Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems

[@OlaAluko]

"Democracy is becoming a perpetual cycle of elect and regret."

[@iche9373]

The reason is that the citizens of liberal democracies have a higher expectation of their politicians. Expectations that correspond to ideals such as integrity, justice, backbone, etc. Integrity such as adherence to treaties, which cannot necessarily be expected from a one-party state like the People's Republic.

[@zeflute4586]

@@iche9373 Higher expectation? Come on it's not like Trump won't be a universal failure

[@iche9373]

@@zeflute4586 It's easier to follow the pragmatic way as PR China does. Liberal democracies on the other side bases on ideals/virtues. Ideals are where the stars are, you can't reach them. And if you fail, you fall deep.

[@zeflute4586]

@@iche9373 what stars though? human rights? one human one vote? freedom of speech?

[@iche9373]

@@zeflute4586 An ideal is something that cannot be achieved, like creating a perfectly spherical shape, because reality always deviates from the ideal. It is like trying to reach for the stars from the sky.

[@tomimn2233]

I think the point he was trying to make was: 'USA and EU pls stop installing Beta/Pre-Patch electoral-based programs in countries that don't even meet the lowest system requirement or has incompatible Operating System and then cuts off customer support, leaving those countries flabbergasted trying to troubleshoot crashes and figuring out the bugs and glitches.'

[@crazymarky1]

LOL, good interpretation there.

[@joeyjia5553]

nice metaphor !

[@Alfaspring]

when a programer speaks pollitics :)

[@illDefine1]

oh that clarifies everything!

[@ethanwang2867]

More like a virus - Guatemala, Iran etc etc etc

[@patience1630]

man, the way how he explains is so fucking mindblowing. i am a political science student in indonesia and never have i ever heard this kind of mini lecture which can literally explain this so flawlessly.

[@MrMike9ed]

@@dareartes4232 must be American

[@girafantifa]

@@dareartes4232 "everything I don't believe or don't understand is the devil" energy

[@johnyossarian9059]

You should move to America, you sound so much like the average American: "Everything I don't agree with is a pRoPAgAnDa hur dur"

[@SaretGnasoh]

@@dareartes4232 then you are those brainwashed victim of USA's propaganda

[@Redmanticore]

you sound like a child incapable of critical thinking, Mr. patience1630

[@blessedland000]

这是我见过的，非常有说服力、有真正的自信、英文非常高级的中国精英，佩服！中国有这样的人才，中国很有希望！

[@wobhineven47]

为啥国内看不到这么好的宣传啊....

[@marx1472]

@@wobhineven47 中国的体制在历史课本上都有，地方科举察举，吏部选官，宰相起于州县。

[@kainson8867]

@@wobhineven47 因為你們是中共， 沒自由

[@wobhineven47]

@@kainson8867 : ) 但我们都相信，将来我们会有更好的自由。

[@wensun3903]

@@wobhineven47 多读读历史，历史是最好的宣传。

[@NathanRichHotpot]

Interesting perspective. Thanks.

[@yiyihive]

Ur videos are awesome as well. it is okay to love CN ❤

[@xuyi8732]

Just came back from your videos to here wow

[@llyfam9384]

是火锅佬!

[@自媒体创业学院]

活捉火锅大王！

[@williamyu7204]

Hi Nathan

[@stephen7yu]

Years ago, this has millions of views already, thanks to YT censorship, now it passes 800,000.

[@thisiskevin1000]

Algorithm

[@zibaqu3622]

lol

[@MichelleSuiComedy]

Let them live in their own world. Our objective is better lives for all Chinese people then maybe we can help them.

[@yayawang88]

Exactly. I remember so well as I shared this video a few years ago on my FB and it had 2m or so back then.

[@什么样子世界]

Yeah it was interesting to see the number of view is dropping every year..

[@beshr1993]

About time somebody said that! Thank you, Eric. We, in the Middle East, have had enough of imitating one system after another and failing; we need to carve our own path based on our own cultural, historical and geopolitical values like China did.

[@romulopahuyo5542]

If you want this kind of thinking go.to.China and be a citizen for you to realize that you are lucky that you are not chinese..

[@ChinaSongsCollection]

@@romulopahuyo5542 I have been to China many times before, and I can say I would be very happy to live there permanently. And many Chinese who can live in the West choose to live in China. I personally know some of them. And not sure if you know this, there are many Westerners who want to *MIGRATE* to China!! yes, you heard right, not just live there, but actually migrate there!

[@romulopahuyo5542]

@@ChinaSongsCollection Well thank you for this information.. People have different views and should be respected... It is not communism or democracy or capitalism that is evil it depends on the people how to use it to their own advantage for the common good.

[@musicjoule6591]

@@romulopahuyo5542 yes， they killed many people to keep their regime

[@malicefunky4762]

Good luck bro. You people deserve more respect and good life

[@xaxhdlogs3067]

It's almost 10 years now, Eric is winning his bet.

[@iliamironov9700]

China didn't move an inch from the TI rankings, still behind USA on GDP. Point 3 is still true.

[@wangxs]

Interesting to watch this video in 2020, and find Eric Li has lost all his 3 bets: 1) now it's pretty clear that China can't surpass US in GDP by 2023; 2) Chinese corruption is still rampant, and by now the world is well aware that Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign has been highly motivated by his intent of eliminating his political adversaries; 3) China's political reform has not only hard stopped but even backpaddled towards Stalinism/Maoism.

[@dpinthehouse9637]

1) The GDP difference between China and US is still decreasing, based on current trend surpass is only time dependent. 2) Corruption is problem to all developing country, but Chinese people feel much better than 7 years ago. Xi maybe controversial, but his U.S. counterpart shows how ridiculous a world leader could be. 3) For people believe that upper decision decided by the economic backgroundand, it is easy to understand China's current political system fit China's current condition. And reform is in progress but just not in the way the west media wants.

[@watson7042]

@@wangxs LOL, As an American who lived in China for more than ten years and obtained my PHD in Fudan university. I completely disagree with you. i) the GDP surpass bet is based on America's Goldman Sachs' prediction in 2006, almost all believed that around 2012 just years after financial crisis. ii) Anti-corruption campaign has been appraised by not only the Chinese but many American think tanks (I worked for one of them for coordinating a both sides to a govt project, I knew it) and it is not a campaign to eliminate his adversaries since there are more than one and a half million corrupted people sentenced to jail, are you serious that the most powerful man after Mao need to eliminate so many people to maintain his power? It is easier for him to buy all his adversaries (given all his control of state-owned enterprises etc. etc.) without any conflicts with them instead of sentencing them all into prison. iii) If you define political reform as instant transformation into pure democracy as what Russia did in 1990s (and Russia collapsed and suffered until another strong man Putin came to power), then of course China hasn't have a political reform after 1949. But if you define political reform as changes in all respects like how to run the country, how to have more accountability, how do you improve your people's well-being and so on so forth, then by definition, there are substantial reforms being implemented, China's political reform has been incrementally occurred and accumulated year by year. I lived here and I know how enormous has the government and all other official related institutions changed their style to serve people not to suppress people, even in 4th tier city like Lanzhou, Last week I visited there, almost all govt related services are handled online (all procedures are standardised and will inform you by phone or Wechat ), if you wish, you do not need to contact or pay bribes to anyone, the digital tech can serve better).

[@wangxs]

@@watson7042 Judging by your English writing, if you were American with a Fudan PhD, I can pretend Martian.

[@jayceh]

The problem with democracy is that given an undereducated electorate, it's those who are good at running for office who are elected, not those who can actually govern. Those two skills are generally unrelated.

[@ScipioXII]

It’s a good thing the US is a Democratic republic then

[@KA-vs7nl]

OMMBoy no its a oligarchic authoritarian police state cloaked in a facade of a constitutional republic

[@jayceh]

@@ScipioXII let the excuses flow. It's not the formal structure that matters but the outcome. And the outcome is not democratic Republic at all. But cling to the form, not the function. That's always an easy fall back.

[@ScipioXII]

K M sure it is, and I’m assuming you think the jews run the world as well? If you want I’ll personally pay for a government class you can take. You honestly need it if you want to understand how governments work 😂

[@jayceh]

@@ScipioXII no thanks, I paid attention in school, but didn't stop my education there. Cf Martin Gilens, Testing Theories of American politics. Bottom 90% income earners - so 95% of eligible voters - have _zero_ impact on legislation. I know what representative democracy is, and claims to be. So you can assume everyone else is ignorant, or realize your 15 years of education amounts to nothing more than indoctrination - same as what you probably think of the Chinese.

[@samcresswell518]

"If they would spend just a little less time trying to force their way on others and a little bit more on political reform at home, they might give democracy a better chance." The sad thing is, this pretty much sums up the US. Due to polarisation, gerrymandering, special interest groups and political apathy, the US is gradually becoming less democratic in many respects.

[@CEZA-123]

US is not a democracy

[@khrachvikkhrachvik7049]

It was never democratic in the true sense of the word "rule by the people". We've always been given an illusion of democracy in America, where owners of big capital choose candidates that will bow to their interests, then pretend letting us choose from a list of them they give us is democratic Read Madison's notes on the constitutional Congress. Read how they unanimously voted down the bill of rights at first, read how half of their debates was figuring out three best ways to insulate the wealthy elites from democracy.

[@eleethtahgra7182]

Lobbyist. In the west, its legal. In developing nations, its called corruption. Big double standard there.

[@inkbold8511]

All these problems you just described is called democracy

[@SaretGnasoh]

@@CEZA-123 US is a republic, in which representative "democracy". Representative democracy is one type of democracy. So yeah, USA is indeed a democracy country

[@n661]

I think the key difference is cultural. China was a meritocratic society (with the exception of its absolute head, the emperor who inherited his throne) during its dynastic reign. The civil service was based on examinations and the candidate's ability to lead. However, Western scholars and media often focus on the autocratic nature of the emperor and not its pool of civil servants. Eric Li is demonstrating a system that's not too different from that. Meritocracy and accountability are the keys to creating a peaceful and modern society in my opinion and political systems have to evolve with technology and the constantly changing needs of the masses. It doesn't matter what the political system is in name.

[@noelborbon6155]

Inherent racism in their analysis

[@iche9373]

„Meritocracy“ is just another word for neoliberalism to make the rich people richer.

[@iche9373]

And PR China has upgraded now its system to a 100% dictatorship where Xi rules forever.

[@yiyangshao2003]

@@iche9373 Not that exactly. Examination system in ancient China gives middle class students the chance to jump to the upper class. Indeed it still almost impossible for a student from the lower class to jump directly to the upper class, but at that time there were no better option(if you know any other better option, please reply me)

[@iche9373]

@@yiyangshao2003 Not true, even before the Shang era in Asia there were already ancient cities and town which were led in an egalitarian way, and they existed for about several thousand years. They had no kings, queens or nobles. It was egalitarian.

[@ce1474]

8:25 impressive. Here in America, we're entirely dominated by princelets. Incompetent, but have connections and money. That's what's valued here - appearances

[@joshtep6784]

I enjoyed this man. He was articulate without stepping on toes while at the same time breaking the ice. The moral of this story is that, imposed systems of governments do not work especially if it is suggested that there is only one alternative. Results speak louder than rhetoric.

[@danielkrzysiek]

You don't know anything about China, do you?

[@86Corvus]

Democracy is not imposed, its selected by the nation from the nation.

[@CEZA-123]

is a hoax, america is not even a democracy

[@rulin4962]

86Corvus If you really believe democracy is not forced, why try so hard selling it to China? If it is really a good thing for everyone, they will eventually accept it on their own.

[@tennissport4318]

exactly the point - and as you know, the chinese communist is the one who is disallowing any other alternative form of government ( correction - yes you can try and ask - nicely - and crossing your fingers that they will not lock you up ) - versus, in USA, we do allow communist party to run for election - but I guess the communist by its own very nature of dictatorship - see China for a very good text book example of that - is somehow not very good in convincing the people - in an open, audited, uncensored society of USA - to vote for them. They are out of their typical elements of lies, deceits, twisted facts, faked news, bribery and threats by violence.

[@haoqingwang4233]

The whole point of this presentation is to address the dangers of meta-narratives. Most of the comments here are arguing if Chinese political system(or communism) is better than western democracy. But Eric X. Li was not trying to promote one-party system and belittle democracy. Watch this video again from 15:43.

[@jinlancera-2]

He just tries to prove that a monopoly can avoid Dead Weight Social Loss, but he couldn't, because losing freedom, justice and corruption are social costs and are Dead Weight Loss. The costs are in our prices and reducing our income. The high price of goods and low income are living evidences.

[@haoqingwang4233]

d

[@wxw2105]

***** Justice and corruption are not always the cost of an authoritarian government (or "monopoly" in your language). Living evidence: Hong Kong and Singapore are two of the least corrupted countries/cities in the world. They both have great legal system. Both rank better than the U.S. in the Corruption Perceptions Index. And neither are very democratic in western perceptions. Meanwhile, India and Philippine have had democracy for 50 years and they are still very corrupted. I started to question the value of democracy when I lived in Singapore. Singapore is a better nation to live than many democratic countries. Most importantly, the simple(naive) model of "monopoly" from Economics 100 is not the omnipotent explanation for the complexity our society. Thinking only in the box of "Economics 100" or "Political Science 100" is exactly what Li was arguing against. He only wants to point out that we should not only stick with one system or one model, and eliminate all the other options. He was not trying to promote one-party or authoritarian system. He only tried to point out that other than democracy, there MIGHT be another system which better maximize people's interests. And China's achievements in the past 30 years could provide some support for this claim. People nowadays have such a faith in democracy that we brainwashed ourselves into doubt-less believers. We hunt down and eliminate any dissidents who dare to raise doubts about democracy( or Economics100 ^ ^). This is kind of like Middle Ages again, only the church is now replaced by democracy. Li was not asking us to abolish democracy, he only ask us to avoid meta-narratives. We should not treat democracy as a religion. No one knows if two hundred years later, people would not look at democracy like we look at church today. P.S. It is kind of funny that you use the model of monopoly and dead weight loss. These terms might sound scary, but they are only theoretical and really proves nothing.

[@jinlancera-2]

wxw2105 Justice and corruption are not always the cost of an authoritarian government (or "monopoly" in your language). Living evidence: Hong Kong and Singapore are two of the least corrupted countries/cities in the world. ============================== Did you hear that in Hong Kong, a rich Chinese immigrant who wanted to pay 10K HK dollar to a driving coach to get his daughter passed for her driving test in Hong Kong? Did you see that the Hong Kong media has no difference with the mainland Chinese media now? Did you hear that Mr. Liang stated that he has no duty to report his 40 million HKD worth of income? Can you do the same in the USA and not be jailed? Singapore doesn't have a real free press, how do we know whether real facts of injustice and corruption are realistically audited? They both have great legal system. Both rank better than the U.S. in the Corruption Perceptions Index. ============================= Yes, they do, but without free press, how can we measure the truth? how can we compare? And neither are very democratic in western perceptions. Meanwhile, India and Philippine have had democracy for 50 years and they are still very corrupted. ============================== From my interviews with Indian and Philippine friends, they do believe their corruption level are better than Hong Kong. I don't know how they draw that conclusion but that's how they feel. I started to question the value of democracy when I lived in Singapore. Singapore is a better nation to live than many democratic countries. ============================= If Chinese citizens can have the welfare that Singapore people, the one party rule can last longer. Chinese people are very kind and tolerable. Most importantly, the simple(naive) model of "monopoly" from Economics 100 is not the omnipotent explanation for the complexity our society. Thinking only in the box of "Economics 100" or "Political Science 100" is exactly what Li was arguing against. He only wants to point out that we should not only stick with one system or one model, and eliminate all the other options. ============================== There are only two options, One is one party rule, the other is more than one party rule. More than one party rule is a stable situation and least costly proved by world history. One party rule cause inefficiency and sacrifice freedom, also proved by world history. He was not trying to promote one-party or authoritarian system. He only tried to point out that other than democracy, there MIGHT be another system which better maximize people's interests. ============================== He presumed that all Chinese people's interests are money, justice and freedom are not included in his assumption, because he thought justice and freedom don't worth any money. And China's achievements in the past 30 years could provide some support for this claim. ============================== The achievements also can prove that justice and freedom worth something since the growth come from freedom to do business and peasants are no longer be confined on land. People nowadays have such a faith in democracy that we brainwashed ourselves into doubt-less believers. ============================= If you are not holding on to your bias, it's scientifically and historically proved worldwide and easy to understand like 1+1=2. We hunt down and eliminate any dissidents who dare to raise doubts about democracy( or Economics100 ^ ^). ========================== Dissidents are valued in democracy, disagree with you doesn't necessarily wish you disappear. Any wild religion is allowed and valued when practice divergent thinking. This is kind of like Middle Ages again, only the church is now replaced by democracy. ======================== It's totally the opposite, Middle Ages churches were monopolies, that's why they doomed to fail, democracy encourages diversity and fair competition. Li was not asking us to abolish democracy, he only ask us to avoid meta-narratives. ========================= His main idea of diversity is not wrong, but his supporting of monopoly is backward and showed his weakness of Humanity studies. We should not treat democracy as a religion. ============================== One party rule is a monotheism, democracy is just a solution to counteract the power of a tyranny. If the one party rule is not a tyranny and doing everything right, its citizens won't cry for democracy. No one knows if two hundred years later, people would not look at democracy like we look at church today. ============================= From of our experience of market economy, we know that no one wants to go back to a planned economy, because freedom does have values to human beings. P.S. It is kind of funny that you use the model of monopoly and dead weight loss. These terms might sound scary, but they are only theoretical and really proves nothing.  ============================ These terms are the terms that teenagers in Hong Kong know their value. You can't understand is your loss.

[@wxw2105]

***** Your friends from India and Philippine must be delusional if they think their country is less corrupted than HK. I was asked for bribe once when I was at Philippine airport. Can you just believe in the Corruption Perception Index, not your friends? The index is widely credited and statistically significant. Well, if you really want to talk about economics, here is a credited paper from Harvard: Monitoring Corruption:Evidence from a Field experiment from Indonesia. www.nber.org/papers/w11753 Its conclusion states:" increasing grass-roots participation had little impact overall. The findings suggest that grass-roots monitoring may be subject to free-rider problems. Overall, the results suggest that traditional top-down monitoring can play an important role in reducing corruption, even in a highly corrupt environment." This is another example showing that democracy is not ALWAYS the best tool for fighting corruption. This example is supported by numbers, not by subject perceptions. There are many facts out there which shows that democracy is not ALWAYS the best tool. I am not completely rejecting democracy, maybe you should not completely rejecting authoritarianism as well. That's all I am asking.

[@theunprofessionalleon2470]

Seem like only the extreme comments can get more likes nowadays, this TED Talk is not really about which political system is better, the speaker was just asking us to abandon metanarrative thoughts about democracy by showing us some facts about chinese political system that are not known by people in other nations.

[@漢武神]

+Jiye Ren Sorry to be rude, but, you're a new, and Eric heavily implies that the Chinese system is better, and uses humor to achieve this effect. he's right, but, that's not the reason why democracy is fail.

[@theunprofessionalleon2470]

漢武神 I wouldn't say samplily listing the accomplishments of the Communist Party of China is prooving the Chinese System is better, afterall, western democratic systems leading by the USA had accomplished a lot, like sending men on the moon or inventing internet, just to name a few...... The main concept of this talk is still about telling people to abandon the meta-narrative so that people shall look at China in a more objective way instead of picturing it as an evil regime all the time without thinking. But thanks very much for the reply though, didn't expect any reply this soon since this is an old vedio. ^_^

[@漢武神]

Jiye Ren Americans and its Allies aren't willing to abandon their democracy even thought it means being impoverished by that very system and being unhappy with civics and politics in general. you should be _far_ more worried America's domestic policy and its culture of Global idiocy, than actually trying to disprove their arguments or respond to them with a rational discussion. America wants to enslave the world and create a population of idiots. shouldn't this worry you? it should for any rational human being. let us bring knowledge instead of death to the world.

[@theunprofessionalleon2470]

漢武神 Still to early to say anything yet, global politics are not just about China and USA, though I'm positive about the future since there are so many issues that really requires super powers like China and USA to work together and hence reduce the tension between these two nations, such as global warming; However, though lack of data, judging from the radical comments about China, I suppose you do have a point.

[@漢武神]

Jiye Ren the radical comments regarding China is because of Mentally-retarded individuals. you have to have an average or below average IQ to believe some of the phenomena that these individuals believe in. Global warming also doesn't exist, it's a Myth. but there is change in our climate systems that includes both deliberate and non-deliberate actions from humans, specifically those from America. the American people in North America, not its Governments, are responsible for All pollution in the world, because they are consumers. that includes Chinese who have emigrated to America, regardless of citizenship. Global politics only involves one state - New York. every Major event is related to the past and actions of the United States both the public and private, because it is the Global center of Money and power. China needs not cooperate with the United States, but rather respond appropriately at the right time. it would require China to Attack the United States on a geopolitical level when the opportunity arises, if China wants to survive.

[@javierwagner4410]

10 years later and he got 1/3 predictions correct, the one about corruption. However, what i think is the most valuable message, which he mentions at the end, is that there are many potential political system designs that can achieve "success" or goals as we define them. I think that is the new paradigm that many people in the comments miss. He is not saying do what China is doing, he is saying, there is not a single design to solve the governance problem.

[@Ateshtesh]

Im not agreed. - China ends with the extreme poverty in all the country, being a world record never achieved for anyone else, more than 800 millions of people (data from the world bank), that cannot be achieved with high corruption. - China is currently the top country in science contribution, not only in quantity but also in quality (said by the nature magazine). - China leads in 37 of 44 technologies tracked in a year-long project by thinktank the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. (And this is on going). - China is the first economy in the world if you measure it by GDP PPP (By country) and is projected that If nothing of that is not a big achievement for a country that just 70 years ago was more poor that any African Country and also having in mind that not other country has achieve this in all the entire history of humanity, I don't know what is it.

[@davidchou1675]

2/3 correct since per PPP (GDP by PPP) China is already the largest economy. You know who else thinks so? The CIA...that's right; the boys at Langley rank the Chinese economy the largest since they use PPP and not Nominal GDP. You know who else? The IMF. In fact, many if not most economists use PPP. Not exclusively but they give it much more weight when compared against Nominal GDP.

[@123asd-x1h]

Democracy needs rational people, which rarely exist online

[@bobbarkeriii2597]

True. Nobody is very rational in online chat rooms and comment sections.

[@drewcampbell8555]

Or in political office.

[@lisashung9442]

As human beings, we are wired in a mixture of rational and irrational, so the voting system doesn’t necessarily lead to democracy.......in the recently years, we all have witnessed so many irrational voting events, such USA Trump as a president, Brexit, Boris Johnson as UK PM.......etc......people voted out of emotions, anger, despair, rebellion, speculation..... and so on, people are becoming less and less rational nowadays.......

[@EthosDemerzel]

and off line also...

[@wenbinxu1951]

The essence of representative democracy is not merely letting the people choose. It's fundamental meaning is to check and balance the power of the regime. All powers must be limited whether elected or not. Unfortunately, there has been no such thing in China.

[@n3phatkomu30]

From an African it's the best stuff I've ever heard

[@21sausage9]

@@burgerkingfootlettuce1880 somebody is mad...I smell insecurity

[@coronavirusisacommunistchi845]

We will exterminate all you commies

[@21sausage9]

@@coronavirusisacommunistchi845 wow you must be the smartest kid in school

[@iche9373]

Just develop your African Union, and let King T'Challah of Wakanda become President. Sell some Vibranium, invest it in infrastructure, Health Care, etc. Life can be so easy, no need to go the Chinese Way. Wakanda Forever.

[@Alberto.LIS.Morais]

Yes, and we, as Africans, must choose our own path. We have a completely different history ... so for Africa to become big we have to embrace our cultural heritage and make a model that works for us ...

[@Abraham-uk4xy]

I admire this guy. He studied at Berkeley and Stanford and remained proudly and patriotic Chinese.

[@soniasummer9001]

Watching it again now on Jan 21, 2021. I couldn't agree more with what Eric has said! Beautiful speech

[@SeabassFLA]

Hear here! He was right on his predictions. 7 years ago I would have received this speech completely differently.

[@psychobuzzard]

So when are you moving to China?

[@danielkrzysiek]

Rotfl

[@patrikpass2962]

You dont see how this system work like Western companies? Imagine a bad owner ruling your country and the only way to change it is to go through the owners system of selection. Good luck.

[@palmpalm5131]

@@patrikpass2962 They apparently have an internal electoral process within the party system to vote for and elect their president. True, they can end up electing a bad president but the same can be true for Western democracies.

[@yojimbo3681]

Democracy works exactly as designed. Let the masses vote. The problem is: if the masses are ignorant/uneducated, you're going to vote into power an ignorant/uneducated government.

[@dealingdesler1737]

Sounds like China people when they voted Xi :))

[@wobhineven47]

@@dealingdesler1737 We didnt vote Xi. We are kind of dictatorship, and most of us dont vote. But we believe in CCP's choice. And if we voted, we're more likely to elect someone who's willing blow up taiwan by force and unify china. That'll be insane.

[@triplemania5550]

@@wobhineven47 So how about the concentration camps, is that a good choice?

[@triplemania5550]

@ wob Hineven There's no need to put words into my mouth. That's just a way to evade the question: Do you think the CCP concentration camps are a good idea?

[@yojimbo3681]

@@triplemania5550 To play devil's advocate, US also houses concentration camps for migrant detainees and forced separation of children from their parents. That being said, the answer is of course not. No country will admit to concentration camps being a good idea.

[@leondu]

"Democracy is becoming a perpetual cycle of elect and regret." Truer than ever

[@wyt168]

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." -- H.L. Mencken

[@iche9373]

@@wyt168 Just go to China.

[@MrKumfo]

@@iche9373 democracy is fucking dumb

[@iche9373]

The reason is that the citizens of liberal democracy have a higher expectation of their politicians. Expectations that correspond to ideals such as integrity, etc. Integrity such as adherence to treaties, which cannot necessarily be expected from a one-party state like the People's Republic.

[@suriyamuthumani4128]

The best argument against democracy is a 5 minute conversation with the average voter.

[@lilwalis6742]

OMG what brought me here during the pandemic!? This talk is amazing. Thanks for updating. "Are you brave enough to brace it!"

[@pamlo3311]

His projection of China 8 years ago mostly turn into reality. Isn't this amazing!

[@inkbold8511]

No way this video was 8 years ago? Damn what his saying is correct.

[@DrakeLimOfficial]

@@inkbold8511 Yes, posted on 2013.

[@davidspecht8043]

Which projections? I'm looking at the 3 at 15:30 China has made great strides in becoming the world's second largest economy(based on GDP), but being generous 2025 would be the earliest when China surpasses the U.S. China has made little progress at increasing their TI rating with a 2013 rank of 80, and as of 2020 sits at 78th place, so they're probably not getting higher than 70 for 2023 For the last statement I don't quite know how to measure it, but I'll say that the 1 party system is currently going strong. However with the removal of term limits, it may be heading in other directions as power gets centralized(problem he mentioned at 6:46).

[@DrakeLimOfficial]

@@davidspecht8043 I believe the OP of this comment meant that he predicted it. This is quite an old video, posted in 2015.

[@davidspecht8043]

@@DrakeLimOfficial I might be looking in the wrong place then, as I'm assuming the predictions are the ones he gave at 15:30, and China is not on track to become the largest economy within the 10 year span(though they made impressive progress), nor did they make significant progress towards improving their TI ranking. Also youtube gives the upload date of videos below the title. It says Jul 1, 2013 for me, so presumably the talk had to be either on that day or before.

[@francislee2910]

[22.07.28] Watched this video again, and I found Eric missed something very important dearly! He said "... In just 30 years China went from one of the poorest agricultural country in the world to a 2nd largest economy!" What he missed was "PEACEFULLY!"

[@suningchen]

And the cost.

[@curtisalex456]

The main reason China was able to achieve this is because of US investment. Corporate greed is the downfall of the US. Right now the US has forbidden the sale of advanced computer chips to China. As usual, because of corporate greed, The US allows the sale of the machinery to make those chips to China. Despite everything that is going on right now, the US biggest investment banks are still selling Chinese-based financial products to their customers. With the war going on in Ukraine, China is buying gas/petrol from Russia and it is selling it to Europe. "Europe" is acting like "they" do not where the gas/petrol is coming from. "They" are just a bunch of hypocrites.

[@Orwellian-Purple-Grapes-1984]

@@curtisalex456 Wrong. The small amount of USA investment doesn't compare at all to the direct investment that came from the overseas Chinese diaspora all over the world. That's the main contribution to China's success.

[@Siegfriedcn]

It's been 8 years, and the fact shows Eric is correct about almost everything, and everyone who's interested about political should watch this talk

[@daniellien6704]

He’s correct about a lot of things, but crucially his prediction on corruption has not come true. I really admire this talk, but China was ranked as a 42 on the last Transparency Index. Corruption has not come close to being curbed yet.

[@reisenshin991]

@@daniellien6704 To Chinese citizen, it was improved significently.

[@speedstriker]

You can't wait someone pretending to sleep. But the cold hard floor can.

[@KentI999]

@@daniellien6704 Thats exactly what he predicted. Curbed, but not eliminated, and move up 10-20 notches.

[@aison2735]

​@@daniellien6704 I don't think so,In fact, that ranking is inaccurate,Doesn’t reflect reality...Because countries around the world have different definitions of corruption,There is no uniform standard，Many countries have greatly relaxed the criteria for defining corruption,To legitimize corruption,Corruption isn’t corruption anymore.The statistics immediately became beautiful, but in fact it was not true,The quickest way to combat corruption is to legalize corruption, which is a helpless irony, but it is widely accepted，China has not taken this road, has not compromised on corruption, and the legal definition of corruption is clear,The punishment is severe and has been actively combating corruption,And further improve the anti-corruption system and continue to develop,good results have been achieved, The behavior of many countries, including the United States, is serious corruption by Chinese standards，But it's legal in those countries, In China, corruption is still corruption,，Can identify it and contain it,But in some countries corruption is no longer corruption，It’s hard to identify it, much less contain it，Although the people may be aware of the problem, there is nothing they can do,Can't be more desperate.

[@bazzalseed]

Hmm. I clearly remember this talk had more than a million views 3 years ago before I graduated from college.

[@packy_v]

哈哈哈，讽刺的是，现在只有51万了。

[@leftleg4024]

damn bro

[@joeyjia5553]

yes, I am also wondering, thought that I remembered wrongly

[@rafikingkong]

youtub twitter FB have their fine way to censor the unwished information

[@copyfx9070]

Youtue is deleting them slowly, and they also deleting the subscibe which looks kind of Wall, this is not American freedom.

[@SabrinaFeng-n4d]

This is a lecture that all political science and all other open-minded human beings need to heared

[@endingalaporte]

This guy is so smart and calm. It is a pleasure to listen to him.

[@ravineseder3133]

Ha ha ha! Gotcha! YOU"VE been propagandized!

[@XingchaoYu]

"democracy is becoming a cycle of elect and regret”. lol. truth.

[@muralimarga8529]

+Charles Yu (Chao) i do agree i am indian born in 1948 and since then seeing successive governments failing the people. Imagine just to pass bill on GST (single indirect tax system) discussions are going on for the last 14 years and every time they are promising it will be implemented within next financial year.

[@andygsp]

+Charles Yu (Chao) +m-murali Murali I do agree democracy is broken and frustrating, but I would most definitely rather a broken democracy than what the CCP offers. When was the last time a democratic government murdered up to 80 million of their own citizens???

[@yichangqiji6329]

+Andrew Gray Please give me any evidence that Chinese government murdered up to 80 million of citizens. I did a little bit research of this Falun Gong stuff. And when the rumor was spreading all over the world, the U.S. Government sent people to China and investigate the hospital where the Falun Gong members said the organ harvesting was operated. The result is that the U.S. Government released an official documentation said there was no single evidence that the murdered exist. Do you know why Google and KZbin was blocked in China. When I tried to google the truth about the rumor. Almost all the pages are related to the "Truth" that you believed.

