Democracy Vs. Dollars

It’s all about the Benjamins. Photo by Amagill

In the American right it’s common to say A) they hate us for our freedom or B) they love us for our freedom. It is as if it’s the character of America is what people admire. I think this is the fundamental attribution error (valuing personality over circumstance), applied to nations. People didn’t admire America for its commitment to democracy, they just admired America for the money. Now countries like China have adopted the financial structures of America without the political, and they seem to be doing OK. That’s all anybody ever wanted. Democracy has never really been the main appeal of the west. It’s been the money. Or to quote Puff Daddy, “It’s all about the Benjamins”. He didn’t mean Ben Franklin, he meant hundred dollar bills.

Humans have a tendency to attribute most things regarding humans to humans. Most obviously, that we can choose our destinies, control our circumstances and are generally the center of the universe when, in fact, few of us are self-actualized and most are simply borne by the currents of history and circumstance. It’s a well documented psychological tic:

Subjects read pro- and anti-Fidel Castro essays. Subjects were asked to rate the pro-Castro attitudes of the writers. When the subjects believed that the writers freely chose the positions they took (for or against Castro), they naturally rated the people who spoke in favor of Castro as having a more positive attitude towards Castro. However, contradicting Jones and Harris’ initial hypothesis, when the subjects were told that the writer’s positions were determined by a coin toss, they still rated writers who spoke in favor of Castro as having, on average, a more positive attitude towards Castro than those who spoke against him. In other words, the subjects were unable to see the influence of the situational constraints placed upon the writers; they could not refrain from attributing sincere belief to the writers. (Wikipedia)

I think it can also apply to national identity. That is, it’s possible for Americans to think people liked them for them when, in fact, other nations just admired the money they were throwing around. Most people that migrate to the US (including Gotabhaya and Basil Rajapaksa) go for economic reasons. They can earn more money there and educate their kids better. Similarly, low-income people from Mexico illegally immigrate for the same reasons. They’re in it for the money.

To the extent that other nations have adopted American values, it has been because they were trying to acquire the American standard of living. Under George W. Bush, however, the veil fell of America values and showed torture, corruption and the economic and military weakness underneath. Now America is not respected in the world because of its financial crash nor is it feared because it is bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama is trying to reinvigorate American values and leadership, but Bush did a pretty good job of trashing the economy and military and America does not seem likely to recover its old dominance. For the global economy to recover its now depending on increased demand in developing areas.

Those areas, in turn, are following the money. This, increasingly, seems to lead away from democracy. The beacons here are China and Singapore, both authoritarian states. Even more liberal states like Malaysia began as authoritarian ones. India is a notable democratic bulwark, but it is still a giant mess where over half the country can’t read. The Chinese model looks like a simpler way to make money, which is what developing nations (and their people) were after in the first place. I don’t think people ever loved America for its values. They loved the money. That’s why most developing nations retain western financial systems and why more and more disregard democratic institutions.

23 Comments

  1. People who have nothing but praise for China have little understanding of its turbulent history.

    The China that people admire is something that emerged as recently as 1978, under Deng Xiaoping. Under Mao China was chaos, a million may have perished in the cultural revolution of 1969, many millions more (as many as 30m) may have perished in the Great Leap forward of 1958.

    Until Mao died and his widow and the Gang of 4 were deposed fear ruled the roost in China. Such are the perils of dictatorship.

    Granted, enlightened dictatorship is the ideal form of government but only two countries: Singapore and Botswana fall into that category (prior to that Taiwan, S Korea, HK and perhaps Indonesia and Malaysia may have qualified). The bulk of the other dictatorships make their people’s lives a misery.

    Love the money, yes. Will the money come? Maybe, if you are lucky.

  2. There is more to living in America than making money. It is the ability to pretty much do what you want when you want without having to bribe someone or pay off someone or Sir someone to death. It is not that these things do not exist it is that a majority do not have to castigate them selves to live a decent life. You can do most things that a normal person wants to do without having to be beholden to others. That is freedom.

    China is ok? LOL A majority of Chinese people live in poverty. They have no religious or political freedoms. If they say the wrong thing they disappear – sort of like in SL.

