More on Democracy
Vladimir Putin has got re-elected in Russia. The reason most people gave for voting for him was that he was a strong leader who provided economic stability.
There is a belief in the West that democracy is the pinnacle of human civilisation. In fact, it is usually the illusion of democracy rather than the real thing. In Australia it is common that the government that gets elected did not get the most votes, they simply got the most constituencies, and the Australian upper house (the Senate) is demonstrably undemocratic. It is also commonly believed that George Bush did not get the most votes in the last US elections. I examined this in ‘Freedom and Democracy’.
In Africa democracy has not really been advantages to most countries. Zimbabwe democratically elected Mugabe. A lot of good it did them. Singapore does not have a democratically elected government but most would agree that it generally has a satisfied population.
Most people don't appreciate leaders who ‘listen’. They like leaders who are strong
and who provide economic leadership. Given a choice between democracy and wealth,
most people will opt for wealth. Most Asian countries do not have democratically
elected governments in the way that the West does.
Along with the idea of democracy is the concept that what people want is good
for them. After all, if it applies to governments, maybe it applies to music,
movies and sex. Generally, Asian countries don't share this view and the governments
exercise censorship. The agenda of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan is to impose
a US-style democracy on these countries. One reason for this is that such governments
promote an outlet for US goods and provide a cheap, and more importantly stable,
source of commodities. There is also an assumption that people would be much better
off under a Western-style democracy than they would be under a Muslim regime that
restricts certain freedoms.
In the West, China is frequently criticised for its occupation of Tibet. The Tibetan Buddhist way of life has been suppressed and Western visitors find this abhorrent. In fact, outside of the religious minority, the Chinese occupation is seen by Tibetans as a blessing. The Chinese have invested huge resources into Tibet and many people have access to electricity and running water for the first time. Democracy is a luxury that they can’t afford.
