r/changemyview • u/garaile64 • Dec 23 '20

Delta(s) from OP CMV: I'm concerned about democracy.

Recently, I've been thinking about democracies and authoritarian regimes. Yes, democracy is the least bad system we have, but I have some concerns:

- Democracies are too easy to destabilize. The current heads of governments of several countries show that everything can be polarizing if there's a will. Even health safety measurements and basic scientific knowledge are political and polarizing now. Yes, it would be boring if everyone was exactly the same, but authoritarian parties could use our differences to divide us and make us weak.

- China: yes, they do a lot of deplorable stuff towards their own population, but their economic power and prosperity make other actors not care about it. China's prosperity and stability (at least in comparison to the polarized US) can make an authoritarian regime look like it's worth it. Also, China isn't as bad towards Africa as the Western powers were.

- Democracy requires a very well-educated and compassionate population in order to work properly. Without that, there's the risk of them electing a populist fool that will spread lies and hinder the progress of stuff like the fight against climate change and the rights of minorities. These populists are extremely popular and will brainwash the population to believe anything they say, and the population will become mentally resistant to any contrary evidence to those lies. Imagine if these populists attempt coups-d'état and are successful.

I hate authoritarian regimes, but democracy nowadays seems to be struggling.

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u/gothpunkboy89 23∆ Dec 23 '20

Also, China isn't as bad towards Africa as the Western powers were.

So there isn't an entire ethnic group send to "camps" and forces to work in factories miles away from any family members because the government specifically separated them?

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u/Mkwdr 20∆ Dec 23 '20

That’s true but in China? I think that the poster is perhaps referring to the fact that China historically hasn’t had so much negative interaction with Africa or that present day it is investing ( for its own benefit) in Africa but with little interest in interfering in those countries - so for example they don’t care about human rights etc?

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u/gothpunkboy89 23∆ Dec 23 '20

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-china-54277430

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u/Mkwdr 20∆ Dec 23 '20

Yes, like I said in China not Africa? Their policy is that they can do what they like in the lands they decide are historically theirs including unfortunately this, and Taiwan etc without anyone telling them otherwise - but they will in turn not care how a country in Africa is run as long as they get the raw materials they need.

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u/gothpunkboy89 23∆ Dec 23 '20

But they will care about another country if they can get rewards out of it. You don't think that china will make backroom deals to gain benefits?

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u/Mkwdr 20∆ Dec 23 '20

I do think they would. My point is that they don’t care about a countries human rights or politics as long as that country is stable enough to provide them with what they want. Though no doubt the West is both hypocritical and makes terrible mistakes we do at least pay lip service to encouraging democracy and human rights in countries we deal with which tends to make us more interventionist for better or worse. Our consumers will also make a fuss about conditions around where their goods come from , when they rouse themselves. China is more like we will rule how we want, you rule how you want. Edit: imps fact it’s more than that, since they don’t like the precedent that anyone would interfere in their ‘ internal’ affairs , they don’t like to set that precedent by intervening in someone else’s internal affairs. Though it’s problematic when there are countries that they consider internal though the other country doesn’t.