AnnTompkins

Three hours of home study/schooling every week day, whether dolphins, dolphins, jelly fish, flying fish, the weather, stars and meteors etc were always readily available.

Life on a functional schooner is quite active and not at all like a cruise or excursion many people are used to today. From a young age we played an active role in day to day functions of raising and lowering sails, standing watch, polishing brass, learning boxing the compass etc.

There was really never a dull moment or shortage of things to keep our minds busy!

What were/are you're thought of the Sino-Soviet split?

An important question - still needs study. My understanding is it exposes revisionism and what happens to socialist governments after a proletarian revolution. We learned that class struggle goes on after the working class achieves state power.

How did you react when it happened?

I left the communist party in the US over this issue because they took a stand that you can side with the imperialist governments and still be moving towards working class power in national governments. I was glad to go to China where this was a fundamental question of the cultural revolution and to this day urge everybody interested in social change to study the lessons of the cultural revolution.

Also do you consider Deng's revisionist China better than Mao's China?

No I don't. The cultural revolution was to try to answer whether China would continue on the socialist road or go the capitalist road. I believe Deng Xiao Ping was instrumental in leading China to where it is now - which I see as essentialist the capitalist road.

During your time in China, do you recollect how normal people saw Taiwan?

Yes. Firstly the Chinese Government maintained that Taiwan was part of China and not a separate country. The normal people always considered Taiwan as just a part of China but also viewed the US imperialists as using Taiwan and the claim of some of the government leaders of Taiwan (such as that Taiwan was a sovereign nation) as aggression towards mainland China.

Also, during the Cultural Revolution, Chiang Kai-shek launched a revival of Chinese traditions in Taiwan with his "sinicization movement". Was that known in China to common people? What did they think about it?

I don't recognize the term "sinicization movement" and I can't match it to any subject I was aware of at the time. Perhaps it has something to do with the treaties that gave Japan over Taiwan... but that is only my best guess... Sorry I do not know more on that subject.

I will point out that this is another loaded question.

But to the point I don't believe that it has "failed" as a basic ideology. The basic economics of Marixsm I view as still valid, the difference between Marixsm has failed or whether those who attempt to apply Marixm have failed, certainly in the United States so far, those of us who say we are Marxist have not been able to apply Marixsm in a successful manner.

This question is an important one and is fundamental to my differences with many, many people both I China and in the US.

I think the analysis of the economics by Marx and Engles still holds in the main world wide. Class struggle, exploitation, what makes value in production etc are still true today. I believe Cuba, China and the people in Nepal who are successfully applying Marixsm today are proof of it's validity.

In other words, she saw the whole Cultural Revolution from a position of comfort and opulence.

I am sorry this is the opinion you got from my response. The point I was making is in fact the exact opposite of what you suggest.

They tried to put me up in a fancy hotel and give me the good life. I fought it and was ultimately successful in being allowed to live alongside my Chinese colleagues, the peasants, workers and "real people" of China you seem to think were hidden from me were actually very much the people of my every day life and time spent in China.