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HK 'protesters' moving in wrong direction of democracy

By Li Dabing | China Daily | Updated: 2014-10-28 07:57

The ongoing "Occupy Central" movement by protestors demanding "democracy" has wreaked havoc in Hong Kong. What is this "democracy" they are demanding? Does it really work?

Facts show that this "democracy" hasn't really worked. Started in Greece around 500 BC, the "one man, one vote" concept of democracy now dominates the West. But this form of "democracy" has inherent problems, one of which is that the voters are often ignorant of the burning issues and susceptible to political manipulation. How else could Adolf Hitler have been democratically elected as the leader of the Third Reich?

In recent years, "democracy" seems to have failed in other places on the social and economic fronts. In 2008, a global financial crisis engulfed the world. It started in the US where "democracy" has bred generations of "consumers", who had the notion of entitlement ingrained in their minds. As a result, they indulged in all sorts of consumer behavior and lived beyond their means, and in the process elected politicians who were engaged in a perpetual popularity contest by promising them all kinds of free economic and social benefits funded by taxes and the country's exchequer.

HK 'protesters' moving in wrong direction of democracy

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