As we approach the end of election season in the USA and are faced with a very uncertain future, it’s worth commenting that democracy is dead. At least democracy as we understand it: the idea of having a vote which means having a say in how your country is run.
This idea really is dead but that hasn’t quite been realised yet, at least not by those purporting to support it. In fact, democracy to some people, is only good if it produces favourable outcomes. There are many examples of this, currently Georgia is one, Hungary is another, the majority of people in each country want the government they’ve voted for. But the EU, with US support decides that democracy is under threat because those people are voting for the wrong people.
If people vote for what the West calls autocracy, then that’s the decision of those people.
In China for example, where I live, people vote regularly for local representation. The West calls it autocracy but I’m 100% certain, and this opinion is borne out by institutions such as Harvard University, San Diego University, the Edelman Trust Barometer and others, that given the choice in a general election, Chinese people would overwhelming vote for the CPC to represent them.
The fact that there isn’t a general election doesn’t mean there’s no democracy, what China has is consultative representation and it makes constant changes to policies, as evidenced by its growth strategies. China has grown exponentially in every measurable metric over the last 50 or more years, and its current system is proven to work for Chinese people. We can therefore clearly say that, if it works for the majority of the people for most of the time, then China is a democratic country – just not in the same way as others which claim democracy.
One thing is certain, if democracy needs to be delivered by armed military intervention, then........