I don’t agree with Chinese policies in every detail. But this is beside
the point.
China’s political and economic success is crucial for two very
important reasons:
1. atheistic government
2. government by a dedicated elite, organized as a single state party
Any genuine social progress in the world cannot accommodate religions.
I am convinced that sooner or later, religions will vanish anyway. That
they disappear sooner rather than later is greatly in the interest of
those with enough self-cognition to realize the fundamental foolishness
of religions.
Since the times of Socrates, it is an established political theory that
government should be an enlightened elite, and not by those who
represent the sentiments of a majority of people that can easily be misguided
by inciting negative emotions such as hatred and envy.
Plato calls the enlightened elite an aristocracy (which simply means
“rule by the best”). The term today is associated with hereditary
nobility, so Plato’s term is today better translated as “enlightened elite”.
Book VIII of Plato’s Republic
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/mirror/classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.9.viii.html
On Plato’s Republic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_(Plato)
Interestingly, while Plato (and Socrates) considered rule by an
enlightened elite (aristocracy) the best form of government, democracy ranked
only fourth among five forms. Plato’s ranking, from best to worst, is:
1. aristocracy (rule by an intellectual elite, not a hereditary
nobility)
2. timocracy (rule by “guardians”, a dedicated military junta)
3. oligarchy (rule by the rich)
4. democracy (rule by demagogues who address the sentiments of the
uneducated)
5. tyranny (rule by a whimsical dictator)
The ideal city
http://www.scottlondon.com/articles/idealcity.html
While in earlier times, there rarely existed intellectual elites
(qualified by a substantial degree of self-cognition), there were also fewer
obstacles to their rule (in the form of a mass media that can incite
negative emotions and allow populists (“demagogues” in Plato’s words) to
ride on them).
I have no influence on Chinese politics. But I do sense that the
Chinese government is aware of the fact that the competition is not just
between the Chinese economy and the US economy. The competition is between
two entirely different political systems. I also assume that the
Chinese government has enough understanding of the dialectical course of
history to know that the two political systems cannot coexist for ever.
Sooner or later, there must be a winner.
And if the winner is the US political system, as it has been in the
Cold War competition between the US and the Soviet Union, then it’s not
just that China will be the loser with respect to the prevailing
political system. China will then also become a second-rate political power, in
the same manner as Russia became a second-rate political power after
the defeat of the political system of the Soviet Union.
History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)
http://experts.about.com/e/h/hi/history_of_the_soviet_union_(1985-1991).htm
The Chinese leadership, I assume, is aware of this, and this awareness
speaks out of many international Chinese policies. No other country,
apart from the US, is as active as China in forming international
alliances, especially in Latin America and Africa. And while China outcompetes
practically all Third World countries in attracting Western investment,
it is China that provides benevolent investment in Third World
countries, even in infrastructure projects that are of very little interest to
Western investors who always eye a short-term profit.
China's Courtship of Brazil and LatAm Makes Washington See Red
http://www.brazzil.com/content/view/9388/79/
China’s Rising Role in Africa
http://www.cfr.org/publication/8436/
China rising: A 21st century powerhouse
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12161566.htm
Unlike the US, China attaches practically no strings to its economic
cooperation, which is why there is a high and rising level of sympathy
for the Chinese involvement in other countries.
Hopefully, this will be followed by a realization in other countries
that the Chinese political model, too, is worthwhile to be adopted. If
one searches diligently enough, one does find indications that such an
export of political structures has started. Just one example:
China, Tanzania Vow to Boost Cooperation on Anti-corruption
http://www.china.org.cn/english/international/185966.htm
