Communism

Is the betterment of the working class and a push to communist relations to the means of production possible through gradual means when the working class is in charge of the State and the economy?

If what you mean is that a bourgeois state can be reformed into a DotP, its tough to say, to this day no one has been succesful, Venezuela may be the best example and its still very fragile due some self inflicted mistakes and the role of the US sanctions. Ecuador was dismantled by turncoats, Argentina got eroded by economic failure, Mexico is a newer case but its very fragile too and we have witnessed how the bourgeoisie can easily sabotage the economy through capital outflows, aka taking their money to the US. Brazil is in a similar spot to Mexico IMO, with the advantage of not being literally next to the US and thus being able to be a bit more free in their international policy, like being able to take part in BRICS.

still i am not a fan of this way since we are always one bad election cycle away from being back to step 1.

China is able to do what they do because the chinese communists seized power with authority and they themselves created the system of governance, throughout all latin america our system was designed by compradores through military dictatorships, its fundamentally different.

How does Lula handle the military? The one thing we can all learn about Chavismo is the way they handled the military, that is the only reason they haven't been toppled.

the anti-China ones always say there can't be socialist advancement while the bourgeoisie exist, or while there are market relations

This is un-dialectical thinking. It is effectively the same as saying that there can't be progress while contradictions still exist. But progress is achieved precisely through the confronting and resolving of contradictions. Marxism-Leninism has always maintained that class struggle does not end overnight when the working class takes power.

Intense class struggle continues all throughout the process of building socialism. For a socialist state to pretend as if class struggle has ended is to fall into the same trap the USSR did, as the vanguard party is lulled into a false sense of security and begins to make existentially dangerous mistakes. For what is the alternative to reform if not stagnation?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is this has been written about at length in regards to China.

• Is China State Capitalist?
• Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

The Chinese bourgeoisie have almost no political power, and that makes all the difference. People like Jack Ma are kept on a short leash. They own very roughly half of all production right now, but the state owns the rest, many of them being key industries.

Communism can only exist globally in a world without scarcity. So while I wholeheartedly accept socialism in one country, I think we have to acknowledge that China isn’t going to reach communism alone.

I do however think that Marxism is nothing if not constantly adapting or “reforming” to changing material conditions. So if the dictatorship of the proletariat remains, I think this is the only path towards developing socialism