People often ask, “Why is democracy considered to be a good system of government when most voters are not capable of critical thinking and are in fact easily manipulated?” Democracy is an aspiration, not a system, that aspires to government of the people, by the people, for the people. Western elites consider Athenian Democracy–which is …
How should we judge the top ten China books in 2021? The best China books are those that explain China’s amazing success–not those that constantly predict its failure. The Top China Book in 2021 is… Imperial China, 900–1800, by F.W. Mote. Mote’s wonderfully readable book is the essential starting place if you want to understand …
Godfree Roberts, author of Why China Leads the World: Talent at the Top, Data in the Middle, Democracy at the Bottom, publishes the weekly China newsletter, Here Comes China! After completing his undergraduate education at the University of Queensland Godfree received his doctorate from UMass, Amherst, and lived in–and studied–five cultures. His newsletter, Here Comes China!, reflects …
A Study of Unnatural Deaths During the Difficult Three Year Period in China, 1959–1961 CHENG ENFU AND ZHAN ZHIHUA ABSTRACT: The popular view that the number of unnatural deaths in China during the Difficult Three Year Period (1959–1961) amounted to some 30 million is false, as shown by careful analy- sis. Taking the average death …
How Much do we know about Work and Wages in China? The economy is in such a state that men don’t have enough money to care for elderly parents and support their wives and children. Even in good years their lives are bitter while, in bad years, they struggle to avoid starving to death. Under those circumstances, …
What do I think of Australia and China’s latest confrontation over a Chinese diplomat’s tweet? I am an Australian and I think China’s complaints are well grounded. Furthermore, the Australian (and Western) media refused to discuss China’s complaints–or even publish them–which suggests a guilty conscience. This article from the weekly newsletter, Here Comes China explains their embarrassed silence: …