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17-01-2010, 20:03 #1Senior Member
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China and the West - 20:20 hindsight?
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An interesting article which highlights a major shortcoming of a prominent western idea - that democracy and capitalism go hand in hand and you can't have one without the other. China in the 21st Century is a fairly major face-rubbed-in-the-damp-smelly-carpet of that assumption.
I'm also led to wonder if some prominent western nations don't demonstrate the same fallacy from the other direction. In our own de facto bipartisan system we have a fairly major democratic deficit and I don't just mean the obvious FPTP voting system or a PM who can be hired and fired by his party but not the electorate. Where political parties chase the same few floating voters in the same few marginal constituencies, we effectively have party manifestos tailored to the wants and opinions of a tiny minority of the total electorate and governments elected and overthrown by their votes. Capitalism without democracy?We need people who look to the stars, holding the nation and the world in their hearts but at the same time we need down-to-earth people who can do serious and trying work.
In a definite sense, a country's power and prestige isn't only a reflection of its economic power but also a reflection of its people's quality and morality. Moreover, I think the latter is actually more important in the long-term.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/multi...na_has_changed
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