[@andygsp]

+yunpeng fan Haha you're funny.

[@hoezhiwan]

@@yichangqiji6329 Maybe looking into more of it would be helpful. Here are some things that happened. Forced organ harvesting on Falun Gong Practitioners: www.stoporganharvesting.org/what-is-organ-harvesting/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_harvesting_from_Falun_Gong_practitioners_in_China Uighurs forced into "re-education" camps: www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-08/uyghur-woman-details-life-inside-chinese-re-education-camp/10697044 You may have some type of patriotism or biased towards China, I hope you do not ignore facts that are deemed very likely to be true. If you do not want to change your beliefs that is okay, but spreading false information or accusing people that they are wrong or baseless is stupid. Mao's great leap forward killed 45 million people: www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/maos-great-leap-forward-killed-45-million-in-four-years-2081630.html In the plus side, if you have looked pass many "rumors" about mass killings just to search for something that fits your interest that is called biased since I can't find the official documents you said the US had released. but how about this one where people are investigating China Persecution of Falun Gong: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_to_Investigate_the_Persecution_of_Falun_Gong Please do not take this as an attack but even though I am Chinese, I do not like China's way of treating human's rights. Google and KZbin are blocked in China not because it would allow "rumors" to spread but if rather is to stop the people from knowing anything about what the CCP did to the people. Even if it is a rumor, why censoring or blocking the Internet as when people go look for the truth on the Internet.

[@pandabearoceanpark]

Wow! just found this and watching the recording 8 years later. His analysis and prediction is right on the money!

[@LtChamberz]

None of his predictions came true. China is still at 65th (so some improvement, but not as much as he predicted). China does not have the biggest economy or highest per capita income. And from what I understand, Xi has started to reverse some economic reform (exerting more control over private industry like he did with tech industries). But he's right that one party control is holding firmer than ever due to Xi appointing loyalist underlings. I was very amused by his mention of term limits being a political reform. Xi removed those limits in 2018! What this guy also does not address is how China's system deals with corruption at the top. Sure, Xi is a competent leader and was appointed based on merit. But what is his accountability if/when he starts making bad decisions? I did like Eric's description of the Organization Department, I hadn't really been familiar with that before. I especially like the idea of them doing public surveys in the process of reviewing government officials' performance. That is almost as good as voting and maybe even better because it doesn't have the same campaign financing problems that democracy has. But does that performance review go all the way to the top? Is it anonymous? Can people criticize their superiors without fear of reprisal? In the US of course we have the (usually) rare option of impeachment. The legislature can censure or remove the executive if they abuse their power.

[@julietao2554]

Wow! in about twenty minutes, he explained a complex topic in the most simple and straightforward fashion, eloquent and persuasive. What a remarkable job!

[@MrMike9ed]

@@dareartes4232 You don't give up. Someone explains something in relatable terms and you label it propaganda. Do you read Joseph Mc Carthy every night ?

[@jameswang362]

@dareartes4232 What you do is called "trolling" @

[@XhekajFacePunch]

His prediction about moving to the top 60 in TI rankings in 10 years is spot on. With one year to go, China has improved to 63, after going +3 on the year.

[@255p]

but how about finacial & political reform in china

[@XhekajFacePunch]

@@255p They certainly need some financial tweaks, though their continued success and rising fortunes allow for incremental moves. Political reform? Why would they ever bother? Western democracy has no real history there and the appetite just isn't strong enough.

[@benhardsim8629]

What is TI ?

[@XhekajFacePunch]

@@benhardsim8629 Transparency International

[@XhekajFacePunch]

@@chen-qq7eg Really? That's quite a jump.

[@pegefounder]

This video was recommended in a discussion about the first Trump Biden TV debate. How far down has fallen US-democracy the last 7 years.

[@dapengxiong]

America has been divided badly. Each party has viewed the other as its enemy. The British style democracy is better in the sense that they need to talk and compromise to each other to form a government. In other words, to the least, they need to work together as partners.

[@Andy-em8xt]

@@dapengxiong British Democracy is still mostly a 2 party system where the main parties never compromise with each other. Although partisanship is more extreme in the US it exists in every country with political parties vying for power.

[@dapengxiong]

@@Andy-em8xt Thx for mentioning that. But I still believe that it should be better.

[@mikloshoffer1038]

Nah, it's just that the filth got more to the surface. It has always been there.

[@iche9373]

"AMERICA IS BACK" - Biden

[@jifa17]

WOW, this video is incredible. YT has been showing me this video for years and I reluctantly watched this in the end. It is remarkable. He is so insightful.

[@polarmhs8578]

I don't often comment on videos, but I have to say that this was a remarkably well-delivered talk. The speaker's points on the dangers of meta-narratives are becoming all the more relevant in the modern world, a world embittered with Western hegemony. One of the problems with the classical populist-democratic worldview in the West is that it assumes that political liberties are always "good" and that figures of great authority are "evil". The development of a society is not solely defined by its degree of political freedom, and many people in the West fail to consider this. The ability to vote is not the only personal freedom that is relevant to an individual living in modern society. Individuals also care about whether their society provides them with economic opportunity, whether there is freedom to choose a career path that suits one's own interests, whether public streets are safe enough for individuals to be free from fear of being attacked, and so on. Of these practical and more lifestyle-oriented forms of personal freedom, there are many that have been consistently upheld in China over the last few decades starting from Deng's socioeconomic reforms. For a vast proportion of Westerners it may seem natural to emphasize liberties in the realm of politics, but they must also learn to recognize that for peoples in other parts of the world, liberties in the realm of living standards can be just as important. From a factual standpoint, it is undeniable that China has made enormous progress economically, being able to continually reduce its poverty rate while steadily increasing its GDP, education quality, and height of industry. The speaker in this talk acknowledged that the Chinese government is not without its flaws, citing corruption, and also mentioned the many challenges that China must still overcome. This is noteworthy because of the West's tendency to dismiss the disadvantages of democracy as an ideology. Cyclical political instability, inability of elected governments to pursue long-term goals, back-and-forth movement in policy where one administration undoes all changes made by the previous one, extremely slow responsiveness to public demand as seen with "Brexit" delays: all of these characteristics point to flaws in the Western political model. The lesson to be learned is that no political system is without its flaws, but some systems are more suitable for a society's current situation than other systems. When considering China, a society of 1.4 billion people, it's not hard to understand why having recurring elections could hinder the development of the country instead of helping it. There would simply be too much danger of civil strife and political polarization if the society were to become an environment where political competition is encouraged. With political affairs managed by the hands of one party, China has managed to accomplish astonishing rates of growth, and this is no coincidence. The Chinese government encourages the people of China to work alongside one another for the benefit of the entire country, not to fight against one another, but to keep looking forward at the prospect of creating an even better future. In a rapidly changing world, take into consideration that "progress" is never one-dimensional. There are various methods for evaluating progress in society, and that which is advocated for by Western democratic regimes is merely one of them. Children in the West are often taught about democracy in a manner that portrays it as some kind of miracle cure-all for the world's problems, which it absolutely is not. The developing world consists of both democratic and non-democratic states, every state with its own unique challenges. When people living in the developed world seek to analyze developing societies or their own, they should consider a broad range of perspectives, not just the ones offered by Western democracy-focused ideologies. I say this because many folks in the West have gotten used to viewing the world through a singular democracy-oriented or singular liberalism-oriented lens. Let's try to build a world in which different countries can accept their political differences, one where countries stop forcing meta-narratives on each other. The Iraq War and the Arab Spring have already shown the disastrous consequences that can result from one society attempting to force its political ideals onto another, or from deliberately attempting to fuel civil unrest. This is the 21st century, and the sooner we come to terms with the fact that political systems will continue to display variation across the globe, the sooner we'll be able to achieve reconciliation between the world's cultures.

[@browseyoutube5569]

PolarMhS Wise words, though as a Chinese individual I really dislike how I am bound by so much restriction in life say not being able to get an individual visa for Taiwan or online censorship because of the need to stay ‘politically correct’ so the party says

[@polarmhs8578]

@@browseyoutube5569 I do understand how you feel. Many people in China choose to use VPNs to access the uncensored web if they really want to use it. Well, perhaps you're using a VPN yourself to watch KZbin : ). With regard to censorship policies, I believe the Chinese government follows a "safety first" mindset, trying to keep political animosity as low as possible in the general public so that there is little risk of unrest. I don't think it's really about being "politically correct" in the Western sense (being non-discriminatory and proper when talking about others). Pay close attention to online discussions on any Western social media networks and you'll notice the trend of opposing political factions (i.e. liberal vs conservative) being continually vicious toward each other and at each other's throats, without actually voicing many constructive ideas. The political realm on today's internet is like a sheet of white noise, a perpetual shouting match where most individuals can only focus on the voices similar to their own. I think you have the right to hold thoughts of criticism on your government, but in my opinion we should also consider that the party may be trying to protect ordinary people from this kind of aggression between individuals that so often occurs in political "conversations" (although yes, civil and thoughtful discussions can definitely exist online if you look for them). On another note, if you look at the situation in Hong Kong, you'll see that having uncensored internet doesn't necessarily make people more informed. Hong Kong has no internet censorship, but local and overseas media fed the youth a false narrative: that Carrie Lam's extradition bill would allow Beijing to politically persecute residents of Hong Kong. In reality, the extradition bill revolved heavily around Hong Kong's existing legal system, making extradition possible only for crimes punishable under Hong Kong law - and only those severe enough for a sentence of at least 7 years. But as we now know, the online media stirred up an frenzy of hysteria and fear that overexaggerated the situation. To make things worse, the fact that Hong Kong has little to no legal restrictions on foreign organizations meant that anyone from the CIA or NED could sponsor and fund the most violent of protestors. First they broke into the city's legislative building. Then they blocked doors in the metro stations to prevent ordinary citizens from going to work. Then they made Molotov cocktails and petrol bombs, blocking roads and setting local pro-police businesses on fire. Not long later, the rioters stoned an elderly man to death while he was cleaning up a street. There's plenty of footage of these events, but many of the protesters there still refuse to acknowledge it. They yell and shout "police brutality" around the clock at officers who'd gotten fed up with protesters hammering them with baseball bats, poles, and umbrellas. You see, the protestors make the personal choice to focus only on social media narratives that tell them again and again that they're "oppressed" when in reality Hong Kong is already one of the most politically free places in the world. Ironically, with the lives of ordinary citizens being disrupted in such a manner, the protests have actually made the lifestyle of many Hongkongers less free. Indeed, while censorship puts restrictions on the internet usage of individuals, one thing it is good for is preventing mass hysteria and fearmongering, such as what we've seen in Hong Kong over the past 6-7 months. I mentioned the Hong Kong problem to make a point, but that aside, I think that when the West's attitudes toward China become less condescending and more sympathetic, the party might just consider reducing restrictions on travel and reducing censorship. Of course, I also believe that the party sometimes goes overboard with its restrictions. They have made their fair share of mistakes in the past as well. No government ever stops evolving, though. Hopefully the government in China will continue to adapt to societal changes in a way that makes life more enjoyable and free for Chinese people without compromising the country's security. Haha, I've written so much. Best wishes to China's future and to world peace!

