Political systems Do not hold a dynamic view about democracy and communism
Quite often, I see comments in my Facebook page that reflected a narrow mind - anything to do with communism must be bad; democracy and free markets are good. 

I wonder why are these people so dogmatic? Can you do some critical thinking before giving their views?

I have read remarks by many well educated Americans who expressed dismay at their "democratic" political system. They said that their democracy is "bought" by the wealthy people who are able to get their sponsored politicians elected, who then passed laws to safeguard the interest of the rich.

They see a democracy that has produced a grotesque income gap, and where a large majority of people have to work hard and struggle to make a living and still not see any economic progress for them for a few decades.

I have also read the views of well educated people from the western world who had worked in China and in international settings. They hold a positive view about the communist system in China.

They said that the communist system produced a stable country, remarkable economic progress, improvement in the standard of living  and brought 300 million people out of poverty during a period when many people in the western world stagnated in their standard of living.

They are not saying that communism is a better system. They would probably prefer China to be more "democratic" but they are not sure if democracy can work for China at this time. There is no much evidence that democracy worked in other large developing countries.

Some fair minded people actually pointed out that the communist system in China is quite responsive to public opinion. If a large number of people are unhappy over a specific issue, the people in charge have to respond to their anger. 

On the whole, the policies and practices of the communist party in China appear to be well accepted by the people. 

The only real advantage of democracy is the ability for the voters to change the government that they do not support. This is more fiction than real. In many countries, the system of voting is corrupt and favor the incumbent. It takes a lot of effort to throw out a bad government in many corrupt countries.

In spite of this reality, there are still many people, mostly young people, in places like Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries, who still think that "democracy" is good and that communism is bad. They refuse to do any critical thinking and blindly believe in dogma. 

Tan Kin Lian

Vote - do you agree that we should have an open mind towards democracy and communism?

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