West’s criticism of national security law exposes its own flawed system of ‘liberal democracy’
- US leaders have been quick to bash China rather than cure their own ills, from record numbers of Covid-19 infections to high unemployment and fiscal profligacy. The national security law has now become a convenient scapegoat
When Tang dynasty poet Liu Yuxi returned home after 23 long years, he wrote: “A thousand sails pass by a sunken ship. Spring wakes in full bloom in spite of a lone sick tree.”
For the West and the world of “liberal democracies,” this seems a pivotal event in the annals of history. Their reaction has been pessimistic and negative. The oft-repeated “death of Hong Kong” is recycled again, just like 23 years ago when Hong Kong returned to the motherland.
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Yet, US leaders take to China-bashing more enthusiastically than they try to cure their own nation’s many ills. Hong Kong and China’s national security law has become a convenient scapegoat to deflect their own failures.
I believe the American ills are all self-inflicted. The disease is deeply rooted in its “liberal democracy” system.
The pandering does not stop at handing out money to win votes. It also indulges in what’s popular in education, culture and entertainment. US politicians try to sound like the voters they hope to woo.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton drank beer while imitating a Southern drawl. She was no match for Donald Trump, though, whose campaign rally rambling often resembled a drunken uncle in the blue-collar South and Midwest.
The result is often a spoiled and shallow populace, steeped in a narrative of entitlements and grievance. Pushed to material consumption, many buy and waste more than they need and spend beyond their means, an addiction Pope Francis called a “throwaway culture”.
This “me and now” ethos is pandered to, stoked and glorified in liberal democracies. During the US lockdowns to stem Covid-19, that impulse fed right into the entitlement and grievance life story of so many.
Defenders of democracy say they can vote out bad politicians and self-correct. This is wilfully superficial and in denial of the worsening polarisation and societal dysfunction.
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Self-correction takes honesty and long-term thinking. Neither is possible given the imperative to pander to votes. In fact, self-righteousness appears more prevalent in the US with talk of American exceptionalism and claims that their values are “universal”.
Bringing in new politicians who are part of the same culture is akin to putting new laces in old shoes. Nothing really changes. On this new dawn in Hong Kong, one wonders how the arc of history will bend next.
Dabing Li worked in China, the US and Hong Kong as a textile salesman, a trade official, banker, consultant and entrepreneur. Now retired, he resides in Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong