Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
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Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktAn interesting defense of a different point of view on human rights/democracy:
“Why China’s Political Model Is Superior
By ERIC X. LI
Published: February 16, 2012″
…
“In the history of human governance, spanning thousands of years, there have been two major experiments in democracy. The first was Athens, which lasted a century and a half; the second is the modern West. If one defines democracy as one citizen one vote, American democracy is only 92 years old. In practice it is only 47 years old, if one begins counting after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — far more ephemeral than all but a handful of China’s dynasties.
Why, then, do so many boldly claim they have discovered the ideal political system for all mankind and that its success is forever assured?
The answer lies in the source of the current democratic experiment. It began with the European Enlightenment. Two fundamental ideas were at its core: the individual is rational, and the individual is endowed with inalienable rights. These two beliefs formed the basis of a secular faith in modernity, of which the ultimate political manifestation is democracy.”
…
“The fundamental difference between Washington’s view and Beijing’s is whether political rights are considered God-given and therefore absolute or whether they should be seen as privileges to be negotiated based on the needs and conditions of the nation.
The West seems incapable of becoming less democratic even when its survival may depend on such a shift. In this sense, America today is similar to the old Soviet Union, which also viewed its political system as the ultimate end.
History does not bode well for the American way. Indeed, faith-based ideological hubris may soon drive democracy over the cliff.”
Eric X. Li is a venture capitalist.
Edit: Link doesn’t seem to be working properly:
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: China, Democracy, Human Rights |
All Things in Moderation 
“The West seems incapable of becoming less democratic even when its survival may depend on such a shift.”
I know of no one who thinks that a form of government will last forever, why does he think we think that? Seriously, doesn’t that sound a little strange?
Mencken said that it’s the natural tendency of every government to grow steadily worse. Has that ever not been true?
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Mencken said that it’s the natural tendency of every government to grow steadily worse. Has that ever not been true?
I don’t think that is axiomatic. I think the U.S. Government is generally better than it was when we had the Alien and Sedition acts, or as it was during the time of, say, Woodrow Wilson, broadly speaking.
If “bigger and more expensive and less efficient” were substitute for worse, then I could agree unambiguously. 😉
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Mr. Li starts by defining the terms of debate on his ground before engaging. He defines democracy as one person one vote before asserting that it’s less than a century old. The move away from autocratic rule is nearly 8 centuries old. Although 13th century England cannot be described as democracy, the Magna Carta was a key document in the development of the modern western form of government.
The excerpt appears to be one of a series of assertions that the US will fail to some other model. Nazis in the 1930s. Soviets in the post-WWII era. Japan in the 1980s. And now China. I think this misses an essential dynamism in the American model. That’s not to say we will endure indefinitely. Just that reports of our demise our premature.
Ironically, the Chinese model is coming under internal challenge from the ground up.
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/04/147888068/vote-in-small-chinese-village-holds-big-meaning
BB
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Agree with bb, and think the writer misses another boat: the current Chinese government cannot claim a lengthy history. I would be willing to bet that the post enlightenment forms of western democratic republics will outlive the mercantilist/statist current form of Chinese government, and will spread to developing countries, in fits and starts, while statist mercantilism will eventually be viewed as an aberration in the flow of history. If I live 30 more years I might see China itself become a democratic republic.
BB, thanks for the npr link, too.
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I think I agree with each of the above comments, strangely enough.
I think the US is facing serious issues. Serious … issues.
But China is a house of cards and dysfunctional on an entirely different scale.
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My neighbor, a retired IBMer who spent some significant time in China for IBM, thinks the Chinese evolution will be somewhat like Russia’s. He says that Army brass, in particular, have created industrial fiefdoms, and that a plutocracy is forming, if it has not already. This was in response to my asking him what he thought about this, inspired by this thread.
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