    Best stick to speaking about what you know.

  3. America is a hypocrisy. All those privileges and entitlements you talk about come only if you have the benji’s at your disposal. if you don’t have money you’re fucked, and even worse off that here. Because despite everything SL at least has a socialized welfare service. In america you are screwed. And not just the poor but the lower middle class as well.

  4. can’t agree more.

    this is used to be your turf indi.
    but you totally lost the plot here. The US may not be perfect, but it’s model & values are centuries ahead of the chinese.

  5. How is that diving board coming up. :p

  7. ” It is the ability to pretty much do what you want when you want without having to bribe someone or pay off someone or Sir someone ” Which USA are you talking about? Come and have a look around!
    For instance
    My car did not pass SMOG test because of modifications to the engine, then it passed, I got a speeding ticket, no I did not
    So do not be so sure about bees.
    I tried to take a photograph of a building, a police office said no! I just said, Thank you Sir, to nice old gentleman who keeps the door and opened it for me! :)
    There are about 46.3 million without medical insurance. Nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year in part because they lack health insurance and cannot get good care. Poverty line for a family of four is $22000. With all these, it is a decent place to live. But be assured, China holds a big stick over US, Just check the loans from China to US.

  8. You are implying you bribed a cop to get out of a speeding ticket – I seriously doubt this. But let’s say you did – it reflects poorly on you.

    A person may choose to be unethical anywhere in the world – this is a choice you make and it reflects on your character.

    If my car doesn’t pass a smog test – I would get it fixed or get a new car. Not try to bribe the tester. My point is if I choose to live ethically I can do so and still get the things I want and do the things I want. I do not have to bribe the gramasevaka or pay a commission to every clerk.

    You can say Sir when you mean it or say it when you wish to be polite – this is different from having to say it to suck up to people (politicians or otherwise) – same with please and thank you.

    Emergency care is available to all. Medical care is available to the poor and old via medicare. Those that work and make a living should purchase insurance – so we have free medical in SL? ha ha yes but no medicine. If you want the medicine you got to provide it buddy. Had a friend who could not afford private care in SL stay at general hospital he had to sleep UNDER a bed. You get what you pay for.

    As you say the US is a decent place to live – and there are a lot of place you can choose to live. Yes $22k doesnt go far in NYC but you get out of the big coastal cities the cost of living is not that much more (if it is more) than SL and your ability to make a living is much better.

    ALSO please note – the USA is NOT a democracy – we are a REPUBLIC. There is a difference.

    Freedom and the pursuit of happiness (individual happiness) are very much American CORE values. These are also core values for entrepreneurship. So it is not a coincidence that many of the worlds leading companies were launched by individuals in the USA.

    When the brightest and the best from around the world keep coming to a place for many many years – for whatever reason – to make more money, to be able to live a better life, follow what ever crazy religion they wish to follow, to be able to gain access to capital to launch a company etc etc – the end result is that you end up with a country that simply WILL DO BETTER.

    I do not see anyone trying to migrate to CHINA do you? :) CHINA is an amazing place no doubt – but just as the industriousness and growth impresses you – so will all the prostitution and poverty. CHINA’s growth can be shutdown tomorrow – all America has to do is to raise trade barriers. As for the debt to CHINA – this is a simple problem – devalue the USD pay the debt. :) And when you devalue the USD if CHINA does not unpeg the Yuan then the cost of things remains the same yet the debt gets paid.

    I’ve been to a lot of places and seen a lot of things I could live in Canada, Australia, SL with no problems and make a good living in any of those places – at the end of the day I choose to live in the USA because it provides the most choices.

  9. Gama Rala, Lots of American are actually looking for jobs in China right now. Also let not try to fool people a 22K salary is not in the least bit adequate regardless of where you live. My grad school stipend was more than that.

    Medicaid is broken I don’t think it even talking about the merits of Medicaid. The Sri Lankan general hospital system probably services people better than medicaid. The same goes for medicare.

    This American dream bullshit is way past its expiry date. Of course there are a few people who do well in America and they do really well. but the majority is being getting progressively screwed. This is more than apparent by the increasing gap between the mean & median income in the States.

