Communist Manipulation

The two excerpts in our textbook represent the consecutive stages of Communist policy implementation upon the peasant class of China. In a savvy move, Mao took advantage of the peasants' imminent hardships as the lowest class on the Chinese social pyramid. He introduced the Red Guard as an auxiliary force used to oust authority figures who were caught in a catch-22 that inevitably squeezed them out of the new communist equation. Mao realized that power laid in his ability to unify the majority of China by aligning them politically in his scheme of massive collectivization, whether or not he achieve this through deception or force. It is clear that the chairman was aware of his initial plan of social manipulation, yet it seems he became misguided in his second, more destructive phase of "The Great Leap Forward." As Mao grasped his new found power, gained from his control over the lower social classes, he could officially establish his movement as a nationally backed force in greater China. It seemed he ultimately used this as an excuse to target components of capitalism and traditionalist values that were destroying the integrity of China's new identity. After mishandling his "experiment" in communist collectivization, Mao was left with a disgruntled majority and and officials  with a bad taste in their mouth from the Red Guard's brutality. Mao's plan certainly worked to some effect in garnering support from those he wished to exploit, but the obsolete Communist machine combined with abuses of power caused the downfall of the era of Mao.