[@barrievee]

Love this guy - logical and congenial - succinct and perspicacious!

[@datinginwest]

No, you are.

[@barrievee]

​@@datinginwest 😍 🥰 😘 😉

[@giacomocapodellago3246]

For sure Barrie, Eric Li tells it like it is. These older conversations and the work of the good expat vloggers is taking on more power every year. CHINA IS SPEEDING UP HISTORY. Unstoppable is being used more and more in daily conversation around the world. You and Brian used it in your recent video, Xi jinping mentioned it, and it is appearing in more and more articles about China. In regard to the West, laughable and suicidal are appearing more and more. Keep up the good work, big hug.

[@iche9373]

Logical? Whole of China is now a full dictatorship under Xi.

[@templardna]

As a political science major, Ive come to the conclusion that democracy is only effective when you have an educated voting base. But even then, in countries like the US which arguably is the most sophisticated democratic state still run into problems of stupid people voting against their own interest. When you have a congressman sitting on the national committee of science and research (or something similar to that name) who doesn't belive in science or the evolution theory nor global warming issues, that's a huge problem.

[@templardna]

And I'd also like to add that, with China becoming such a big ecomony and ever more visible presence on the global stage, the unique nature of its government the CCP is under extrem watch by almost every country in the world. We are in the world of globalization now, which in mere 10 years ago the concept wasn't possible before. CCP can't act like in the 80s or 90s or even beginning of 21st century where it could just lock China down and do whatever it wanted. If there was any serious violation to its citizens rights, you can bet the west would salivate at the idea to step in and stagnate China for while. So basically I think CCP is being monitored under a microscope in ways many other governments in the world arent, not only does it have to answer and deliver results to chinese citizens but also answer to the international community. It's a different time now, and CCP itself is a different party too. So let it grow and evolve.

[@williamaustin1949]

templardna that is why trump become president even in USA where there are best educated institute and people

[@yliu900]

templardna Education is only one of many factors of positive democracy. As Chinese experience democracy needs the rational voters, who are also selected by rational seniors according to their back ground of their education and the records of their long time good governance experience.

[@parnilsson8283]

I agree with most of the things you've written, but definetively not with the notion that the US is the most democratic state.

[@manwdashade]

US by far is one of the most corrupt democracy. Even in best case scenario, democracy is a fucked up politician system. Would you wanted a democratic elected pilot or would you want a highly proven qualified pilot? The answer is obvious! If you chose qualified pilot, why would you choose an incompetent democratic elected President?

[@baljiangusa]

This session is certainly eye opening intellectually. It resonate with reasonable people. I wish those genius in Washington and the media take a good listen.

[@86Corvus]

You are easily manipulated my smallminded friend if you think this isnt chinese propaganda. You are a fool of the tallest order.

[@inkbold8511]

@86Corvus and you are absolutely the biggest hypocrite there has to be. Your self projection of US propaganda about China doesn't means China is doing the reverse in your land.

[@elvinccw]

They won’t listen

[@rickyeng56]

well, I watched this talks more than 5 times, and I still enjoying as the fist time I watched it.

[@DarkMoonDroid]

I LOVE hearing foreign perspectives on our (U.S.) systems of govt, economics and culture. Of course it's going to be different! For exactly the reason he said! THERE IS NO UNIVERSAL BEST PRACTICES FOR HOW TO GOVERN OURSELVES! We are too diverse and complex a species! Hallelujah!

[@qigao7339]

China would have much more confident on democracy if Republicants show a little care about American value, or some sort of ability of self correction.

[@mengjiehan1331]

As chinese old saying(more than 2000 years old) when three people work toghter,other two people must have advantage you could learn.

[@DarkMoonDroid]

@@qigao7339 I think you are right. Peace to you.

[@DarkMoonDroid]

@@mengjiehan1331 That sounds true. Peace to you.

[@gabbar51ngh]

USA as one party republican state sounds wonderful. Hopefully Americans copy Chinese model.

[@alvinkuo]

In some way, Singapore is governed in a similar way. A main party rule and having the brightest to join the civil service by way of scholarships. Also, in one generation, moving up to a developed country with one of the highest GDP per capita.

[@parhhesia]

The Chinese Communist Party definitely draws on Singapore's example. Their relationship is excellent.

[@paysanfrancais7045]

Singapore is the size of a small city in China! Yes, it’s well run but ,with 1.4b people, China couldn’t possibly model after Singapore. Even the brightest in Singapore couldn’t possibly run China either.

[@dunzhen]

@paysanfrancais7045 really good point, it's much easier to have higher GDP per capita with fewer people. This goes to show you can't apply the same political and economic system to every country, in every case the system must account for a variety of situations exclusive to them. Leaders need to study case examples and find out what works best for them. I also believe voting is better with fewer people, but then again I don't believe in everyone having a vote

[@michaelp9061]

2022. His words remained true. Eye opening speech.

[@lenno15697]

Each of his predictions went wrong lmao.

[@iche9373]

His TED speech is a TRAP! PR China is now a 100% Dictatorship.

[@daiseritz4774]

Love how well Eric speaks n how fast he thinks on his feet!

[@ingtlitto8964]

You must understand, the hua Xia civilization had 8 golden ages in 5000 years. We are currently in our 10

[@mistyken]

there's one point that he made which i think was pretty interesting, and that is the idea of plurality vs singularity/universality. i think that the west is fixated on the idea of a singular truth is, in some way, based on the monotheistic nature of christianity. for a millennia, the west was guided by the catholic church which teaches that salvation and goodness come from one god, so there's could only be one source of truth. this view probably contribute to the way how some people believe there's only 1 correct political system and other systems are unethical.

[@TongY-bv3lj]

interesting point

[@xhotweb]

As the saying goes, the American way is the best way. ;)

[@TomFranklinX]

🤣🤣 It took 30 years for China to realize the failure of socialism (something that should have been extremely obvious) and implement capitalism, and then another decade or two to fully settle on capitalism. If that is the hallmark of adaptability, I have no idea what isn't.

[@TomFranklinX]

@Sean Hard Widespread starvation did not exist before the great leap forward. Your idea that China is extremely dependent on imported fertilizers is false. Do you know the 2 conditions the US gives Iran to stop all sanctions? Stop funding systematic terrorism in the middle east, and stop the nuclear program. That is literately it. But sure...the US sanctions Iran because it wants to loot its resources... I'm curious, do you actually believe the Chinese government is home to selfless angles, and everyone else's government is home to devils? There's no difference, they are all humans. The 'evils' you accuse the west of applies equally well to China once it obtains world power. Except the fact that the CCP is unconstrained by the citizenry and a free press. If you think the west is evil now, imagine what they're capable of if its citizens and the press are not there to expose and constrain their evil. That is what China will be like after it gains world power.

[@TomFranklinX]

@Sean Hard Not even the CCP blamed "western sanctions" for the famine, they blamed the great leap forward, the anti-rightist campaign, natural disasters and the USSR. www.gov.cn/test/2008-06/23/content_1024934_2.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine#Natural_disasters

[@HongjianWang]

"I'm not even sure elections produce responsive government any more in the current world"

[@teckchuonting4582]

So true. Just look at the coming election in USA. Instead of focussing on how to improve livelihood, safety and transparency n accountability, Trump n his camp Vs Biden n his camp are both targeting China to score political points. Shocking to say the least!!!

[@gulitzt5865]

@@teckchuonting4582 i feel so bad for the colored or minority in america. Its not even covered, president didn't even address how to rectify the problem, all he cares is rating. I mean you meant to have a government by the people for the people. That isn't showing in america right now

[@sunnyd4645]

Very enlightening. People, East or West, tend to simplify things because practically the reality is always much more complicated. Thus it’s easy for us to believe that there is just one road to salvation, one solution as the utimate truth. And very often we tend to think that we or people like us hold that truth. But I think it’s better we face a simple fact that maybe we only hold part of the truth, that we should be more open-minded. Maybe we should also hear what others have to say, no matter stereotypes or tradition tell us how outrageous they are. And maybe it's better we rely on facts and rationality, not personal or political bias. After all we are just human, not God. We may also make mistake no matter where we're from, east or west.

[@mingsun7356]

You got it.

[@iche9373]

Yeah, but China has a Problem. It doesnt want other nations recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. WHY? It's because of his EGO.

[@oscarchute5702]

@@iche9373Taiwan is part of China. Just like California is part of the U.S.A. It has nothing to do with EGO.

[@iche9373]

@@oscarchute5702 California joined the United States because it wants the Union. The U.S.A. is a voluntary Union, and you can leave the U.S. at any time. The PR China is NOT a voluntary Union.

[@jacksonchen7916]

@@iche9373 u can also say the nationalist who went there arent chinese lmao... cpc vs nationalists both chinese, nationalist went to taiwan so they became independent? who said so? themselves? ahh thats democracy

[@benhardsim8629]

wow his respone to the question in the end is really well answered

[@theoldboiz.2003]

Why so many dislikes? He made very valid points

[@prophetinsight5075]

That is precisely his point.

[@wave9303]

people hate the truth ....

[@lastfreegeneration984]

because lot of people can see through the bullshit...notice how at the start he compares the two different world views, almost as if on equal terms...chinese mentality, US mentality...then proceeds to throw in a few clips of US presidents, mocking them openly for cheap laughs. Yeah, but he didnt do same for any of chinese leaders. hmm why not? because he cant. In Chinese "wonderful" system, he would lose his job immediately and may be put in jail or even killed. He knows it full well but banking on nobody noticing. Typical hypocrisy. use the benefit of western openness and freedom against the west to undermine it and keep china afloat. milk western markets but close chinese markets off. enjoy education from the west, but supress own people freedom of thought...clone every invention of westerners and then isolate from chinese market as soon as possible. its a parasitic way, and yet....to have the nerve to stand up and boast of chinas superior single party rule over freedom and democracy. The fact the audience dont see through this propaganda, giving standing ovation at the end is deeply disturbing to me...chinese can never vote out their government for better or for worse....they enjoy growth now but in reality their situation is highly precarious.

[@jiazhouli3353]

truth is not always good to know

[@bigsky8929]

@@lastfreegeneration984 don,t make me laugh hahaha

[@canyocu]

You may believe that your system is the best in the world, but it's arrogant indeed to force others to believe as you do. In this case, there is nothing good or bad, only suitable or not.

[@N1ghtH4wk86]

canyocu China 🇨🇳 #1 but communism doesn’t work

[@TonyZEHS]

Piper Pruiksma If you call this “communism” you need to study the definition of the word. Socialism perhaps, but it’s absurd to call it “communism” these days.

