The Flaws of Democracy and Humanitarianism – Part 7/7

December 17, 2010

Left Coast Voices posted a piece about Liu Xiabo, a leader of the Chinese democracy movement, who won the latest Nobel Peace Prize. My response turned into a seven part series.

What is the freedom that Liu Xiabo wants for China? 

From today’s Western democratic perspective, it means the individual is king and may do whatever he or she wants even rape children, murder and steal with the knowledge that his or her rights are protected regardless of the crimes and suffering caused.

Then there is the Western, Christian concept that even violent murderers and/or rapists of infants may ask God for forgiveness, and that forgiveness will be granted no matter the crime—no matter the suffering caused in society.

Meanwhile, in China, other than restrictions on political dissent and a limited number of religious choices, the people are free to live any honest lifestyle he or she can afford to support, as is the case in the West.

As for religious freedom in China, that is not important to most Chinese since Religion in China has been characterized by pluralism since the beginning of recorded Chinese history as far back as five thousand years.

Chinese religions are family-oriented and do not demand the exclusive adherence of members.

Generally, the percentages of people who call themselves religious in China have been the lowest in the world. This does not mean that most Chinese do not believe in heaven or God.

They just do not need to belong to organized religions such as Christianity or Islam.

In fact, evidence in the West says that political dissent isn’t an important freedom since about half of the West’s eligible voters don’t vote anyway.

After all, nonvoters in America are too busy enjoying many of the freedoms that are now enjoyed by the citizens of China.

However, I admit that I enjoy my First Amendment rights as a US citizen, or I might not be writing this Blog defending China’s right to decide its political future.

As a US citizen, I do vote and express my political opinions, but I don’t stage public demonstrations as Liu Xiabo did in China. If you study the Chinese Constitution, you will discover that what he did could be considered illegal in China’s collective culture.

Return to The Flaws of Democracy and Humanitarianism – Part 6

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Flaws of Democracy and Humanitarianism – Part 6/7

December 16, 2010

Left Coast Voices posted a piece about Liu Xiabo, a leader of the Chinese democracy movement, who won the latest Nobel Peace Prize. My response turned into a seven part series.

Another flaw behind this concept of Christian dominated, Western Humanitarianism and democracy led to the 2008 global financial crises which left a few individual Wall Street bankers very rich while causing about 64 trillion US dollars in global loses leading to tens of millions of vanished jobs and much suffering for people around the world.

In China, the West’s concept of Humanitarianism will not work well, since the safety, stability and harmony of the group is more important than the individual—the opposite of Western style Humanitarianism as advocated by the Nobel Peace Prize committee and Liu Xiabo.

For example, those US bankers that brought down the global economy in 2008 are still free to cause more global economic havoc while growing larger personal fortunes.

In China, the men that caused the 2008 financial crises would have been executed or locked up for life for the financial loses and suffering that was caused by unbridled individual greed. Many of the employees that worked for these men may have also earned prison sentences.

If you want to learn who those men were, I recommend visiting the Website for Inside Job, a documentary of the global financial crises.

Return to The Flaws of Democracy and Humanitarianism – Part 5

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Flaws of Democracy and Humanitarianism – Part 5/7

December 15, 2010

Left Coast Voices posted a piece about Liu Xiabo, a leader of the Chinese democracy movement, who won the latest Nobel Peace Prize. My response turned into a seven part series.

In this segment, I will write about the self-esteem movement in America and make the connection that Western style democracy and Humanitarianism are not right for cultures such as China.

The self-esteem movement in the US had its start in the 18th century and as a cancer grew from there to the epidemic that now threatens the foundations of the United States.

The self-esteem movement makes sure that children hear only positive praise and that before turning 18, that the facade of success and getting good grades (not necessarily earning those grades) in school are guaranteed.

In the last few decades, this leg of Western style democratic humanitarianism has put much pressure on teachers to deliver the impossible.

