回到起點...之前
我承認，我對民主是有點盲從的。我其實對它的了解不是很深。這樣是不太健康的，我應該退後多步，回到起點，然後問：Why Democracy?
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前陣子看到這短片，是關於一班在中國的小學生如何選班長。當中有權力交易、口號攻勢等等。看後我不禁問，為甚麼我以前在學校沒有遇過這些情景？也許在大陸當班長好玩得多！
Monday, December 24, 2007
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前陣子看到這短片，是關於一班在中國的小學生如何選班長。當中有權力交易、口號攻勢等等。看後我不禁問，為甚麼我以前在學校沒有遇過這些情景？也許在大陸當班長好玩得多！
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2 Comments:
“Communism in its pure form has been unable to generate a sustaining economic model better than capitalism. Democracy has actually had more trouble getting established than capitalism because enlightened communist states (which do not include North Korea) have been realizing they can hold on to political power if they loosen up on the economic reins. By introducing modest economic freedom, they have been able to enjoy continued political domination - we see that on a huge scale in China and Russia, and now we see it here in Vietnam. These regimes have learnt that acknowledging and accommodating economic spirit is the only way to hold on to political power, and that as long as people have economic rights, they may not be so concerned about human rights. America was founded on the opposite principle - that human and political rights must come first - but these states are turning that theory on its head with some surprising success.” – Microtrends.
Perhaps a fundamental question to ask is – do people want democracy or just a choice to pick a strong leader who could bring prosperity to the country? History shows that good kings (read dictators) were loved by people even though they were no different than the current one party political system. The problem with this system is – who will be the next good king? The transition is proved to be bloody and unforgiving. In this sense, democracy has an edge over communism. The worst damage one man can make to the whole country under democracy is 4 years (or 8 years if people are foolish enough to vote the same underperformed president for a second term), while the worst for communist states is forever. In the other words, democracy averages out the intelligence and stupidity of leaders over a long period of time.
I'm starting to think: should we compare the western states now to the communist states now? A better comparison is probably between the communist states now and the western states when they were just industrialized. Then it seems like democracy has been introduced after a state is industrialized in most cases.
There's probably no perfect political system. Democracy is just a way to fix the problems in the old system. And when the problems of democracy become unbearable, we would need to create another system.
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