[@gareaccelerator4233]

Piper Pruiksma China is one of the most F U CK disgusting crap in the world

[@朱文彬-r8k]

Gare Accelerator poor guy

[@gareaccelerator4233]

朱文彬 you are talking about yourself and go back to where you come from

[@daoistwanderer2671]

The diversity of societies naturally calls for pluralism in managing them. Circumstances are different, people are different, leaders are different, histories are different. Experiences are different. Let each society finds its path forward. There is no best system but there is a system best suited to the uniqueness of each country. Let that quest be on and not need to force one’s ideals onto others. Excellent speech. Crisp, candid, honest and factual. Well done !

[@johnbrown40639]

In another 7 years, this speech will be accepted by many more westerners. And in 13 years, this speech will be a legend.

[@kainson8867]

Because of the wuhan virus

[@kainson8867]

Wuhn virus ftw

[@三万-m8p]

@@kainson8867 funny mud go pee

[@loliviaiimporters9586]

CCP VIRUS -

[@thursdayzhou281]

Jingmin Zhou It won’t be.As long as there are still assumptions about China no amount of good that China does can change the westerner’s mind because they can always twist it.Covid 19?Blame China.Send medical aids?Claim that they are faulty.In this communicative capitalism rumors,mere expressions of affections and anger always spread faster than speeches,articles and careful analysis.This is the same in China as well.

[@zzZ-hp9je]

希望各位来这里都稍安勿躁，不要看到蠢驴都去骂去辩，我们没有给他们做义务教育的任务

[@蓬莱山辉夜-h6o]

对的，经济基础决定上层建筑，网上说来说去没多大意义。

[@wtw-2727]

给我上去

[@GTItoTTS]

绝对的。随便翻一翻评论就能看到，骂中国现有体制骂的最狠的不是歪果仁而是中国人，贼难辩🤔

[@bojiang1585]

@@GTItoTTS 除非给他们发钱，辩论是没用的

[@erjie273]

头像是谁啊

[@Silentbucket]

Excellent explanation of China's political system.... Great clarification on the misunderstood China High recommended video

[@ben98ma]

Jack Me-Hoff okay loser

[@brianx2796]

@Jack Me-Hoff OK muyangquan

[@andreyzhang4677]

Mr. Li is very cool. He fully clarified the tolerant idea of "harmony with difference" in Eastern philosophy. The world is facing common problems. We should respect each other in order to be more united and further solve common problems. Instead of interfering in the lives of others, it is better to focus on your own problems.

[@iche9373]

A multipolar world, as Lis is postulating, tends to be more unstable and susceptible to crises. Just saying.

[@bundleofperceptions1397]

“....many would kind of find unsettling the thought that there is an unelected authority that, without any form of oversight or consultation, decides what the national interest is.” The most unsettling part is it describes the U.S. system, where the top 0.01% of wealth holders are the unelected authority that decides what the national interests are -- whether they got there by way of merit or mischief. The government in China responds to the needs of its people, the government in the U.S. only responds to the avaricious wants and desires of the elite, and the people can pound sand for all they care.

[@margaalice9184]

those who were arguing about the superiority of the systems, don’t u see the spirit of this speech is that, we don’t have to decide or prove which system is better. It is OK to have two different systems in the world, without one trying to eliminate the other.

[@DaniboyBR2]

You fool, this is Chinese propaganda. Yes we need to eliminate the Chinese totalitarian model, it wants to eliminate freedom, and it will do so if we don't resist their attempts at destroying democracy, we must free the Chinese people!

[@lizhao12345]

@@DaniboyBR2 nuh, we dont need to be 'freed', never. We live a better life than most of the places in the world, and we never feel been 'ruled' or whatever. Only brainwashed westerners think like that.

[@sneezeenergy6895]

exactly.

[@triplemania5550]

@@lizhao12345 Yes, look at what situation that great system got us all in.

[@margaalice9184]

@@triplemania5550 so? what situation r u talking about?

[@purpose5584]

In Africa we need this introspection at a very high level...this cycle of election ,disappointment and elections again needs to be seriously interrogated...democracy has failed here

[@DDDarkz]

Watching this in Mid 2024, I think we can all agree how fast our west is declining as of right now, those who had recently visited China will be truly amazed by his prediction.

[@wmiu85]

I first watched this a few years ago and didn't believe it as a Chinese. Now at a second watch, I can't stop thinking about what has happened and is happening in Afghanistan. Democracy is not the panacea, neither is Communism. Every country needs to work out their own government not blindly following. Like Eric said, that age is bygone.

[@kathrynh7358]

I remember a few years ago when I first watched this video when it already had millions of views. Thanks censorship.

[@mmouser2800]

Thought it was crazy because I thought the same

[@orz.4805]

YT is pathetic

[@tangalang08]

Same here, when I watched it was at least 1.1 mil

[@岂曰无衣与子同袍-s3w]

You are questioning democratic freedom! you are fake news😜

[@sharedfuture5669]

It is now 0.95 million view from June 2022. And maybe this is why Musk want to purchase Twitter

[@assortedtea902]

As an Indian, I concur with the author's views. Many Indians including myself are fed up of the Indian political system, where the nightmarish bureaucracy has hampered infrastructure development in cities and rural areas alike. Regional political parties are engaged in infighting and for the most parts central governments are formed from coalitions which effectively make them incapable of initiating any major reforms for the fear of loosing support from political opponents whom they glaringly share power. I believe it's more important to put food on people's plate FIRST rather than giving them so called freedom of speech (speaking of which, by the way, many media companies and newspapers are directly or indirectly controlled by vested interest groups like polititians and the ultra rich). Political correctness, which has come to be the hallmark of almost all modern democracies has in my view crippled India beyond the point of hope. Democracy gives the illusion of choice (for eg. Trump Vs Hillary) in which the looser is common man. Common man in India has been suffering silently for ages under this banana system.

[@Shiro642]

I always wondered why japan prospered during the second half of the century but India didn't. You guys had a chance...I think India had to much socialism and "protective measures" which made such a huge bureaucracy. You say "its more important to put food on people's plate FIRST" and that freedom of speech is second but I think freedom of economics is first. leave people alone and let them do what they want, then we get "food on people's plate"

[@smling11]

Shirohige Japan was not democratic before it became rich. Now its democracy is not doing so well also. You need with people with some brains to vote for democracy to work. Tell you the secret, there is no such country in Asia, Africa, South America. Maybe Europe has some as they had a root for democracy. Not sure about USA. What is the voting rate of Japan now? Are people who have some brain voting in Japan?

[@p.x7802]

By comparing Japan and India is the most nonsensical thing ever. Populaton size, education level...etc. That's why there is no one right answer for all the countries because of different national contexts. It's easy to use democracy in a country with 90% university rates and a small population. How about a country with less than 50% university rates and the second largest population in the world? you figure out the math yourself

[@molihua354]

+Mayuresh Indapurkar India's not actually democratic at this point, it's corrupt to the point where democracy has fallen apart.

[@molihua354]

+@@Shiro642 Especially under the Indira Gandhi administration, India was pretty socialist. Wdym? Communism is great at putting food on the plate. Just look at China's Great Famine, which killed about 40 million people. Obviously Communism ensures food safety.

[@yipc858]

Thanks Eric. You voice out the real situations in the world. Great talk👍

[@iche9373]

PR China is just an autocratic state with totalitarian elements

[@muhammadtahirmursleen3557]

Great Talk. We really need to learn about the political System. There is no harm to learn good things from one system and to use it to better your system.

[@danielkrzysiek]

Move to China immediately. Considering your name I guess you are from India which is so friendly with China, or Sri Lanka which soon enough will be owned by China.

[@apersonfromtheinternet3444]

Daniel Krzysiek man, you're persistent. Are you a bot?

[@danielkrzysiek]

@@apersonfromtheinternet3444 are you a bot looking for comments from same account? Airtight reasoning genius

[@吴宜航]

@@danielkrzysiek Are you kidding? "Freiendly with China"? India?

[@danielkrzysiek]

@@吴宜航 so sad you can't buy sarcasm sense

[@criticlee372]

China Uncensored brought me here.

[@noodles7193]

+Critic Lee ikr

[@caistuart2121]

+Critic Lee Eric X LiI hope US top leaders have same opinion with Chris, that would be so wonderful for China. Sadly, they are not that stupid.

[@comradestalin2199]

+Cai Stuart How it would be bad for China? Because we'd take our business out of that communist shithole. Which means no jobs for communist trolls like you.

[@caistuart2121]

Comrade Stalin you have no idea what I was saying...rude american

[@comradestalin2199]

Cai Stuart My bad, I thought you were implying something totally different. Sorry.

[@kmn5]

And this talk was way before Trump. All the more relevant now

[@seansailBruce]

Eric Lee is the best.

[@tlyung]

4 years later ... America gave us President Donald J Trump

[@GokouRuri]

"Elect and regret",hahaha

[@danielkrzysiek]

Who would actually love to be able to just throw opponents in the jail. That's what he is envious of ccp

[@johnmarshall2497]

turn the circle of election and regret into the circle of election and fear......

[@86Corvus]

And the economy and his approvals were extremely high. Yes.

[@luv2458]

@@86Corvus Poor kid, even Fox doesn't believe so.

[@bloodycinpehile]

I agree with him when he said that if democracy is supposed to stop corruption then why is it that democratic countries are corrupt.

[@romulopahuyo5542]

It is not democracy that is corrupt it is the people who have the position.. Corruption in China is far worse than the democratic country.. They dont even let the fishermen fish in their own country.

[@VSean88]

Romulo Pahuyo Come to China! Come to see how happy people live there! How hardworking the people are! It has a lot of problems just as other counties. However, I don’t think those problems can be solved by either one people one vote or freedom of speaking.

[@qigao7339]

@@romulopahuyo5542 comment from Canada... it is not true. Politicians do go to jail in China if make mistakes include corruption or made significant loss, never seen one in Canada. I simply dont believe Canadian politicians are 100% clean and competent. They are generally more like "speech giver " than good manager. It seems to me like things will be "arranged" to protect the image of the "public serve sector" in Canada. In contrast, chinese policition are 100% accountable as there will not be election to get you a free "out of jail " ticket.

[@86Corvus]

NOt compared to china they are not, are you fucking kidding?

[@mynameismud76]

Thank you, really enjoyed this talk. Really adds to the topic of how to understand the east. Martin Jacques talk was magnificent in this area as well.

[@junpengxiao4924]

I am so proud of China. Looking around the world, there is no second country that can say such a thing with certain evidence that the thing works.

