Hey, it's worked for the red chinese so far.

Yes, that would be a very notable exception.

How they've managed it escapes me. I don't know if has to do with Chinese nationalism, or something peculiar to the Chinese culture, or just flat-out brilliant triangulation and co-optation by the Chinese Communist Party.

Every tyrant should make a study of China their top pursuit.

But tyrants are dumb, and lazy, so hopefully not many will.

Everyone with a brain knows that the real catalyst of freedom in the Middle East is the peaceful revolution in the Ukraine.

I heard this on PBS about 2-3 weeks ago, so it must be true.

China simply shows that you don't need democracy to be happy. Not too controversial, really, you just need decent rulers with an eye to giving their people a good life. The benevolent dictatorship has been the ideal of most people since the dawn of time. The Chinese have simply set up something close to what (many if not most of) their people think one should look like.

Seriously, if wages and living standards continue to improve, and life is decent as far as material comfforts, most people don't give a shit about voting (note turnout in most USA elections). Representative republicanism is not the only way to run a country.

Plus, all those damn Chinee just love to be brutally repressed. It's in their genes. [/bad joke]

"Representative republicanism is not the only way to run a country."

Plus it helps to have the "People's" army available at a moments notice to brutally murder hundreds whenever anybody gets a crazy notion like freedom in the heads.

Hob: probably true, but I for one would rather have a slightly *lower* standard of living and not be afraid of the secret police disappearing me because I accidentally implied I didn't like the leadership. Just me, probably.

Guys, guys. I'm not advocating Chinese dictatorship.

I'm saying that many people will accept it if fucking with their personal lives is left off the politburo "to do" list. China's abysmal on human rights etc, but not so brutal that it alienates large parts of the population (see the passages on running a country in the Tao Te Ching). Murdering hundreds is not murdering millions like in Mao's good old days.

I think that the Chinese are developing a very interesting system in line with their history, and it doesn't involve democratic rule. I think the Chinese will accept it so long as material conditions continue to improve. A bit of loosening on religious expression and a few economic consessions, and I think China is stable for the long haul.

Sorry folks, China hasn't succeeded yet by a long shot. Economic development is very regionalized, and there's a lot of discontent out there waiting for some crisis (say, an economic downturn) to kick in. Unaccountable governments aren't so good at dealing with these pressures.

But anyway, if Assad could go into all-out repression, he'd survive without liberalization. It's the presence of our military right next to him that's limiting his options -- in Syria as well as Lebanon. Obviously we don't have that sort of leverage on the Chicoms.