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Since there are too many posters,it's difficult to respond one by one.So I shall make some general responses.
1)Democracy and civic liberty?Though I do not want to bash other countries,it is still interesting to compare India and China,six decades later.There is no need to repeat those statistics,which I assume should be familiar to most.Whatever criterion or criteria you choose,be it life expectancy,literacy,infrastructure,I think it is fair to say China's living standard is far above that of India.Had China adopted democracy,could China have attained the advantage she now enjoys over India?In my opinion,doubtful at best.And there is no point talking about democracy's "long-termed" benefit.If 60 years could not qualify as "long-term",what could?Six centuries?Or six millenia?Some might be interested in what world would look like after six centuries,but I am not.
2)About Mao:Most average Chinese people adore him,because he found a country working with the wooden plough but left her equipped with thermonuclear weapons(to borrow Churchill's memorable encomium if not endorsement of Josef Stalin).By the time Mao died,China not only possessed thermonuclear weapons,but also nuclear submarinse and ICBMs,two thirds of the population were literate;all these were achieved in a country which in 1949,even by the most optimistic estimate,has a literacy rate less than 20%;and which,before 1949,were repeatedly invaded because it had difficulty supplying the basic equipment for infantrymen (rifles,cartridges,etc).Quite impressive feat,at least for most Chinese people.
3)About demography and China's economic future.Now some say China's economic growth will fizzle out in the near future because low birth rate.That is a possible scenario,but only time will tell whether it is true.Nonetheless,it should be noted that the indigenous population of Europe is experiencing a far more drastic,and perhaps terminal demographic decline |
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