by Guest author Frank Li. Bio at end of article.
(1) People, regardless of their race or ethnicity, have an inherent desire for freedom, justice and power, after having their basic needs (e.g. food, clothing, and shelter) met. The most obvious way to obtain them, so far, has been via democracy.
(2) Democracy has been successful mostly in the West only, after the [initial] success of capitalism. It has not been successful in India or in Russia, largely because neither country has had much success of capitalism first. For this reason, democracy will not be successful in Iraq or in Afghanistan. In fact, there is not a single example of success for a third world country to achieve prosperity via democracy.(3) Democracy, in its advanced stage as in America and Europe, simply means spending, which is so out-of-control now that America, as a country, is heading towards bankruptcy. Several European countries are already there, with more to follow.
(4) Democracy, as we know it today, does not work. Instead, the Chinese system (capitalism + autocracy), with many endemic problems of its own (e.g. lack of basic democracy), has been faring far better than the other systems over the past two decades. Unless America changes soon, China will become the largest economy by 2030, thus ending America’s leadership not only economically, but also politically.
(5) What’s the key difference between China and America, politically? In China, there is no election but only governing. In America, there is no governing but only election.
(6) Diagnosis for America: Cancer! The career politicians work for no purpose but their own re-election, with everything else being secondary.
(7) The American political system today does not attract the best people to serve. Worse yet, it has turned many good people into bad ones. For example:
a. Senator Obama voted against lifting the debt ceiling to $9T in 2006. But under
President Obama, the debt ceiling has been raised to $14T, with more to come!
b. President Obama chose to escalate the war in Afghanistan (acceptable), but with a troop withdrawal plan so ridiculously hasty that there could be only one possible explaination: it was perfectly timed for his re-election (totally unacceptable)!
(8) Many American presidents damaged America hugely by introducing programs
(mostly as part of their re-election effort) that were doomed to fail. For example:
a. FDR: Social security – It’s the biggest ponzi scheme ever! Shame on Modaff!
b. JFK: Public sector unions – It’s a cancer!
c. LBJ: Medicare and Medicaid – We are still borrowing to pay for them!
d. GWB: The Iraq war – The beacon went off with it, and I believe it will eventually be marked as the beginning of the end of democracy as we know it.
e. BHO: Obamacare – It was introduced when we could least afford it.
(9) To our American lawmakers: You cannot have it both ways with the 200-year-old Constitution! Either amend it with a 1-term limit (e.g. 6 years) after acknowledging the fact that no founding father could have been so smart as to foresee everything 200 years ahead, or have so much respect for Thomas Jefferson that you follow his teaching that the Constitution should be re-written every generation – It’s time to set 1-term for the presidency first and then yourself!
(10) Democracy could be an ideal form of government. For America, there must be a 1-term limit (e.g. 6 years) for the top political offices, so as to give democracy another chance to work. For China, it must introduce democracy slowly but steadily.
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About the Author
Frank Li is the Founder & President of W.E.I. (West-East International), a Chicago-based import & export company. Frank received his B.E. from Zhejiang University (China) in 1982, M.E. from the University of Tokyo in 1985, and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 1988, all in Electrical Engineering. He worked for several companies until 2004, when he founded his own company W.E.I. Today, W.E.I. is a leader in the weighing industry not only in products & services, but also in thought and action. Dr. Li writes extensively and uniquely on politics, for which he has been called “a modern-day Thomas Jefferson” (see page 31).
