Hong Kong and China

H.D.S. Greenway column on Hong Kong during China's Cultural Revolution - The Boston Globe
writes about Hong Kong becoming one of the wealthiest places on earth, despite being a relatively small rock surrounded by water, while China had an abundance of resources and starved it's people.....
A similar comparison can be made to Taiwan and China - The two nations had similar demographics at the end of WWII. Same people, same language, and similar culture. Taiwan was a relatively small rock surrounded by water. Taiwan prospered. China stagnated. (It didn't hurt Taiwan when the Chinese Nationalists took a huge chunk of China's gold reserves with them when they escaped to Taiwan. But it didn't help for that long, either....)
But many still see Collectivism as pure and holy, and Capitalism as evil. How can anyone look at the history of the previous century and still buy into that?
Hong Kong doesn't have the space to continue producing more and more wealth for it's citizens. China could eventually match Hong Kong in quality of life, if it doesn't pollute itself to death trying to catch up too quickly. One million people a month are moving out of poverty since China's opening of the first four Free Enterprise Zones in the 1980's. (Guess where people scrambled to live?)
I look forward to the day when they bulldoze the tomb of Chairman Mao and put up a Pizza Hut.