  11. The USA has significant problems, yes, but it’s not like China or any other country outside of Germany or Scandinavia has it so much better for the majority of its citizens.

    Recent reports show that China’s 150Million factory workers work an average of over 58 hours per week. That’s an average, people. And the wages are scant. Huge levels of strikes have been causing all sorts of problems for the authorities of late and China’s bubble is in serious danger of bursting. The govt’s trying to move factories to Western China just to peg back wage inflation. Their level of cheap productivity will not last, though it will develop and perhaps add more quality over time. They have a massive interest in keeping the USA economically afloat as much of their sovereign wealth is in US$, yet they continue to cheat the system by artificially keeping their currency too low which jeopardises that aim.

    Further, while there are camps of people in the USA who wish to pull up the drawbridge, basically one can still be an American no matter your racial, religious or national background. That is wholly different in those other otherwise wealthy countries like China now, or Japan in the 1980’s. The only foreigners welcome in China are those that have significant personal talents and academic achievements behind them, and even then they live on borrowed time with restrictive visas. The fact that people have been able to ‘become Americans’ is a very powerful idea – that and the freedoms (economic, political and legal).

    For all its ills, and there are many, the USA has a history of allowing foreigners to move there, to take educational, entrepreneurial and employment opportunities and make something of themselves, quickly becoming citizens. That’s actually quite rare as countries go. Of course not all make it, and the USA is a much more unforgiving place than most Western countries (especially the EU), but that’s capitalism. However many do well enough and some do very well. That’s also capitalism. The USA set the standard many years ago for what people could hope to achieve in terms of quality of life, regardless of whether they actually achieve it in the USA.

    Until very recently, if I were anyone from an average ‘Jo’ to a skilled academic who wanted to move abroad to work hard and make a secure home for his family, the USA would be near the top of the list. Now, that would probably be Australia, Germany or Canada, but it certainly wouldn’t be China. All this USA-bashing is rather easy to do, but not so well thought out IMHO.

    Oh yeah, one other thing. For all its economic power and huge industrial output, can anyone name a successful globally-recognised Chinese brand (and Volvo doesn’t count)? I’m sure they will be coming, but it does speak volumes about the creative spirit of broadly free countries such as the USA. China is massively centralised and has to be that way, but it does seem to curb intellectual and entrepreneurial creativity. China can manufacture, but can it invent? Time will tell, but so long as America is one of the main innovators, it still has a pretty good chance for the future.

  12. “People who have nothing but praise for China have little understanding of its turbulent history.”

    Similarly, people who have nothing but praise for the US and the West in general are ignorant of their turbulent history. Or they just choose not to talk about it.

    The Western order was built not just on visionary ideas and bold enterprise but also on war, genocide, enslavement and environmental degradation on a stupendous scale. It took hundreds of years and millions of lives for Western societies to evolve into the liberal, tolerant and prosperous ones that we know and admire today.

    China is no democracy, but it has come very far from the despotic one-man-rule that you describe. Let’s see how things unfold.

  13. Just look at the annual immigration numbers for each country – nuff said.

  14. Gama Rala,

    “CHINA’s growth can be shutdown tomorrow – all America has to do is to raise trade barriers”

    A lot of things might happen if the US were to do that. It’ll cause chaos at the WTO. It’ll prompt a massive retaliation from China, using the potent options it has available. It’ll mean good times for other Third World exporters like Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and maybe even SL.

    But the question is, will it really shut down China’s growth? Probably not to the extent that you seem to imagine. Although the US is a large trading partner (the EU is the largest), it still accounts for only a fraction of China’s total trade. And trade accounts for only a fraction of China’s growth. Have you noticed that even while the US economy is in the tank, China’s is still booming? The country’s enormous domestic market is becoming the main growth engine. And not just for China itself, but increasingly, for the world. I don’t see the Australians or Germans rallying round to shut down China.

