russel
./_dazed_and_confused
Events in the USA and UK have rather blurred the benefits of democracy.
The Party in China can be brutal to perceived threats but for the average citizen it has guided the country to unprecedented economic wealth.
What is the old saying: It is the economy, stupid.
It leaves people alone who don’t threaten it, people I know from China say you can openly criticise the regime and be left alone, get a following and you get a knock on the door. It happens to some extent in the west as well, a good example is Craig Murray, I don’t always agree with what he says but he has had and continues to get a lot of hassle from the state and in one case a private wealthy individual.