"Let Some Get Rich First" – How China Made It a Mission and America Made It a Scam

1. Not Just a Slogan – A Strategy to Build the Nation

In China, the phrase "let some people get rich first" wasn't a capitalist free pass. It was a national strategy.

Deng Xiaoping said it in the early 1980s:

"Let some people and some regions get rich first, and then help others get rich, so we can achieve common prosperity."

This wasn’t about letting a few people hoard wealth forever. It followed a simple logic:

1. Get growth started. Reward innovation and risk.

2. Use the gains to build industry, jobs, and development.

3. Regulate and redistribute so wealth doesn’t pile up at the top.

At the same time, the U.S. launched "trickle-down economics." Cut taxes for the rich, deregulate everything, and hope that wealth somehow reaches the bottom.

It didn't. And it never was meant to.

2. Two Roads: State Power or Corporate Capture?

In the U.S.:

• Growth is led by corporations and oligarchs.

• The …