Re: Democracy with Chinese characteristics

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 12:13:13 GMT, Haines Brown
<brownh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The market reforms in China seem to have had two consequences:
jump-start rapid economic growth and create greater social
differentials. These reforms raise two dangers: a potential danger
that China will end up with a significant class of people who own
means of production, and an existing problem that income differentials
have become wider.

Haines, I would certainly like to sit down with you some day and shoot
the breeze. You are knowledgeable and we share concerns about the
well-being of society sans the ideological baggage. Which part of the
States are you from? I'm from Edmonton, Alberta and travel to the
States on occasion.

Presently all the hype about China's rise and prosperity is well and
good. But from different angles we are both asking the same
questions. So are the leaders of China. It this sustainable? Or is
it just an inevitable phase in the ages old cycle of dynastic
founding, growth, stability, senescence and eventual decay?

An average Dynasty has a life cycle of 250 years. China was at its
nadir just over a century ago. We have traveled that long and hard
road to come to today. We deserve our 50 years of growth and our 50
years of peace. Then will we descend again into chaos before being
reborn again in 300 years time? I dread the thought although I shall
be dead long before then. Each time China decays hundreds of millions
suffer, starve and die undeserved deaths.

If you delve into China's history again the periods of dynastic vigor
and growth was not due to any emperor's initiative. He defeated his
rivals and he had an empire to rule. Besides bringing abandoned land
back into production there were no economic models to follow. What
this new emperor brought was peace. With that peace the energy and
vigor of the people would be eough to bring prosperity and innovation.
This much is happening in China today. All DXP did was to make
possible an experiment in the Special Economic Zones to see if private
enterprise could provide a model through which China can modernize.
The government did not jump start anything for it did not put large
sums of public monies into direct investments in enterprises. This
has succeeded beyond anyone's wldest dreams. We now have the
ridiculous position of complaining that it is all too successful.
This story is best told elsewhere and the material is way too much to
contain in a SCC post anway.

Now we come to this point
a potential danger that China will end up with a significant class of people who own
means of production
A principal cause of the downfall of ALL dynasties was indeed the
accummulation of land by the landlord class to the exclusion of the
mass of peasantry. I am optimistic that modern China has the solution
in assigning ownership of all land to itself, the state. The state
then leases the land to whoever wishes to make benefical use of it.
No individiual or corporation, no matter how rich or powerful, can
accumlate land and thereby exclude "in perpetuity" others from doing
anything with that land other than as powerless tenants. If that
lease is well husbanded, the leaseholder can over the life of his
lease, get the best profit from the land. Should he misuse it the
government can void the lease. If he fails the land can be easily
assigned to another enterprise. Should there be a case for better
public use before the lease matures the land can be reacquired (with
compensation). Without ownership of the land any wealth accumulated
has to be reinvested wisely or else be lost. This avoids the spectre
of old money and decesdents holding onto its wealth by virtue of
landholdings and depriving more deserving people from making better
use of that land. This eliminates the possibility of the resurgence
of a landowning and fixed asset owning social class that can lord over
others. There is a whole book to be written on this.

The other question I raised is how can all these gains be sustained?
Here again I am very optimistic. The CCP method of government is by
consensus of a top government body in which every member must have
gone though a long apprenticeship, have proven success in public
service and can work as a member of this elite group. Membership of
this group is non hereditary. Patronage helps but cannot guarantee
membership. Decisions are by consensus and the notion of "cultism"
has been quashed. Cultism means the elevation of a particular person
to supreme leadership as the sole decision maker for everything.
China is too big and too complex a country for a single person to be
the sole leader. Under a capable emperor the China propered. But
there were far more mediocre if not incompetent emperors than there
were good ones. Thus China's turbulent dynastic cycles. Again this
subject will take more effort to discuss fully than I have the time
for here.

As a parting shot, China's current method of chosing the country's
leaders is the best method for China. There are no financial rewards
for taking on the thankless task of governance. Those who do it must
do so for love of country. But China has a long history of selfless
patriots, the gentlemen and scholars, who served without thought of
personal reward. An ambitious demagogue cannot even strive for
absolute power for what good would that do if he cannot protect his
family after his death. China does not need glib tongued politicians
who make empty promises and who lead their country into wrongheaded
wars. China must never adopt the direct elections of it leaders for
the task of governance is way too serious and difficult for the
passions of an excited population at election campaign to choose. I
know you (Haines) will disagree on this. But the results on the
ground, that of between what is happening in China and thst happening
in the rest of the "democratic" world, are real and compelling. The
rest of the developing world is watching intently. I think the China
model will win.


.

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