The United States is a very troubled nation, these days, with all the agitations going on about race relations and defining ‘greatness’. It is a huge churn in which all sorts of forces are attempting to play a role – political and foreign. Once the elections are held in November, the people of that country will make their choice regarding the direction they are to take over the next four years. Since a nation is a collective, everyone, who chooses to, helps in the decision making. It is the same in other democracies, such as India, where there is almost always a crucial election taking place. Will Nitish Kumar continue to lead Bihar, or will Lalu be back in power through the ‘mahagathbandhan’? Is Trivendra Singh Rawat making a mark in Uttarakhand, or will the mandate return to the Congress? Or, will AAP play the spoiler? Power does not reside permanently in anybody’s hands – although the effort is always to do so. The established institutions of democracy ensure that the people will always have a say.
But, what about China? Are the people there happy with their government? Are they proud of what the leadership is doing to establish hegemony over Asia and, later, other parts of the world? Are they pleased with the manner in which democracy is being crushed in its last bastion – Hong Kong? There is no way to tell, because Xi Jinping is in power for as long as he can live. All he needs to do is ensure rivals are extinguished within the party, even before they emerge on any important platform. Whether they agree or not, the people are being taken for a ride. No revolutions happening in this stronghold of Communism. At least, in many other near totalitarian societies – Iran, those in Latin America, even Russia – they have some semblance of democracy, which could acquire strength and prevail against the tyrants.
So, does the lack of democracy in China make it a stronger nation, as it menaces the rest of the world? Having gained wealth by collaborating with the capitalists, are its contradictions now sending it on a self-destructive course? Will the ‘weak-willed’ democracies, concerned as much about the means as the ends, succumb to this latest attempt at world conquest? Will the peoples, who believe in being more than just a cog in the works, be able to find the common ground necessary to ward off the danger? Or, do they think the goings-on in Ladakh are just two neighbours having a bad day? Nay, it’s a way of life that is at stake and with it the future of Humanity. They should stand up and come out strongly against this gathering menace that has so blatantly revealed its fangs.
