In Defense of Thugocracies

Eric X. Li identified only as “a venture capitalist” has written of the impending doom of democracies.  In an op-ed in the Gray Lady http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/opinion/why-chinas-political-model-is-superior.html?emc=eta1 on February 16, 2012 and other writings readily Google-able Li, indeed a Chinese venture capitalist argues that democracies dangle precariously by the twin slim threads of (i) rational human actions and (ii) God-given rights. 

Li makes the points that American government has traditionally been less a democracy than a republican form and that various voting restrictions have concentrated disproportionate power in elites.  As the current political silly season careens from the ridiculous to the absurd he notes that we are morphing from “one man, one vote” to “one dollar, one vote”.  All true.  Sad but true.

Li contrasts the American faith-based set of values from a not-necessarily fact-based faith, with Beijing’s view that political privileges are “to be negotiated based on the needs and conditions of the nation”.    He notes that China is “prepared to allow popular participation in political decisions if an when  it is…favorable to the country’s national interest”.  His view is that popular participation at Tiananmen Square “went too far”, and that the alternative to violent repression “would have been far worse”.

           Ah, but who gets to decide “the country’s national interest”?  Li mentions “the ideological shackles of the destructive Cultural Revolution”, but that, of course, what the Chinese rulers thought was in the “national interest” at the time, and are the Party bosses today smarter than Chairman Mao?

           It turns out there are other Internet English language Chinese apologists who are fond of quoting Winston Churchill, that “Democracy is the worst form of government except all those others that have been tried” or “The best case against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter”.  I expect that irony translates poorly.

           We have visited these concepts before.   Li’s China is a Thugocracy.  http://contrariat.blogspot.com/search?q=thugocracy.  He has faith in the current thugs, wholly befitting a Communist venture capitalist.  However, if the prior thugs happen to return to power the venture capitalists could well end up blindfolded in front of a wall “in the national interest”.  It is by no means neat, but I’ll take my chances here.