Before I went to the US many years ago, I firmly believed that democracy is
the major reason that leads to the power and prosperity of the United States
. However, after staying several years in the US, I realized the problems in
democracy: in order to rise to power, politicians would do anything to
please the general public, many of whom are not rational, and even selfish.
I also realized that many other democratic countries are actually poor and
chaotic.
now after several weeks in Qatar, a monarchic country, I doubted about the
impacts of political system on economy prosperity. Qatar has been developing
even faster than China. in the 60s, Qatar was in a very low development
stage, indicated by the existence of slavery, lack of any modern industry.
However, in 40 years, it has become a very rich and powerful country. of
course, you cannot compare Qatar with US and China. but it is powerful
considering its small size. People in Qatar love in their Emir. the picture
of the current Emir is posted everywhere, on cars, building, etc. People are
doing this voluntarily to show their support for the Emir. So monarchy is
not necessarily sinful. People can have a good life in a monarchic country
also.
Thinking about the political movements currently in China, many people are
afraid that China is going backward to Mao's era. If this happened many
years when I was still in China, I would have thought it absolutely bad. But
today, I am not sure. Those leaders, like Xi Jinping have seen and
experienced much more than me. They have a much broader view of the world,
and I am sure they are doing that for the benefit of China. I don't know
what those political movements will lead to, but democracy is not
necessarily perfect. Thinking about the many problems in the US right now.