FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - DAY
PETER is reading a Quora Digest on his phone.
PETER (V.O.): Marx - Leninism in a sentence? That's a captivating lead.
FLASHBACK
INT. BOOKSTORE - DAY (1978)
A book in a shelf captures Peter (24)'s attention.
PETER (V.O.): Oh, a book on "isms". Is historical materialism about material conditions, as distinct from ideals, that dictate the trend of history? Let me buy it and check it out after the exam.
Peter pays for the book at the cashier.
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Right after that, I went to a public examination hall, but deposited my new book outside it. And after the examination, the book was stolen. I never read the book.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I consoled myself that if somebody minded to learn about "isms" and shared my intellectual curiosity, the stealing wasn't totally bad.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's a lot easier to learn freely these days.
Peter continues to read the Digest.
Act 2
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Throughout history, class struggles persist. Firstly, slaving empires (aristocrats v slaves), then feudal kingdoms (kings v peasants) and then capitalist authority (capitalists v workers).
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Marxism's core value is: From each according to his/her ability, to each according to his/her needs. When the age of communism begins, society will become classless, moneyless and stateless. When full world communism is attained - all people live in a truly free and equal society.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Marxism-Leninism believes the elitists would help lead the proletariat and the people's means of production should be under state control.
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The current socialist republics in the world are China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The Lenin-style of New Economic Policy (NEP) allowed farmers to sell extra yields, some private ownerships and businesses, a strategic socialism akin to capitalism.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Stalinism particularizes Marxism-Leninism in collectivising property, agriculture and the economy.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's the gist of Maoism. But Mao wasn't good in implementation. His Great Leap Forward resulted in famines.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Deng Xiaoping then adopted the Leninist NEP-style of socialism and called it socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): His execution and others' following through have been good for the past four decades. There's the possibility that China might overtake the capitalistic US, economically speaking.
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Hong Kong, China, is still practising capitalism, economically and culturally. People can own property and the means of production. The value assumption being that everyone behaves rationally out of self-interest. Markets aren't planned and they're self-correcting.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There're social democrats who believe in regulating big business and banks, labour protection and social security retirement benefits. Health care and education are affordable or free. Many European countries practise social democracy.
Awakening.
PETER (V.O.): The capitalistic Hong Kong, China, has some of these social democratic features too.
Peter nods.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When Hong Kong was under the rule of Chinese kings, residents had to farm or fish for them under threats of sanctions.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When Hong Kong became a British colony, the queens or kings owned lands in Hong Kong and citizens were exploited by the British capitalists.
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Since Hong Kong's rejoining China since 1997, Hong Kong has been continuing to practise capitalism, although China practises socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As a transitional means to achieve the ultimate goal, China doesn't think its socialism with Chinese characteristics as capitalism. But those with the capitalist upbringing interpret that colloquially as "capitalism".
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Socialists may argue that capitalism is unstable, fundamentally undemocratic eg in employer-employee material relationships.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Historically speaking, recurrent class struggles between the capitalists (employers) and the grassroots (employees) are quite inevitable.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If the employees being exploited want their employers' capital to be collectively owned for the common good, their mindsets would be socialist.
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If people want society to be classless, moneyless and even stateless so that they all work and live together in a truly free and equal society, they're not just socialists but communists, according to Marxism.
Peter smiles.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Perhaps, I've overthought. It's unthinkable for "democrats" to realise that their true nature is socialist or even communist.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's really privileged that I was living in Hong Kong around this period to witness the political evolvement between capitalism and socialism, particularly in the Greater China context.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Looking back, if I just study the theoretical definitions of "isms" without understanding the material conditions, I wouldn't have learned anything.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But now, I believe I've got them and have uplifted myself, intellectually speaking.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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