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> For decades now we've been hearing that China will change and become more democratic as its economy grows. That's the interesting thing. Slavoj Zizek likes t
by rdtsc 10y ago
> For decades now we've been hearing that China will change and become more democratic as its economy grows.
That's the interesting thing. Slavoj Zizek likes to talk about this topic. He calls it "Capitalism with Asian Values". I don't usually agree with him but I like that bit and well, he is entertaining to listen to.
He posits there is a breakdown in an official stand of the West where it was assumed Capitalism will eventually be followed with Democracy. The West has usually meddled and installed in dictators and supported brutal regime in many countries. The idea there was ok, they'll torture, murder, and abuse their people for a while, but at least as long as the capital revolves, eventually people will get Democracy. So that's why we tell everyone "We export Democracy" we fight for "Democracy" and so on.
The breakdown is that China and Singapore and other countries, mostly in Asia have shown that Capitalism and Democracy don't have to walk hand-in-hand. One can argue those non-Democratic countries can do capitalism better than we can even.
Here is an informal talk he gives on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ADfH9Rt6pc&t=116 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ADfH9Rt6pc&t=116
- smallnamespace 10y agoIf 'capitalism' just refers to a strong, independent market economy, then it's pretty easy to see why China rejects the contention that capitalism leads to democracy: China historically independently invented money, banking, and has had long, long periods of time with robust markets far earlier than the West. We can trace the monetization of the European economy to sometime between the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance (e.g. 13-15th centuries). China invented fiat currency in the 2nd century BC [1] and first issued paper currency during the late Song dynasty in 1024 AD [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_(Chinese_coin) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_(Chinese_coin) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_banking_in_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_banking_in_China
- euyyn 10y ago> The idea there was ok, they'll torture, murder, and abuse their people for a while, but at least as long as the capital revolves, eventually people will get Democracy. Does anybody really believe that's the real reason? > that's why we tell everyone "We export Democracy" we fight for "Democracy" and so on. I think we tell everyone that as propaganda.