However, in China, students must earn school grades through hard work (there are no gifts to help one feel good) and the competition is fierce while failure is crushing, which explains the high suicide rate in “all” of Asia (where the self-esteem movement in the US did not take root) and not just China.

Most US children have been told that if he or she can dream it, he or she will achieve that dream as if every child can become the next Tiger Woods, Bill Gates, a super star of some kind, or a future president of the US.

Then those American children with high false self-esteem turn 18 and reality bites, which may explain the high incidence of drug and alcohol use in the US.

Then there is Frankenstein of Humanitarianism — armed nation building where Western democracies are willing to start wars to create nations that will support the West’s concept of Humanitarianism. This mutated arm of Humanitarianism led to the Iraq and Afghan wars.

Return to The Flaws of Democracy and Humanitarianism – Part 4

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Flaws of Democracy and Humanitarianism – Part 4/7

December 15, 2010

A Western activist Blog, Left Coast Voices, posted a piece about Liu Xiabo, a leader of the Chinese democracy movement, who won the latest Nobel Peace Prize.

My response to the post in Left Coast Voices that supported Liu Xiabo continues.

When America was still a republic, convicted criminals were quickly executed within a matter of weeks.

Today, in the democracy that has replaced the US republic, it takes more than a decade for a convicted monster to reach the death chamber at a cost of millions of US dollars.

For comparison, before Macao was returned to mainland China in 1999, the Chinese triads in Macao were having a street war over control of the Portuguese colony. There were shootings and killings almost daily. Often, honest citizen were caught in the crossfire and killed.

The streets weren’t safe.

Representatives of the People’s Republic of China approached the leaders of these gangs in Macao and told them what would happen if the violence and killing continued. The day China took possession of Macao from Portugal, the gang wars in Macao stopped along with the killings.

Western style Christian influenced Humanitarianism is the belief that the individual is more important than society.

In theory, humanitarian work is simple: “you help people in need”.

However, this simple concept of individuals helping individuals turned into a monster with many faces such as the civil-rights movement in the US when it mutated into a quota system for minorities getting jobs or being accepted into universities while rejecting better-qualified individuals from racial groups (Caucasians and Asians) that were not considered downtrodden and disadvantaged.

Return to The Flaws of Democracy and Humanitarianism – Part 3

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Flaws of Democracy and Humanitarianism – Part 3/7

December 14, 2010

Left Coast Voices posted a piece about Liu Xiabo, a leader of the Chinese democracy movement, who won the latest Nobel Peace Prize.

It is a fact that today’s concept of Western style democracy, which Liu Xiabo and the Nobel Peace Prize committee seem to want for China and the rest of the world is seriously flawed.

This flaw was the reason the Founding Fathers of the United States despised democracy, which John Adams, America’s second president, said leads to “mob rule”.

The result of this “mob rule” has led to overcrowded US prisons housing thousands of extremely dangerous felons such as Thomas Silverstein, Ted Kaczynski, Terry Nichols, Richard Reid, and Ramzi Yousef.  Source: Searchwarp.com

There are more than a hundred thousand inmates in US prisons serving life sentences. About 30% of all lifers have no chance of parole since many are too dangerous to go free.

In addition, the Policy Almanac says, “gangs remain a problem in many areas throughout the nation.”

Then in 2008, Science Daily reported, “a survey of 17 countries has found that despite its punitive drug policies the United States has the highest levels of illegal cocaine and cannabis use.”

These examples show what Western style democratic freedoms deliver.

In China, most of these criminals would have been executed soon after being convicted of the horrible crimes they committed.

It’s true that in China, the execution rate is the highest in the world, but in the US, the murder rate is higher. At least most of the criminals that are executed in China are the bad guys—not honest, hard working victims.

Return to The Flaws of Democracy and Humanitarianism – Part 2

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

Leave a Comment » | America, American culture, China, Chinese Culture, cultural differences, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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