An Enlightened Democratic Dictatorship


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May 12th 2015
Published: May 12th 2015
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“The argument was this: a civilization shackled to the strictures of excessive control on its populace, from choice of religion through to the production of goods, will sap the will and the ingenuity of its people- for whom such qualities are no longer given sufficient incentive or reward. At face value, this is accurate enough. Troubles arrives when the opponents to such a system institute its extreme opposite, where individualism becomes godlike and sacrosanct, and no greater service to any other ideal (including community) is possible. In such a system rapacious greed thrives behind the guise of freedom...”

The Fall of Mazalan Series, Steven Erikson



“China is an Enlightened Democratic Dictatorship,” Ivan tells us from the front of the room.

It’s a good thing that I am sitting at the very back. No one is able to see me almost choke on my tea.

Enlightened Democratic Dictatorship... Do they not realize that there is no such thing as a democratic dictatorship? That the two definitions essentially cancel each other out? Obviously this juxtaposition of opposing ideas does not phase them at all, as all I can see from the back of my second year university classroom are the nodding heads of my students, a silent but clear indication that they completely agree with this strange concept.

And what is this “enlightened” bit? Did the Chinese government just throw that in there to make things sound more impressive? I had to admit, it has a certain ring to it.

Like wet clothing in a dryer, these thoughts tumble and jumble as I watch Ivan and his partner go through their presentation in all seriousness. Part of me keeps waiting for Ivan to stop presenting, laugh and say, “just kidding!”

But he doesn’t. Instead, he looks at me at the end of his presentation and proudly says, “Erin, I remember you telling us that you were a little confused about China’s current political system, so I made this presentation for you.” Ivan smiles at me. “Hopefully this helps you understand.”

The warm air in the classroom somehow gets even heavier as the class seems to suck in a single breath, waiting for my response. What terrible pressure. Should I tell Ivan the truth: that his presentation has left me more confused than ever?

No, that would not be fair.

In all of my years of teaching here, I have never had a student openly discuss politics with me. I had to reward this act of bravery and try to understand the message, no matter how hidden it seemed to be at the moment.

“Yes, thank you Ivan. I really appreciate that you were willing to take on such a challenging topic.” I smile. “I do have a couple of questions and maybe the whole class can help answer them?”

Now Ivan wouldn’t be under so much pressure.

“I am a little confused about the concept of ‘Enlightened Democratic Dictatorship...” I look around the classroom as I meet my student’s eager faces. “In the west, we have a very clear idea about democracy and it is exactly opposite of what dictatorship means, so...” I am struggling, trying to soften this concept, “...I am not sure how these two words go together.” It wasn’t exactly what I want to say, but it is a gentler message then what I am thinking. “I also didn’t know that China considered itself a democracy at all...do you vote?”

“Oh yes, we get to vote!” April, one of my students chimes in. “Not so much in the big cities, but in any village smaller than one million people, we get to vote.”

“Really? That’s very cool.” How uplifting. “I had no idea that this was done in China. So, you all get to vote if you come from a small village?”

The class nods their heads.

“Interesting. And there is more than one political party?”

“Of course! Another student chirps in, all excited. “We have one large organization that represents many other political parties.”

“Well, that’s good,” I say nodding my head. “And you can vote for them?”

“Well... not really,” Ivan interjects. “But they are there.”

“I see...” I pause. “So when you vote, you are only able to vote for one party with one set of ideas.”

“Yes. ”

And I pause again, waiting for the concept to sink in and for one of the students to realize the ideological discord of that idea.

I wait.

And after a minute, I realize that they do not see it; they have lived under this definition so long that they believe it to be true. They are shackled.

It’s a weird moment when you realize you are in a room with 30 people that do not share the same fundamental definitions you have grown up with; those definitions so deeply entrenched in who you are and how you see the world that you believe them to be fundamental truths... How could they feel that voting for one party resembled a democracy? I felt my world tipping...

... I had to say something.

“So, I think part of my confusion is because, in the West we believe that democracy is when you have a choice of two parties or more”. I pause, unsure of how to continue.

“We have a different definition of democracy in China,” one of my male students in the front row remarks.

“And how do you feel about that?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“We are more stable with only one choice. We are all working towards bettering the country."

"Some of us do not like the way things are in China," another girl answers. "We want the freedom to choose."

'I am not sure your system works.” Ivan, says slowly... “Don’t you think your idea of democracy is too much individualism? Individualism above everything else?”

My first response is to quickly deny that there can be such a thing as too much individualism. Before I am able to open my mouth, fragments of a conversation I had the night before with my father float into my head:

“I have never seen greed glorified on such a large scale... our society is sickened with it.” I had to hold the phone away from my ear because my dad talks loudly when he is being intense. “My generation, the baby boomers, we believed in something. Things bigger than ourselves. We went and protested the Vietnam War, we believed in the goodness of community and we tried to make the world a better place...” my father paused, “whether we succeeded or not is a point of contention, but at least we tried, we were genuinely aware of more than ourselves.”

“I do see that with the selfy-sticks,” I snickered into the phone, “Sean and I call them ‘selfish sticks’...”

“Yes!” I heard my dad take in a breath of air, “This is all part of the same problem. When I was growing up, we did not celebrate greed and selfishness the way this generation has. If someone was successful, they were a little quieter about it...”

“Like modesty?”

“Well,” my dad laughs, “I am not sure if we were ever modest, but we certainly did not flaunt our successes or measure them in the same way.”

“It used to be about more than the individual?” I ask.

“Yes,” I hear my dad breathe a sign of resignation, “It used to be about more than that. I sometimes feel as though all I have witnessed here in the last 30 years is the evolution of greed”.



“Erin?” Ivan smiles at me from the front row, “do you really think your definition of democracy is better?”

Individualism above all else?

I look down at Ivan. "Yes, I think giving people the opportunity to choose their own fates is right. I am a big fan of democracy and the freedom it brings."

I stop and look at the class before continuing, "however, I do wish that humanity knew how to temper the limits of their freedom with some responsibility and compassion."



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12th May 2015

I believe that benevolent dictatorship were the norm for Asian political systems...
in China, before 220 BC, the Emperor was responsible to Sheng Di for how he governed and the outcome for his people. He was the steward.
12th May 2015

When to speak...when its better not to
I hear your dilemma Erin. But when you can do nought to change perceptions...and to do so may create more trouble than its worth...is it not better to say "Interesting" and pour another cup of tea? You are an alien in the Middle Kingdom after all!

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