allowing them the breathing space they needed.

Mao ordered the killing of birds (sparrows) because they ate grain seeds. According to FEE, “In what is one of the most bizarre and ecologically damaging episodes of the Great Leap Forward, the country was mobilized in an all-out war against the birds. Banging on drums, clashing pots or beating gongs, a giant din was raised to keep the sparrows flying till they were so exhausted that they simply dropped from the sky. Eggs were broken and nestlings destroyed; the birds were also shot out of the air.” Without birds, the locusts and grasshoppers were free to devour crops.

Mao militarized agriculture with forced military-like routines for farming.

Human waste was used as fertilizer. Note: California who has been recycling sewer wastewater into the irrigation system announced it will now recycle sewer wastewater into the natural underground aquifers and directly into the Potable-Drinking water system!

Farming tools were melted down for steel, disabling production.

Mao’s lack of knowledge about agriculture produced farming strategies that damaged acres of farmland and significantly decreased crop yields.

And his leadership brought devastation to the land and left millions of people dead.

The Result: The Deadliest Famine in Human History (1959 - 1961)

Stories of the suffering and death of the Great Chinese Famine—brought on by the Great Leap Forward—are so horrific, it’s hard to retell them. And, for the purpose of this article, we’re not going to go into details.

Here’s what you need to know: Millions upon millions of Chinese citizens starved to death or lost their humanity trying to survive.

San Jose Department of Economics explains, “Altogether about thirty million people died in the famine. The famine was caused by the shortfall in food production but this was a result of the bad policies and centralization of power in the central government. It was made worse by the refusal to admit the problem.”

Yang Jisheng breaks it down further, “It is ‘equivalent to 450 times the number of people killed by the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki … and greater than the number of people killed in the first world war.’”

Takeaways for Today

It’s been said that whoever controls the food, controls the people. There is no better example than the Great Chinese Famine under Mao. A mix of power, greed, and ignorance resulted in utter devastation.

Unfortunately, something similar is happening today.

When governments try to “rethink” how farmers have successfully produced food for centuries, it leads to problems.

Let’s use green energy as an example. While setting a goal of switching to renewable energy sources is admirable, it cannot be rushed.

In April 2021, Sri Lanka banned chemical fertilizers in an effort to move the country toward a fully organic agricultural industry. The quick push devastated one of their largest industries by drastically reducing crop yields and damaging the trade balance.

As a result, the country was forced to rely on imports for food. Then, when Sri Lanka was unable to pay for these imports, they quickly experienced shortages. And we all know the rest of that story: People are starving.

And now, our Federal government is pushing green practices with the new Inflation Reduction Act, which most experts agree won’t do much to combat inflation. Instead, it’s packed with climate change initiatives—including paying farmers NOT to farm and manipulating centuries-old farming practices. Stop and let that last sentence sink in.

As we’ve seen, it’s already happened in centuries-old Europe. And thanks to pResident Joe Biden, it now looks like it’s going to happen here, too!
ilona Trommler December 4, 2022 at 6:35am

"YAF is hosting a seminar today about how to Escape Communism in 2022, with several speakers who used to live in Communist countries. It is a warning after warning from what people suffered then and now."

I'm one of those people who came here from communism......and let me tell you, Americans in general feel bad about what happened to you when they hear the story, some here at this site even blame you for leaving, but still can't comprehend that it is happening here! People dismiss the warnings as if it doesn't affect them, as if you are suffering from PTSD, they look at you with puppydog eyes, feel sorry for you.....that's it, it doesn't sink in that we are well on our way, the6 keep repeating " it will never happen in America" most americans are suffering from a serious case of denial!
Steve Eichler December 3, 2022 at 2:22pm

Good article Robin. Yes, China is in trouble and if they embrace the NGD (New Green Deal) they will crash and burn.
"Save The Planet" No way are humans going to save the planet, especially when volcanos and natural disasters produce more fluorocarbons the first few minutes than all the pollution ever made by humans.
It's just a scare tactic to drain citizens of their hard earned money and then the governement demands a thank you for sving them!
ADMIN

USA 4ME December 3, 2022 at 2:09pm

One thing we learn from history, is that We Learn Nothing From History! You are correct but given the present State of the Dems & Repubs all we can do is try to imfluence the new congress which we will.
- Steve Eichler > USA 4ME December 3, 2022 at 2:24pm
  
  Hey USA 4ME you are correct! The new Congress must know We the People must insit the Repubs stay united and strong aginist the Dems.

This reply was deleted.