[@tiger3091]

Am Indian fan....much regards n congratulations 😊😊

[@default2591]

USA has gone 7 president and 7 administration since 1990 and no fundamental policy has really changed. USA in 1990 is basically the same as USA today, the cycle of US democracy has deteriorated into a cycle of people wanting a change by voting for a candidate and then voting for a candidate in hope for a change that the previous elected candidate couldn't deliver and so on and so on. And in the end they blamed China for their own government shortsightedness.

[@jdemeulenaer123]

Bravo.! A great speaker made a great speech! Thank you, 感謝您李先生！

[@dravenvea2605]

this aged so well. The developing world learns a lot from China's system.

[@joseaglaisdeoliveirafilhoa793]

My view of the Chinese political system, which presents us with a distorted view, has changed considerably for the better. A country with 1.4 billion inhabitants, it has seen incredible changes, mainly in the eradication of poverty, investing heavily in education and meritocracy. The results have been far better than our Western "democracies". I believe that, in less than 10 years, it will become the biggest world power, I have no doubt! A minha visão a respeito do sistema político chinês, que nos apresentam com uma visão distorcida, tem mudado consideravelmente para melhor. Um país com 1,4 bilhão de habitantes, tem tido mudanças incríveis, principalmente na erradicação da pobreza, investindo fortemente na educação e na meritocracia. Os resultados tem sido bem melhores do que as nossas "democracias" ocidentais. Acredito que, em menos de 10 anos, se tornará a maior potência mundial, não tenho a menor dúvida!

[@davideaton6733]

Western democracies by and large have a far greater quality of life for their average citizen, less arbitrary arrest and persecution, more intellectual freedom, and a more stable economic and political order. This is observable in virtually every statistic that tracks things of this nature, and is evident through even brief observation.

[@joseaglaisdeoliveirafilhoa793]

@@davideaton6733I totally agree with you my dear, I am also in favor of democracy yes. But I realize that education and the eradication of poverty in China have had fantastic performances, and that many democratic countries leave something to be desired, especially my country, Brazil, unfortunately. For reflection, I would like to quote Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig's observation, "He argues that our democracy has become corrupted with money, leading to an inequality that means that only 0.02% of the population of the United States actually determines who is in power. Lessig says this fundamental breakdown of the democratic system must be corrected before we can tackle major challenges like climate change, social security and student debt. This is not the most important problem, it's just the first problem." Given this, I think that our democracy needs to improve a lot, and on several fronts. Thanks for your observation! Concordo plenamente com você meu caro, também sou a favor da democracia sim. Mas percebo que a educação e a erradicação da pobreza na China tem tido desempenhos fantásticos, e que muitos paises democráticos deixam a desejar, principalmente o meu país, Brasil, infelizmente. Para reflexão, gostaria de citar a observação do professor de Harvard Lawrence Lessig, "ele argumenta que nossa democracia se corrompeu com dinheiro, levando a uma desigualdade que significa que apenas 0,02% da população dos Estados Unidos realmente determina quem está no poder. Lessig diz que esse colapso fundamental do sistema democrático deve ser corrigido antes que possamos enfrentar grandes desafios, como mudanças climáticas, previdência social e dívida estudantil. Este não é o problema mais importante, é apenas o primeiro problema." Diante disso, penso que a nossa democracia precisa melhorar muito, e em diversas frentes. Grato pela sua observação!

[@bobsmith3983]

@@davideaton6733 Is that why the USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

[@bobsmith3983]

@@joseaglaisdeoliveirafilhoa793 The system of democracy in the West always ends in corrupted politics with the rulers being the rich, and ruling for the rich.

[@davideaton6733]

@@bobsmith3983 I fundamentally disagree with the way you define incarceration. I would argue that North Korea, Eritrea, etc have higher incarceration rates due to their regime's extreme control of their populations. China is a similarly restricted nation-- look at the overuse of government force in Shanghai. Are you really free if the government can suddenly and arbitrarily exercise violence against you with no recourse?

[@yzhang9265]

Well said Eric, well said.

[@Blackpilld]

You know what I learned. We in America are fucked. Their system has evolved and ours hasn’t.

[@rahulsarma2234]

Thank god China doesn't have as much Oil like Middle East. Otherwise you would've seen democracy soon enough

[@FunghuDzeng]

Rahul Sarma hahaha

[@zhangdayu2206]

nah, thanks to our forefathers, weve get MAD with them. so, safety wont be a problem.otherwise, i cant think of a thousand things more valuable than oil for them to invade.

[@jy7883]

Fun fact: China has oil fields in Xinjiang.

[@samuellai9858]

Evan China has more oil than yhe Middle East, West still cant go inside China.

[@wangxs]

So Saudi should have seen democracy long ago, by ur logic?

[@terry7531]

Very insightful speech! His prediction is coming true.

[@blardymunggas6884]

Wow. Chinese communist system is the future. Its the most one available today. Their presidents are basically the best of the best working from ground up. Basically any chinese citizens can be a president if they have the capability and merits. The CCP is basically a big company instead of a bunch of old people fighting each other to stay in power. In most democratic countries, the citizens basically have only 2 candidate to vote from and there is a good chance both can be a total losers

[@HWDragonborn]

@@blardymunggas6884 not necessarily true, just because communism works in China doesn't necessarily mean it works in other countries. Every country should choose its own political system that is practical and suitable based on its conditions, blindly copying other political systems will only lead to disaster.

[@blardymunggas6884]

@SH W its because their communist system is outdated like barbarians. China’s communist party have adopted a modern hybrid system. Go watch a talk on TED about the chinese communist system

[@inter3684]

""I was asked the party wasn't voted in by elections where's the source of legitimacy, I said how about competency" Golden words from Eric

[@TomFranklinX]

🤣🤣 Golden words? More like oxymoronic nonsense. Who determines competency? The party itself? Do we just trust that the government is not faking performance indicators to maintain the illusion of competence? The only way to determine competency is through the democratic process, without the democratic process, you simply can't know anything about competency.

[@tristanwong6840]

​@@TomFranklinX Eric has a list of data (collected by foreign institutions) showing how the vast majority of people in China are happy about their government, and thus the government is legitimate because of their competency. Are you saying that the vast majority of people in China does not have a say in this? Or are you saying that those people are fooled to be happy because the government is responsive and constantly lifting their quality of living? I do agree that there are tons of things that the CCP will definitely need to adjust; fake performance indicators for instance is one of the many. However, the point is both systems, democratic elections and Chinese meritocracy, are obviously not perfect at the moment, but it seems that China is capable of constantly reforming and improving their systems while the west has failed to address their incompetence due to all sorts of reasons. As Eric said, we are certainly not depreciating the democratic election system because it is a fact that this system has contributed to the creation of the modern world. However, being too assertive and saying that there is only one universal system that is capable of delivering democracy is simply arrogant and irresponsible.

[@TomFranklinX]

​@@tristanwong6840 *Eric has a list of data (collected by foreign institutions) showing how the vast majority of people in China are happy about their government, and thus the government is legitimate because of their competency.* You use the public opinion in a country where the government controls the press as proof of competence? You might as well cite the approval figures of Kim Jong Un in North Korea. *Or are you saying that those people are fooled to be happy because the government is responsive and constantly lifting their quality of living?* China is in the economic expansion phase transitioning from a developing country to a developed country, combine that with China's numerous natural advantages. It would have taken nothing short of socialism or a madman on the throne to stop the rising tide of China's economic growth. _"The CCP is better than socialism and madness!"_ Is not a very convincing argument for its competency. *However, the point is both systems, democratic elections and Chinese meritocracy, are obviously not perfect at the moment, but it seems that China is capable of constantly reforming and improving their systems while the west has failed to address their incompetence due to all sorts of reasons.* "It seems"? "All sorts of reasons"? You are being very vague here, I cannot discern what you're saying. Do you mean China can optimize its autocratic system, while the west doesn't optimize its democratic system?

[@tristanwong6840]

Tom Franklin 1. I’m not sure what’s your point in comparing China to North Korea. Are you trying to say that people in China are too oppressed to speak for themselves? Or they are brainwashed to accept everything the CCP does? Or they are only happy because the press is controlled? These are just blind guesses base on how western media usually portraits China as. So please elaborate why would you discredit the public opinion in China. 2. Do you really think that just because China is a “developing country with numerous natural advantages”, every political party/system would be competent in turning China into a super power in such short amount of time? I saw you compared Taiwan to mainland China. First of all, scale of the population and size of territory is obviously a huge consideration in terms of the difficulty of governance. But more importantly, Taiwan’s governance is a joke. If you have been to Taiwan you would know that their infrastructure hasn’t really been improved for decades. Not saying that Taiwan is behind the world, but with the economic growth they once had, their elected government obviously fail to make use of the advantages. 3. My point is democratic election is definitely one way to achieve democracy. However, it’s inefficiency is undeniable. If you think it is something that does not need to be addressed, than this whole so called universal system may not be that amazing afterall.

[@TomFranklinX]

​@@tristanwong6840 *I’m not sure what’s your point in comparing China to North Korea. Are you trying to say that people in China are too oppressed to speak for themselves? Or they are brainwashed to accept everything the CCP does? Or they are only happy because the press is controlled? These are just blind guesses base on how western media usually portraits China as. So please elaborate why would you discredit the public opinion in China.* You need me to explain this to you? Where does a person get his information, his opinions from? The press, if the press only shows him information and opinions favoring the party, of course he will approve of the party. *Do you really think that just because China is a “developing country with numerous natural advantages”, every political party/system would be competent in turning China into a super power in such short amount of time?* China's economic growth is no different than Korea during their fascist dictatorship period, or from Taiwan during their martial law period. *First of all, scale of the population and size of territory is obviously a huge consideration in terms of the difficulty of governance.* Being a large country has its own benefits, you can establish strong economic cooperation between regions that would not be possible had those regions been separate countries. Also, it's not as big of a difficulty as you think, each region will have its own policymaker that specifically addresses the needs of that region *But more importantly, Taiwan’s governance is a joke. If you have been to Taiwan you would know that their infrastructure hasn’t really been improved for decades* Taiwan has first-world living standards, but apparently the only metric of government performance is its investment into infrastructure? *Not saying that Taiwan is behind the world, but with the economic growth they once had, their elected government obviously fail to make use of the advantages.* You're being vague again, what advantages? *3. My point is democratic election is definitely one way to achieve democracy. However, it’s inefficiency is undeniable. If you think it is something that does not need to be addressed, than this whole so called universal system may not be that amazing afterall.* I can't respond to you if you are this vague, which inefficiencies are you talking about? How do you want it to be "addressed"? The main problem with autocratic government systems is corruption, an opaque political system in which officials are selected by superiors and other officials is fertile soil for political scheming, alliances, bribery, trading favors, blackmail, coercion, subversion; with the needs of the people pushed to the sidelines. This is the reason why autocracy has been abandoned by political scientists for over half a century.

