Mereja.Forum

[Fiyameta]

Keep in mind that, there is no universally accepted definition of democracy. Now read what China is saying....

China claims to have a better ‘democracy that works’



China has recently claimed it has a better democratic system than the U.S.

Chinese-style democracy: China’s State Council, the chief administrative authority in the country, made the pronouncement via a recently released position paper titled “China: Democracy That Works,” as published by state media Xinhua. http://www.news.cn/english/2021-12/04/c_1310351231.htm

According to the paper, China’s type of democracy works because it is a “model of socialist democracy that covers all aspects of the democratic process and all sectors of society.”

The paper claims that China’s political framework is based on the system of “multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC.”

It explained that although the country does not have opposition parties, it is “not a system of one-party rule. Nor is it one in which multiple parties vie for power and govern in turn. It is a multiparty cooperation system in which the CPC exercises state power.”

Further supporting this narrative is “Pursuing Common Values of Humanity — China’s Approach to Democracy, Freedom and Human Rights,” a separate report also published by Xinhua.

The report claims that China’s focus on “governance rather than on elections” has resulted in maintaining “long-term social stability along with rapid economic growth.”

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a report criticizing the U.S.’ democracy, alleging that it has become “a game of money politics,” with “one person one vote” in name and a “rule of the minority elite” in reality.

The report cited racism in the U.S., the Capitol riot, COVID-19 pandemic mismanagement, the wealth gap and the alleged lack of freedom of speech as some of the “chaotic features of U.S. democracy.”

https://nextshark.com/china-claims-bett ... y-than-us/

Full Text: China: Democracy That Works
http://www.news.cn/english/2021-12/04/c_1310351231.htm

[Naga Tuma]

ፍያሜታ፣ ፍያሜታ፣

ትላንት የቤቴ፣
የዛሬ ጎረቤቴ፣
የቡና ጥሪ ናፍቄቴ (ጎረቤትን ኑ ግቡ ቡና ጠጡ የሚባልበት ሃገር ነዉ ያደኩኝ)
ሆረስ ይሻለሃል ታምራት ነገራ?
ሁለቱንም እምቢ ካልክ የወይን ፍሬ ኣምሯት ልትደርስበት ያልቻለችዉ እንዳለችዉ ቀይባህር ጨዉ ያለዉ ነዉ ለብቻህ ጠጣዉ ብዬ እመለሳለሁ።

ከኣሁን በፊት ኣንዱ ኤርትራዊ ወንድማችን በቀይባህራችን ኣትምጡብን ሲል ኣንብቤ የቋጠርኩት ነዉ።

ኣሁን ወደ ኣስደሰተኝ ርዕስ ልመለስ።

Reading the line "China: Democracy that works" this morning excited me as much as I was excited when I read the line "An African Democracy at work" years ago. That line was shown below a picture that was taken in Ethiopia in 2004. The original version of the line might be a bit different, I remember asking for minor editing and getting a modified copy. So, it is possible that the version I got is a bit different from the original version, in case someone else looks for that line.

The bottom line here is that the idea that excited me years ago is democracy at work. This time, it is the idea of democracy that works.

As an individual, I wish to have a democratic environment in which I could use my little brain. As a parent, I wish that my children and future generations also have that kind of environment.

For a long time now, I have argued with people in favor of democracy. I have been an observer and sometimes critic of the great debate about American democracy in the last several years. I have criticized Trump's undemocratic tendencies or the lack of consciousness about democracy.

As Biden tries to mend America's democratic credentials or the perception of it, it felt that poor Biden comes after Trump bulldozed it and struggles to do so while facing rising China and rising Russia at the same time.

Only a few days ago did I feel if I need to apologize to Trump for taking on American democracy when I read Mark Meadows' new book titled: The Chief's Chief. It immediately came across as saying that Trump was his pawn.

China has been depicted by various quarters as undemocratic.

