In an article in the NY Times yesterday, concerning President Biden’s referring to Xi Jinping as a dictator, the authors note that in article 1 of China’s constitution, the word dictatorship is included. ‘The People’s Republic of China is a socialist state under the people’s democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants.’
Okay.
But is that not an oxymoron? Just how is a democracy a dictatorship?
Obviously, the writers had no idea of what a democracy is.
But there it is, embedded in their constitution.
The solution is to forgo pretense and tweak the document a tiny bit, to accommodate reality.
Just take out the word democratic.
Isn’t it better to call things by their name instead of pretending they are something else?
China deserves a lot of credit for their material development but it is a dictatorship.
There are no free elections and Xi Jinping’s word is law.
They’ve reclaimed Hong Kong and beat up the dissidents.
In Xinjiang province they’ve brutally repressed the Uyghur minority.
On the war with Ukraine they’re on the side of the thug in the Kremlin.
Should we avoid calling Putin a thug for the sake of diplomatic niceties?
Of course not.
When we start going that route things get muddled.
China has become a formidable adversary for America and the West. They are talented and hard working. But they are not free.
They pose a tremendous challenge for us because we have many…
Writer and psychiatrist. Writing is thinking -> integrating -> connecting -> enhancing our being. Though we can think without writing.