Op-Ed Contributors

Democracy is not an end in itself

By Paul Kong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-13 07:53

Editor's note: Confronted with many unsolved social problems, Western Democracies are far from perfect and need to develop continuously.

Western democracies, like any other human society, need to develop continuously. Compared with autocracies, Western democracies value rationality greatly which is the basis of human society's survival. It's true the world could not have enjoyed the peace and development that it does today without the contribution of Western democracies. But we must be aware of the serious problems embedded in Western societies in terms of employment, education, healthcare, housing and old-age care, which often turn into social crises.

Take healthcare for example. Equal access to medical care is an indispensable part of human rights. But even the most enthusiastic human rights activists in Western countries are yet to say "all men are equal before healthcare". No political party or government has included this goal in its political manifesto.

The harsh truth is that though Western countries talk of upholding human rights, none of them has really granted people equal access to medical services. In the United States, about 50 million people (including the so-called illegal immigrants) are not covered by social medical insurance. Statistics show that each year tens of thousands of Americans die because they cannot afford to pay for their medical treatment. And though the US Congress has passed President Barack Obama's healthcare bill, most state governments are still against his reform plan.

The situation in Europe may be somewhat better. But no European country has yet granted everyone equal access to medical treatment, because some special medical conditions (such as dentistry) are not included in social healthcare insurance. People have to pay from their pockets to get these special medical conditions treated.

European countries are yet to grant a comprehensive and genuine equality in healthcare, too. This is why they have been trying for years to reform their healthcare security systems. We could say that even Western democracies have failed to guarantee every person an equal share of the medical resources and that they have to continue their reform to achieve that goal.

When it comes to guaranteeing jobs, one of the most important components of human rights, no Western democracy is free of employment-related problems, be it unemployment, low wages, retrenchments or employer-employee relationship. In a sense, the economic problems facing Western society are mainly rooted in unsolved employment-related problems. Had they succeeded in solving them Western society would have been free of all economic problems.

But employment-related problems are basic problems facing human society and we must spare no efforts to address them. Therefore, establishing democracy is by no means the end of human progress. Human society, no matter what its nature, has to continue to develop to address the unresolved issues such as employment-related problems.

Apart from healthcare and unemployment, Western society is also beset with other problems such how to eradicate poverty and take care of senior citizens. Compared with the days before World War II, or when some Western countries were plagued by improper social security systems, the West has done well to support the elderly and alleviate poverty.

But Western society as a whole is still far from perfect. It has established social democracy but is yet to thoroughly solve economic development problems. Even in some major industrialized countries, economic development is less than impressive when it comes to the social relief system.

Many intellectuals (especially some Chinese active in promoting democracy) do not understand the problems of Western society. They do not realize that democracy is just one step forward toward solving all the problems facing human society. They are enamored only by the slogan of democracy and ignore its essence, and don't realize that democracy gains vitality only if it is combined with practice.

Democracy should not be just a kind of slogan or formalism. Democracy must bring benefit to the people. And only then can it win people's support.

The author is a Chinese scholar based in Australia.

(China Daily 05/13/2010 page9)