With the establishment of the PRC in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party aimed to end capitalism. Karl Gerth argues that despite the socialist rhetoric of class warfare, Communist Party policies developed capitalism and expanded consumerism. This negated the goals of the Communist Revolution across the Mao era (1949-1976) down to the present.

In this provocative account, Karl Gerth argues that consumerism rather than communism explains the history of China since 1949.