“We Chinese Need to be Controlled.”
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By now I’m sure many of you have heard about Jackie Chan’s latest political statement. The media, as usual, has blown it all out of proportion. I don’t want to defend or criticize what he’s said, because it actually deals with a very complex issue of government as it relates to moral and techno-economic development. I do want to point out, however, that it’s the “dark side” of an argument I’ve heard from a certain type of pluralist liberal from time to time. There has been a backlash, lately, against the idea of democracy, and its universal applicability. While I certainly agree that democracy is not universally applicable, I also believe that it is a desirable and necessary structure for a suitably industrialized society.
A great many people, some on this site, many in China, have begun to argue that democracy is a western conceit, and that there are alternative forms of governance which may work for the East and not the West. Cases in point: China and Singapore, who seem to be industrializing and modernizing just fine while remaining under autocratic rule. I have my own opinion on this, namely that they are certainly not in any sort of “end-state,” and democratic rule will prove to be more efficient and stable for such industrializing capitalizing societies, but that’s not relevant here. I just want to point out that if you’re going to make such an argument, that Chinese don’t need certain freedoms, as long as they’re free to make things and money, then you are essentially making Jackie’s argument: that Chinese need to be controlled, and when you give too much freedom, you get “chaos.”
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jaehwan
2:27 am | Apr 22, 2009Yup, I agree with you here on the democracy thing.
I also don’t feel like getting into the complexity discussions about democracy as it relates to the economy of the country trying to make the conversion. There is, however, a good book on that topic here: World on Fire.
MinorityMilitant
1:16 pm | Apr 22, 2009D,
I tend to disagree with a lot of your posts, but I was actually hoping you’d have delved in a little more of what Chuckie Chan has brought to light on these complexities. Like you and Jaehwan, I could not agree more. I haven’t been to mainland China, but I have been to Singapore, and then to Hong Kong two years after the British handover. Singapore city is about the most efficient urban areas in the world in my opinion.
Just dropping in cause I haven’t posted many comments here even though I have read most of the posts in the last year or so. It would be interesting to hear more thoughts on Socialism Vs. Capitalism, especially while Wall Street is burning, and how it pertains to the Asian Diaspora.
Dialectic
4:33 pm | Apr 22, 2009I don’t think anyone actually read it, but I posted an excellent Foreign Affairs article on the topic here:
http://www.thefighting44s.com/archives/2009/04/05/how-development-leads-to-democracy/#leave_comment