A country being democratic is not the same as being a great place to live, though there is a lot of overlap between the two. My point regarding the mexican standoff between parties is STRICTLY about the VOTING SYSTEM. The competing interests of multiple parties ensure a mostly FAIR election. A benevolent dictator surrounded by an exceptionally intelligent court will always produce better results, it's just that on average, dictators are not that benevolent.

China's rise has been nothing short of meteoric, and I applaud them for it. I'm certain that their average standard of living is very high by most metrics, quite comparable and maybe even better than western countries. IT IS STILL NOT A DEMOCRACY!

At any rate, I'm going to stop arguing because you seem way too invested in praising the dragon, and not just in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50386836

By definition, a democratic country will be a place where the government works in the interest of the majority. That's literally what democracy is. Voting, the way it's done in western democracies, is just one attempt at implementing this contract. Democratic Centralism is a different approach to this idea, that's showing far better tangible results right now.

You appear to have an infantile understanding of democracy equating it with simply having the ability to vote.

It's also hilarious that you think you understand Chinese system better than people who actually live in China and call their system a democracy. The sheer amount of chauvinism required to hold such beliefs is astounding.

At any rate, stick to subjects you have a clue about in the future as to avoid making a clown of yourself in public.

fyi, I was born in a "democratic centralist" country

it shows

> By definition, a democratic country will be a place where the government works in the interest of the majority.

No, its not. Democracy means rule by the people. A benevolent dictatorship is not a democracy.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/democra...

> People in China have experienced a rise in living standards that's completely unprecedented in human history.

largely because their living standards had fallen massively in the previous decades. Of course living standards are far higher than they used to be, because of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine

> 90% of families in the country own their home giving China one of the highest home ownership rates in the world.

Only slightly higher than India, lower than Kazakhstan

> The real (inflation-adjusted) incomes of the poorest half of the Chinese population increased by more than four hundred percent from 1978 to 2015,

What was the same number for 1949 to 1978?

You got it backwards my friend, horrific living standards were the result of Western subjugation and continued to rise steadily after the revolution https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25495509

> Only slightly higher than India, lower than Kazakhstan

This India? https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/abs/pii/S1...

One has to have utter lack of intellectual integrity to pretend that there is any comparison in standards between China and India.

> What was the same number for 1949 to 1978?

See the first link I provided.

> One has to have utter lack of intellectual integrity to pretend that there is any comparison in standards between China and India.

That is sooooo close to my point but you missed it. High house ownership is not a sign of economic development, quite the opposite.

> See the first link I provided.

You think infant mortality and inflation adjusted incomes are the same number?

That is completely out of touch with reality. Infant mortality fell EVERYWHERE in that period which flatters the numbers.

Now provide the actual number I asked for for the period I asked for. It debunks your argument?

I didn't say high house ownership was the single metric. That's just a straw man you're using lacking even a shred of intellectual integrity. In fact, I posted a whole bunch of sources showing how people in China have high income savings, and a standard of living that now surpasses Europe.

I think that you're an artless troll, and it's frankly pathetic that you think you've debunked something here.

But you keep on doing you, if the clown shoes fit might as well embrace the act.

you are arguing with a LLM