China: A Democracy in Fifty Years

Currently, there is a lot of debate about China. All countries in the world tolerate China for one very simple reason. They have 1.6 billion people. That is it. No other reason. 1.6 billion people mean 1.6 million toothbrushes that they have to buy every month. It means their military is larger than most country's populations. It means money. And the world is run on money. Simple as that.

Why do the Chinese people tolerate China then? Why do a people allow their government to repress them, and take away their most basic human rights? Why do they not care about the lack of freedom of speech? Very simple reason as well. Money.

China has been at war for almost a hundred years. From the turn of the 20th Century when the Ching Dynasty was overthrown, and the Republic of China was created, China has been at war. After the official creation of the Republic of China in 1911, China was embroiled in civil war for the next twenty years. Local warlords would declare themselves the King of their region. After the last of the uprising finished in 1929, Japan promptly invaded Mancuria in 1931. This was followed by almost 20 years of War with the Japanese, as well as World War II. Immediately following WWII, another Civil War embodied China. This time it was the Communist Uprising. It wasnt until 1957 with the National Party's withdrawal to Taiwan that official war was over.

The next thirty years were one of the darkest in China's history. With the cultural revolution, the people had nothing. It wasnt until the economic reforms of Deng Xiao Ping that Chinese people, for the first time in almost 400 years, had a chance to make money.

And make money they will. For the next fifty years, the Chinese community will be interested in making money, and nothing else. Its basic human nature. For 400 years China has watched while the world developed around them. The industrial revolution in Europe meant the once technologically advanced Chinese were suddenly on the back foot. Now, they are on the rise again, and they are reveling in it, and so they should.

However, another basic human instinct is to be greedy. People always want more. At the moment, the Chinese people are pre-occupied with making money. Thats all they care about almost. However, in fifty years, as the community matures, their interests will shift. Their priorities will change. All of sudden, the human rights that seem so unimportant now will become extremely important. People will start to realise that money isnt everything. As a kid, all you want is the newest toys. As you grow up, you want more, you want love, you want relationships. The same goes for a society. Its for this reason that I will say, in fifty years time, China will become a Democracy.

Watch this space