The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
10 Jul 2013
It's a standard assumption in the West: As a society progresses, it eventually becomes a capitalist, multi-party democracy. Right? Eric X. Li, a Chinese investor and political scientist, begs to differ. In this provocative, boundary-pushing talk, he asks his audience to consider that there's more than one way to run a successful modern nation.
In this TED Talk, Li argues that the universality claim of Western democratic systems is going to be "morally challenged" by China.
In the New York Times, he has argued, "The Chinese political system ... comes close to the best formula for governing a large country: meritocracy at the top, democracy at the bottom, with room for experimentation in between.
© TED Talks
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Communism is Democracy
What China has in not communism since it doesn't meet any of the three fundamental requirements: classless, stateless, moneyless. Furthermore, communism requires absolute democracy in order to function so it is impossible for it to be opposed to democracy. China's political system is just as valid as the free market system but both are prone to corruption and neither are ideal.
