Democracy vs. Plutocracy

The American thinking is atomistic and microscopic. Americans atomize people into individuals and believe that each individual is a free, independent and autonomous being with an unalienable right to pursue self-interest and is responsible only for their own interests; therefore, competition with others is justified. American law promotes and protects competition. Anyone may defeat another as long as the means are legal. The result is that a small number of smart individuals gradually defeated all others and established their dominance. These smart individuals argue that they have the right to form political parties to protect their interests. There are irreconcilable conflicts of interest between interest groups, all of which must have representations in the political decision making process. For fairness' sake political parties take turn to rule through election. One-party rule is considered undemocratic. Using money, lobbying and press to influence elections and policy making, on the other hand, is considered freedom of speech. Consequently the media is exploited and becomes a political instrument, elections are more and more driven by ideologies rather than practical matters, and those who have the money to control the media control public opinion and political games, causing legislations and policies overwhelmingly favoring the wealthy. Since elections can be manipulated by money, misinformation, incitement and slander, they become increasingly dirty, and the elected politicians tend to be sensational and lack moral integrity and practical abilities. They serve their donors and their own re-election more than the interests of the people. The rotation of power by opposing parties causes policies to oscillate between the two extremes and makes long-term planning impossible. The current administration often takes irresponsible actions such as overspending, over borrowing and overprinting of money to benefit its own tenure, leaving disastrous consequences to future administrations. Partisan fights severely weaken the government's ability to govern and cause deep divisions among the people. It is a very corrupted, divisive and inefficient system, but Americans seem to believe that this is the only way to be democracy.

In fact it is partisan democracy rather than people’s democracy. A growing number of researchers argue that the American political system has become alienated into plutocracy, a cartel disguised as a government that is controlled by capital and special interests, and is no longer a democracy. The political elites funded by the special interests do not care about the interests of the American people at all. This can be clearly seen from what they have done. America has the most severe discrepancy between rich and poor in the world. It has the highest number of covid cases and deaths in the world. The nation’s finance has been so badly mismanaged that it has a debt of $30 trillion dollars and counting, much of the money went into the special interests in the form of government contracts and subsidies. It has very severe racial conflict, human rights abuse, poverty, doping, gun proliferation, and public safety problems. Its prisoner population is the largest in the world although its total population is only one fourth of that in China and India. Its healthcare is the most expensive in the world that ordinary Americans cannot afford. It is among countries with the latest effective retirement age, a grief for its elderly population. (According to the US Life Insurance Guide, the average retirement age in the US is 67.9 for men and 66.5 for women. By contrast, the retirement age in China is 60 for male, 55 for female white-collar workers, and 50 for female blue-collar workers.) Its public education is broken and infrastructures crumble. It has been at war for 229 years in its 245-year history, constantly creates tensions and provokes conflicts around the world in order to maintain its global military presence, lucrative arms sales and massive military spendings to benefit the vested interests. These special interests are the loudest hawkers of the so-called American values, which is how they keep themselves in power and dominate the world. They call it democracy, but the American people actually have very little say in matters that concern them.

By contrast, the Chinese thinking is holistic and macroscopic. Human rights as understood by the Chinese are the collective rights of the people. These rights include coexistence, equality, sharing, cooperation, and the well-being of society as a whole, as well as personal freedom. The Chinese regard people not as independent and autonomous individuals but interconnected and interdependent members of society who are born into relationships with roles and responsibilities to fulfil. The Confucian culture prioritizes community over individuality, encouraging people to seek common ground and set aside differences, put communal interests above personal interests, abide by the ethics established to maintain social harmony, and work together as a team. (See Understanding China: Geography, Confucianism, and Chinese-Style Modernization.)

Democracy as understood by the Chinese is people's democracy rather than partisan democracy. People have different personal interests and opinions; therefore, uniting them and governing the country according to the collective interests and common will of the vast majority of the people is the essence of democracy. Five-thousand years of political experiences have made the Chinese deeply aware of the harms of partisan politics and the importance of a unitary political organization, or "party" by the western term, that serves the overall interests of all people. This organization, the CCP, with nearly 100 million members, regards the interests of the nation as a whole as its highest mission and plays a pivotal role in uniting and leading the people. The country's decision-making body is elected every five years by the CCP's National Congress and the National People's Congress based on candidates' character, experiences and achievements rather than sensationalism, empty promises and ideological nonsense. Political decisions are made after thoroughly investigating and consulting the people and are carried out with the full participation and supervision of the people. These decisions address the common concerns of the people and long-term interests of the nation as a whole. Chinese government does not work for the special interests. Its mission is to build an egalitarian and harmonious society for all and lead the Chinese people to common prosperity. The government ensures its purity and self-renewal through continuous improvement of various institutions and mechanisms such as collective decision making, clean government, self-correction, anti-corruption, people's supervision of the government, reporting and petitioning system, disciplinary inspection, age and term limits for officials, and impeachment procedures, etc., to ensure good governance and prevent dictatorship.

The different understandings of human rights between Americans and Chinese are reflected in their attitudes toward many things. For example, Americans believe that taking covid precautions is a personal matter. The individuals are responsible for their own wellbeing and do not need others to tell them what to do. They can do whatever they want as long as it fits them. Chinese, on the other hand, believe that covid prevention is not only a personal matter but also a public safety issue. It is necessary to impose some restrictions on personal freedom for the benefit of the entire population. Americans believe that gun ban is a violation of individual rights. Chinese, on the other hand, believe that a safe living environment is a fundamental human right for the vast majority of the people, thus gun control is necessary. Americans believe that restrictions on private enterprises is a violation of the individual's right to pursue wealth. Chinese, on the other hand, believe that equality is a fundamental human right. It is necessary to restrict practices that will increase and perpetuate the gap between rich and poor. Americans believe that individuals are entitled to their own inventions. They use patent barriers to prevent others from succeeding in the same field while they make huge profits for themselves. Chinese, on the other hand, see invention and innovation as means of benefiting society and are more willing to share intellectual properties, which explains their extensive collaboration on research and development and China's rapid progress in science and technology. Americans believe that individual rights are superior to sovereignty. The United States frequently uses human rights as an excuse to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and imposes its own values on other nations. Chinese, on the other hand, believe that inciting color revolutions and waging wars to overthrow other governments under the pretext of democracy and freedom and to create instability and refugee problems around the world, are the greatest human rights violations. (See The Lessons of Tango.)

As successful and powerful as the United States once was, a country that fails to mend its ideological, structural and institutional flaws will end in disaster. These ideological, structural and institutional flaws inevitably lead to the domination of a handful of special interests such as military-industrial complex, arms dealers and capital predators, and the failure of the vast majority of the people. The process of a democracy turning into a plutocracy and its doom, learning from the long history of China, will not exceed three hundred years. (See The Vicious Circle of Regime Change.) For this reason, Chinese culture stands for collectivism and egalitarianism against individualism. With the rise of China, Confucian values will also have a greater impact on the world. I believe that will be something to celebrate for the world. (See Pluralism vs. Monism.)