    “As for the debt to CHINA – this is a simple problem – devalue the USD pay the debt”

    That’s been done. Except it’s mostly the Europeans and Japanese who got burned. Oops. The Chinese yuan has a (largely) fixed exchange rate with the USD. You’d have to do something fairly radical to force a revaluation. Like printing tons of money. Simple indeed, but unAmerican. More likely the Chinese will eventually tire of their peg, and the dollar will fall as a consequence. But then you might have to kiss goodbye to those everyday low prices at Walmart and the cheap gas you need to get there.

  15. Rajiv

    Your first propostal will make an ipod about 2000 dollars, and break down right after the end of it warranty. just like anything GM

    The second will make a i-pod about 1/2 million dollars. :p

  16. Man you can take everything as you want. The bees are about the corrupt authorities, they are everywhere but I admit much less than say in SL. I do not need a new car, it is a 2004 European car which I modified to get more bang out of it. It has less than 35Kmiles ‘cos I have nowhere to go! and could not drive on the road until recently when I got my DL Before that my father or brother drove me to the track. During the SMOG test, the visual inspection usually fail such mods. In order to pass, you can refit all your original parts, pass the test or..
    Ethical living, Do not worry, I do not bribe. I do not have to. ‘cos I am better than that. Sometimes, just like in Sri Lanka, a phone call does the trick!
    Yes there are lot of nice places to live , yes but all those places, there are people who wish if it were better. The 22K is the national poverty line, there are many people who get less than that, in cities, suburbs and country side. My tuition is 11K (add 20-30K for living usually which I do not have because I live with my parents) and out of state students pay much more, like 34K. At the same time there are many programs that allow gifted ones to study. There is 100bn federal money available for grants etc in addition to all other scholarships etc.
    Good for you for choosing to live in USA. My family is pretty settled here and elsewhere, another developed country, as well. Yet I want to go back and make SL a better place, perhaps by applying capitalistic values or democratic values. Also because I know if things get rough, I can run, perhaps back to USA.

    China, one of my family members got residence in China, because of one of the factories in US got moved completely to China. I visited China last year and I was very impressed. Much like USA in 60’s (from stories I have heard). There are droves of people migrating to China. Pretty soon Mid East will have to fight for their maids with China, ‘cos those factory jobs are better than chasing Arabian dreams, even with harsh conditions, Chinese workers are facing.
    Did you think S.Korea would what it is today, 20 years ago? I met some migrated Sri Lankans there! It is a pretty good example of what China will be, hundred folds over.
    US raising trade barriers on China? Man where do you get your data? if that to happen, I will be very simple, HP (largest PC maker) Dell (the next) will go under for start (I ordered my notebook from HP and it was shipped directly from China!). Disney world and land will have no toys that they spent $0.50 to make and sell for $30.
    Have you heard of US Government bonds? Just check who owns them. Devalue US $? how? by selling gold to China? Yes it is happening, everyone is switching to Gold now including China and India while developed countries holding on to paper monies. Just research who are hoarding Gold. Since production is much lower than the demand, those come from somebody’s vaults.
    Just like you, I am here too, because of the of the opportunities and 51% of populace voted for Bush, twice! Come join our tea party. We need people like you! :) How about RN instead of GR, you will be taken in on a red carpet. But as always, I respect your choice!,

  17. Madonna once sang I’m a material girl and sadly the world sings along

  18. hello myil, I hope your sojourn away from the blog was a nice one.

  19. Did you see the new tourist resort the army opened in Jaffna Myil? Awesome huh? :)

  20. Suggest having a look at this video. Coming soon to a house near you and city teachers and police pension funds.

    Karl Denninger Explains Foreclosure-Gate On The Ratigan Show

    John Paulson Throwing Weight Around in DC Versus Foreclosure Fraud Inquiries

    his isn’t the first time Paulson has thrown his weight around to try to impede efforts that would help borrowers. Greg Zuckerman’s book The Greatest Trade Ever recounted at some length how Paulson first made threats and then lobbied to block swapping mortgages out of securitizations to facilitate mortgage modifications.

    So it appears this time that Paulson made a simple contrarian bet, based on insufficient due diligence, and again is relying on his financial firepower to make sure his trade works out as planned, no matter how many people get hurt in the process of maximizing his bottom line

    More of the same at this site. Read the posts and comment.
    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/

  22. Well, at least he didn’t get gun down in public

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