[@zhaoyi6454]

I learn a lot from this talk. I want to add one thing: Chinese thinking is based on materialism and result-oriented. That means, Chinese people prefer a leader who can give them better life rather than an eloquent but not practical one which many people might like the personality. The result of govern is the most important thing which can be predicted by the track of the leader. Also, as a country rising from poverty, the people know that advocate on values like freedom speech or something else is far less vital than wealth. If you can not even have a good life, how much so called freedom you can own? Election will lead to chaos and endless conflict between parties in a Confucius based culture. So under the condition in China, less meaningless freedom like attacking leader and procession(easy to become a riot leading by some fanaticism) to maintain stable and economic growth is the best choice for people. Any one who have studied math should know that one problem might have many solutions. It is really weird that there exists one universal system suitable for different culture. Unreasonable conclusion. If a society can have diversity on race, religion, and culture et al., why can't have diversity on government systems if they can achieve the same effect?

[@danielkrzysiek]

Sure. Let's talk in 20-30 years where each working person will have to support themselves plus their parents and grandparents. Courtesy of 1 child policy. Even loosening it to 2 won't be enough

[@ex0duzz]

China will be fine. Japan will not be. China's government is not stubborn and adaptable, china can let in more foreigner or immigrant. Japan won't.

[@bobbarkeriii2597]

If democracy is so bad why does China call itself a "republic"? Fact: when nations get rich, the new middle-class demands democracy and overthrow their dictators: Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan....and China is next.

[@nikhilmanek1612]

Exactly the point. Every country is different. It has different culture, history, food habits, culture.

[@bobbarkeriii2597]

@@nikhilmanek1612 Yes, I agree. As the middle-class grows in China, it will demand Democracy just like all around the world.

[@francoisjulius6786]

Meritocracy and the continued (and relentless) purging of the corrupt and power-hungry is the future. Africa needs this!

[@Oyzatt]

Yes!

[@constance2024-c1d]

As a Taiwanese, familiar with Chinese culture, I find Mr. Li's talk reflective of a very common Chinese mindset, which is utilitarianism. His basic argument premises on "economic progress as the ultimate arbiter of political legitimacy". But economic progress and political legitimacy are two separate issues. Would more political freedom to Chinese artists, such as Ai wei wei, hinder China's economic progress? The answer is clearly no. China could have had both economic progress and a more inclusive political system. The suppression of political freedom is purely in the interest of the communist party, not the Chinese people. But the utilitarian argument here urges the listener to justify the suppression of political freedom on the grounds of economic progress. Studies have also find democracy having positive effect on economic growth, contrary to the age old "Asian value" argument. I find Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom very helpful at laying out a philosophical foundation on the topic of economic development and political institutions.

[@新思维新思考新境界]

Mr. Li's reason for legitimacy is competence, not utilitarianism. They are 2 different concepts. Competence is an adjective to describe people of skills and talent, while utilitarianism is an adjective to describe useful tools and skill sets. Anyway, isn't economic progress what a good government should strive to achieve? Economics in English originates from economy, meaning to save cost, money and resources. While economics in Chinese is 经济, originating from 经世济民, meaning to benefit the world and the people. Isn't economic progress, thus better benefiting the world and the people a good thing? And what is political legitimacy anyway? Philosophically speaking, there is no legitimacy at the very base level. Who gave anyone the right to exist anyway? We gave ourselves the right to existence, which is subjective reasoning and not objective reasoning. Sure there were those powers in the past who sought unproven imaginary higher powers, ie God, to their rights and legitimacy, which I find ridiculous, not because I don't believe God exists since I am an agnostic, but because even if a being akin to God that created this universe exist, why would it be bothered by our self seeking rights and legitimacy? Such a being would be so high and unfathomable that it transcend the very idea of rights and legitimacy. We could be living in a computer software stimulation like in the Matrix movies, and the creator of the universe would be a software developer. Do you see any real-life software developer bothering about whether certain manifestation in their software seeking its own rights and legitimacy and thus granting it of such? For me, there is no right for anything to exist in this universe at the very base level. If something exists, it exists. Such is the natural of our unconscious, amoral universe. To put ourselves subjective as arbiter of this and that rights and legitimacy is somewhat arrogant. That is not to say I don't understand politics. With the case of Ai Weiwei, I don't know the story fully hence I am not qualified to judge who's right and who's wrong. But regardless if it is his art or his political statement that got him in trouble with the Chinese authority, I would like to take this opportunity to give him and anyone naive enough to believe in the myth of freedom a lesson: Everything we do in reality carries consequences. Even if the law is lenient enough to let you be, which I disagree as laws that are lenient on drug abuse is detrimental to society at large, the society and individuals that the law could not fully boss around could still get back at you. Like when certain businessman in the USA having the freedom to smear China which is legal in the USA, Chinese consumers in turn also have the freedom to punish him by boycotting his business which is also legal in China.

[@jamahiriya7528]

Seriously great talk.

[@px2wee87]

After he said this, Trump became president and Brexit happened. Is he from the future?

[@tonyabracadabra6935]

If you know enough hard facts it is easy to predict the future

[@xumezhang]

School has been taught that there is no one size fit all. And this is the golden standard to be open and respect others.

[@iche9373]

Yeah, but China has a Problem. It doesnt want other nations recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. WHY? It's because of his EGO.

[@ycj9299]

@@iche9373 Do you know why the army of China is called PLA？The civil war is not ended, China is not a united country. And the Area you called Taiwan is nominated as "Republic of China". Learn more abot then history, you'll find you are deeply cheated by the western media.

[@iche9373]

@@ycj9299 China is already united. Just end the stupid Civil War by recognizing Taiwan as an independent state.

[@ycj9299]

@@iche9373 You might as well count on California's independence.

[@LA-vy5bz]

@@iche9373 why? There are two ways to end civil war you know? Why not the other way? Because you don't like it?Who do you think you are LOL

[@lawrencewang5429]

I came to rewatch this video in 2022 to refresh my memory of the content. How interesting things are changing rapidly

[@hansngo6445]

I like this Eric Li. Deeply deep standup comedy striking US philosophy. Respect.

[@deborahharris2962]

I'm here because I watched a an interview on RT with Eric Li.

[@Oyzatt]

Very lucid presentation, respect to the American public for applauding him at the end of his speech, it signifies open minded ❤️

[@leolee1959]

It is the scintillating truth - both in fact and presentation. Facts were stated in a humorous yet persuasive manner that would have captured any audience; especially Americans. Eric's tactful apologies for offending any persons or systems was dully appreciated.

[@Wolfangs88]

The Older i become, the less i trust western democrazy

[@zhenminliu]

In my previous life, I visited my company’s joint venture partner, Rizhao port, in Shandong province. I was amazed at the intense competition within the port:promotion to managerial level positions meant outstanding job performance, 360-degree reviews, various tests, and presentations to colleagues and bosses to justify why one should be promoted. I shuddered to think how I would fare in this system of extreme meritocracy.

[@FirstnameLastname-ml5bp]

previous life??

[@angeliquewu8318]

@@FirstnameLastname-ml5bp I think that person meant something else lol; they don't see to be a native English speaker

[@iche9373]

Meritocracy? The whole system is a dictatorship and Xi is now the Emperor.

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

@@FirstnameLastname-ml5bp Probably meant previous job.

[@fairandbalanced65]

In my previous life I was at the Port of Tianjin and its economic development zone. The level of asskissing required, bribery, partying and pleasing the bosses was so ingrained that the worst came out on top culminatining in the massive explosion that blew up part of the economic development zone. Thieving was a way of life there. Shows how your Port might have been a shining example of meritocracy in a sea of curruption.

[@obbeachbum69]

The importance of this speech can't be overstated.

[@chuiwenma7499]

Yes, but should be seriously considered.

[@neilwolff7894]

Great talk! Good job, Eric.

[@ashleymistletoe]

the speaker himself IS the proof of Chinese wisdom and the success of China in many imaginable ways.

[@burgerkingfootlettuce1880]

And here is proof of you being an idiot

[@老王批评]

说的真好，这人真是个人才，起点高，格局开阔，厉害。

[@bonearete5419]

excellent ....thank you for the education.

[@amadeuspardieu4806]

he is my favorite idol now!!! so intelligent and wise!!! confident and answer questions with logic powerful examples and statements!

[@daluliu9964]

不管什么主义，人民幸福就是正义

[@kenneth3960]

i'm in shenzhen China，i'm a 35 years old architect，we are not north korea，we know everything from the western world，we have more and more internation companies ……why we don't want to change？because one party system works！ok，you want pure democrocy，but we don't want to become india，which is far more lag behind from us！we don't want to change is not because of we don't know democrocy，but we know this system hao much better chan “pure democrocy” ！say ，if you want to biuld a airport ，how to persuade 1.3billion people this is good for them？when taiwan or hongkong is doing effort to persuade millions people in years，the airport was built in shenzhen，enconomny grow faster and faster，what do ordinary people know？they know nothing but their own income！when i was in Italy，i saw strikes every day……，this was how we chinese laugh at “pure drmocrocy”！

[@Marsbati]

Democracy is based on rational people, if most of the ordinary people are not rational enough, everyone holds their own opinion, they can’t tell the difference btw good and bad, then that kind of democracy becomes populism, endless fighting for their own sake without thinking about a greater good for the whole community, the society and the whole country, that is pure selfishness, not democracy! China’s system seems like autocracy, but there is election in btw the party to elect a good governor, a good leader according to the meritocracy. That system eliminates the leaders of incompetence and chooses the elites to lead the country. Improving life of people and getting things done is the final goal.

[@Marsbati]

Pee Angel China has the population of 1.4 billion people! Not everyone is rational or smart enough! The millions of Chinese overseas students that you see are only a small portion of the Chinese whole population. So if we need to push democracy in China, we need the time to be mature enough!

[@Alvin-Sy]

@@Marsbati rational doesn't mean you have the knowledge and vision on how the manage a country of million or billions of people, that's why communist emphasizes more on competency. Rationality means that knowing if i don't have money, i will starve to dead, won't be able to buy clothing, not able to survive, so for Chinese during the time of extreme poverty, they can't barely feed their stomach, is there any value to the so called democracy ? and then communism step in, they allocate the resources of the country to distribute to everyone, at least keeping everyone alive is the main priority, everyone has to contribute. this doesn't fit to the value of democratic system, but it ensures majority of the population to be survived. like it or not, the communist is doing the right thing on most of its decision, i'm not saying all the decisions are good, but it made us going this far to the second largest economy in the world, the China did generate numbers of middle class greater than the US. it means the wealth are spread to the public rather than the top 1% like USA. all this happened in just 40 years, why the west still complaining about China for doing good for the Chinese people ? i don't get it. What have they contribute to improve the poverty of China and other developing countries (who doesn't have nukes) aside from invading if they don't accept democracy ?

[@Marsbati]

Alvin Sy 1000% agree with you!

[@danielkrzysiek]

In China you don't see strikes. Cause your party won't let the info about any out. But please, stay in your paradise.