Quote by seeker4

This is probably a thread unto itself, but that raises the question of whether a democratic system is really the "best" in an absolute sense, or only best for a particular culture in a particular time and place. I am not convinced you could ever have a system like the US system in China, for instance. More likely, a democratic China would resemble Singapore, with there still being a fairly strong, centralized administration even if people had more say in the choosing that administration. They also don't view individual rights as we do. They recognize that the individual is sometimes served best by a strong, cohesive society rather than as an island unto themselves. They are also very much concerned with order and the kind of disorder and rancour you see in many Western countries these days is very much not what most Chinese want (even some here in the West like my wife).

Example from the Covid crisis:

Long before our government actually started quarantining travellers coming from China, Chinese people were actually quarantining themselves when they came back with support from their communities. When the government told them it was unnecessary, they were offended. They believed they were doing what was best for Canada, that the country mattered more than their "freedom".

The upshot is that I no longer advocate a Western-style democracy for China. They need to find what works for them culturally and do that. If the current system that is largely the work of Deng Xiaopeng and his successors is working for most of them, we need to live and work with that, not try to change it.

You make a very good point and I agree. The USA and other western powers too often have butted in to other countries' affairs in the effort to establish a western style democracy, when those cultures were not and are not ready for such, and aren't suited for western democracy.

We certainly should've avoided the Vietnam War, the recent Iraq War, and others. Those were very costly mistakes. The stupid Iraq War left a dangerously militant, and volatile region destabilized, and much worse off than it was before. And much more dangerous for the world in general. Let other cultures sort it out for themselves.

The enormous amount of money such wars cost would've been much better spent improving infrastructure at home, public education, and public healthcare.

I would love to see China establish a democracy, but it would need to be their unique democracy. And I think you're right, it would more resemble Singapore.

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