Just a few days ago, I got a chance to watch a special report on CNN by Fareed Zakaria about China. What stood out to me the most was China's decorations of its various leaders on different scales, giving Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping the highest accolades. That kind of thinking sounded to be a reincarnation of those of the Pharaohs and kept me wondering if China understands ፈረቃ more than it understands America or more than America understands ፈረቃ. I can imagine future generations in China looking back to the landmarks these leaders leave behind the same way Africans look back to the landmarks that ancient Pharaohs left behind. I wish theirs would be sustained.

What you mean by "there is no universally accepted definition of democracy" is not clear to me. A debate about that can come another day.

I am now simply happy that there appears to be a paradigm shift about democracy on a global scale. If America and China can showcase their democracies, the question of whether democracy works becomes mute. It will be about what kind of democracy works. In my view, that kind of debate is not only welcome but also necessary.

I remember watching a western commentator a while back claiming that we Ethiopians do not know democracy. Hearing that kind of argument, I had to ask myself if a culture that is not democratic can become the source of humility, polity, hospitality, and nobility.

Can these simple values be used as indicators for a culture that embodies democratic values? If such values can be used as proxies to gauge democratic values, would it be hard to reach some kind of universally accepted definition of democracy?

If we take inventory of democratic experiments throughout history, we now have African ፈረቃ democracy, Athenian democracy, American democracy, and Chinese democracy that works, at least according to the claim it just made.

One thing that may help to reach a universally accepted definition is to study the genesis of each of these democratic experiments. If the genesis is a common denominator, won't it lead to a common definition?

Before closing, it has been my understanding that African ፈረቃ democracy was and remains to be sequential whereas American democracy follows simultaneous parallelism. Fareed Zakaria's special report on China sounded that China emulated the sequential order.

[Fiyameta]

It was only after the Cold War begun in the 1950's that the US government started using the word democracy to define its system of government, because the words "Imperialism" or "Capitalism" which at the time were widely used by socialists and communist countries alike to describe the US system of governance, carried negative connotations that proved to be problematic when the US was attempting to spread its sphere of influence around the globe, so using the word democracy was a conscious decision even though a one-person one-vote rule does not exist in the US, where presidents are elected through the Electoral College.

The irony of ironies is that a self-professed Republic imposing a democratic system on countries whose unenlightened people erroneously equate democracy with Western civilization. When Mahatma Gandhi was asked, "What do you think of Western civilization?", he answered “I think it would be a good idea." And I say, democracy would be a fantastic idea, if only it has a universally accepted definition that people around the world can all agree on. Lets remember that, Ethiopia under the Derg communist regime was officially known as "The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE)." So does North Korea today is officially known as "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)." In today's world, one man's democracy is another man's dictatorship, and vise versa.

P.S. I have the sixth longest coastline in Africa which extends 12 nautical miles in the Red Sea. Exodus 20:17: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house."

[Horus]

Naga Tuma

As Africa awakens to become the 5th global power by defining its place on planet earth, a lot of the Eurocentric paradigms of reality are shifting. For example, the Cartesian duality of body v. mind split is being discarded. In other words, Greeks are not the origin of western civilization any longer. Similarly, the origins of inequality, political order, the state and hence the very notion democracy are being challenged. You have been interested in contributions of Africa towards human civilization. So, here are a few must reading you will enjoy ....

Martin Bernal, Black Athena (the late Bernal argues that Greeks copied Egyptian civilization and he located the origin of Semitic Languages in Ethiopia. 3 volumes of massive study)

Terrence Deacon, Incomplete Nature: How mind emerged from matter (2012)

Graeber & Wengrow, The Dawn of Everything: A new History of Humanity (just came out, 2021)

Lakoff & Johnson, Philosophy in the Flesh: the embodied mind and its challenge to western thought (1999)

These are serious works on Cognitive science, linguistics, archeology, anthropology, and political theory & philosophy

ker

[Naga Tuma]

Horus,

Thank you much for the recommendations.

It was a long time ago that I bought and started reading Martin Bernal's book. Then it got shifted in my priorities.

Simple logic dictates that if ancient Egyptian civilization predated ancient Greek civilization and if Renaissance pivoted on the latter, then we may be at the dawn of Renaissance 2.0 that pivots on the former. I hope more Ethiopian scholars and students fully understand its significance and help it run its course.