I don’t doubt the bourgeoisie will cling to their power as much as they can, but if China does cement itself as the other person talked about, a lot of people are going to be pushed into a choice between “do some reforms or crush yourself trying to resist the new world order”. Not in an instantaneous, “hegemon making them do it” kind of way, but insofar as them having to contend with the rising popularity of China, rising literacy about its policies and what it’s like, trade that increasingly gives them a taste of what China is capable of, and so on. And as the empire declines more, it will not only increase the contradictions in the imperial core and in imperialized nations, it will also weaken the military might the empire has to throw around for crushing popular movements.

As we have seen with Iran, some of this fight will be on the battlefield because the empire is not exactly fond of backing down willingly. But we are also seeing with Iran that the empire’s weapons and tools can be broken and resisted. There’s a long road ahead still, but there’s hope to be had in it and opportunities to seize on for building liberation. If you’re worried people won’t go far enough, educate and push for more. Help them see the benefits.