Who’s talking cock about India and China?

MAHATHIR TALKING COCK, PART 4

Is democracy bad for economic development? Is there such a thing as “too much” democracy? Does it slow down economic development? Mahathir (I am not a dictator) Mohamad says so.

Last week in India, he sneered at democracy as the cause of India’s growth being slower than China’s (a communist country). His people used to say that back in the 1990s too: NST group editor A Kadir Jasin wrote a Sunday column saying that democracy was not good for development, just look at China.

Here’s my very simplistic explanation of why India has been slower than China. Simplistic explanations are Mahathir’s favourite tool: the more simplistic, the more clever he sounds.

Why China is ahead of India in development

1. China started earlier — economic reforms 13 years before India.
2. They switched from a Soviet-style command economy to a free market economy. With a 13-year head start, of course they would be ahead of India (all things being equal).

But Mahathir (I am not a dictator) Mohamad did not take the trouble to tell you that. Instead he told India they had “too much” democracy, and that they should have more power at the centre and less power in the states so that they could develp faster.

What is democracy? How to organise your politics and your society. It’s not about economics.

Capitalism? The profit margin is king. Make money. Capitalism has nothing to do with politics or democracy.

Communism? How to control politics, the economy, and all of society. Politics? None. There is only one party, they run everything, including the economy. The party tells you what to do, where to go, and what to think. Party leaders, their families, their cronies and friends, and hangers-on end up owning everything. The people own the crumbs.

(That’s almost like how Malaysia does things.)

Who’s been talking cock about democracy and development?

But many people do agree there’s one “good” thing about China: they shoot corrupt people there. Do you think, maybe, Mahathir (I am not a dictator) Mohamad might just believe that’s actually a good thing? - uppercaise