[ExI] quora answer

[Stuart LaForge]

Quoting bill w:

> Yeah, it's a very rosy answer in some regards but a few really good points
> are made.   bill w

Where precisely?

> China does not behave like a typical dictatorship and seems to be a lot
> more calculating and smarter than existing democracies. What could be the
> reason behind this?
> <https://www.quora.com/China-does-not-behave-like-a-typical-dictatorship-and-seems-to-be-a-lot-more-calculating-and-smarter-than-existing-democracies-What-could-be-the-reason-behind-this>
>
> China has a unique political system never before seen in human history.
> It?s an amalgam of authoritarian rule and democracy firmly based on
> meritocracy.
>
> The system serves the people, not the other way around. The system serves
> at the pleasure of the people. If it doesn?t deliver the goods, the system
> will be overthrown. This is Chinese democracy.

Lol. Right, you mean like the Hundred Flowers Campaign or Tiananmen  
Square? How do you overthrow the system without guns? By voting from  
candidates who are all from the same party? Chinese democracy is an  
illusion of choice where there is none.

>
> This collectivist philosophy states that ?if you do right by me, I let you
> rule.?
>

The individualist philosophy would ask why you do you feel the urge to  
be ruled? Are you a slave at heart?

> Combined with a millennia-old meritocratic system, the Chinese enjoy a
> responsive, stable, and efficient government.

Enjoy? Seriously? The Chinese people lose social credits for  
criticizing their government, so of course they will always publically  
state they enjoy their government. Do you think the Uygher women raped  
in the Chinese reeducation camps enjoy their government?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55794071


> Because it?s meritocratic, you don?t get imbeciles for national leaders
> like Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau, Boris Johnson, Scott Morrison, Jair
> Bolsonaro, etc.

Right because the Chinese want smart leaders to rule them while  
Americans just want some guy to rubber-stamp the shit they need to do  
their jobs. Americans tolerate a central government for public goods,  
common defense, highways, schools. etc. The Chinese need one to give  
them national identity and a so-called collective to serve. It all fun  
and games until the white vans show up to take you away to be  
re-educated.

> Because it?s meritocratic and authoritarian, you get intelligent, long-term
> policies with no compromises.
> Because it?s authoritarian, you get efficient execution of government
> policies without interruption from partisan bickering and regular elections.

Because it prizes conformity over individuality, it lacks creativity  
and thus must resort to IP-theft to advance technologically.

> This system has worked exceedingly well for over 30 years. That?s why China
> became the world?s largest economy in just 30 years, starting as a totally
> impoverished nation!
> That?s why China has the finest infrastructure of roads, bridges,
> high-speed rail, airports, etc., the envy of the world!
>
> That?s why China practically eradicated extreme poverty. It was 90% in
> 1980, and it?s nearly 0% today. A billion people were lifted out of poverty!

I seem to remember what lifted China out of poverty was being granted  
favored nation status by Bill Clinton and a bunch of American  
companies moving their factories to China because labor there was  
cheaper. Basically what led to China's success was investment by  
American companies, at the cost of our own middle-class. I find  
China's lack of gratitude disturbing.

> That?s why China enjoys over 90% satisfaction and support from the people!
> (Western countries typically have less than 50% support.)

Again, the adoration of an unarmed populace held hostage by a  
surveillance state monitoring it for social credits  is as meaningless  
as a confession delivered under torture. Stockholm syndrome should  
never be mistaken for approval-ratings.

> That?s why China accomplished all of this without warfare (because the
> people don?t want war)! Contrast this with the United States, and Great
> Britain before them, and France before them, and Spain before them, and
> Rome before them.

There is no doubt the United States is more war-like than China, but  
China also has a history of faring poorly against illiterate war-like  
barbarians, like the Mongols.

> I can?t think of another country in history that has achieved near world
> dominance, near total citizen support, and near global peacefulness.

This is clearly some kind of CCP propaganda piece written by some fan  
boy. What part of it made you to forget history, Bill?

Stuart LaForge