How Can the United States Consider Itself the 'Benchmark'!
Li Yang, Consul General of China in Rio de Janeiro
Some American politicians have shown such a profound ignorance in believing that the United States is THE benchmark in politics, economics, science and technology, culture, values and way of life for the whole world and that all other countries should learn from it and even accept its leadership and enlightenment. Let's see how this morbid state of mind is ridiculed by reality.
America doesn't have the real democracy needed by its people. The American-style democracy has become a too expensive money game among a few wealthy individuals, political families and interest groups. Enormous amounts are squandered on campaigns while dilapidated infrastructure is not maintained and numerous homeless are not helped for a lack of money. The richly decorative American democracy is best revealed through the so-called general election. Voters, unaware of the candidates' talents or characters, make a bet by casting their ballots in formality. The price of such a democracy is too high. The highest leader elected represents only part of the nation, leading to serious internal political strife. Or else he or she may not have the necessary leadership or knowledge in governance. A major dispute over the election may well have tragic consequences. The American-style democracy has also hurt the world. All countries with democracy imposed by the US by force or through a 'color revolution' have been thrown into turmoil and disaster.
Human rights enjoyed by the American people have all along been the lowest in the human race. The country has a notorious dark history of trafficking in, keeping and using slaves, slaughtering and looting Indians, and bullying and discriminating against ethnic minorities. Since it was founded, the US has frequently waged wars, leading to massive civilian casualties in other countries and the extraordinary feat of targeted killing of foreign leaders. The American people are now suffering sustained chaos caused by racist atrocities and callous disregard on the part of politicians of the call for equality. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a cruel revelation of the government's lies and its focus on political and economic interests over people's health and safety. The authorities practice the inhumane policy of forced separation of large numbers of children from their parents by the excuse of combating illegal immigration. It willfully oppresses and drives away foreign experts, scholars and students in the name of national security. What type of human rights and equality can we expect from the US? It is a general belief in the world that the US has the world's worst human rights record, almost synonymous with state terrorism!
Here is the great irony of American freedom: they don't have the freedoms that people should have but have a flood of those that shouldn't be there. The pervasive hypocrisy of political correctness places many at sea. Recently, due to phonic similarity, the Chinese word 'Na Ge' (a common filler word in Chinese, meaning 'that' in English) has become something you've got to use with caution in the US. Isn't it a violation of the freedom of Chinese Americans and Chinese national in the US? As COVID-19 continues unabated, isn't it most necessary to establish order and for all people to exercise self-restraint and adopt social distancing to bring down the infection rate? In reality, personal 'freedom' has been stressed more than ever before, with many people violating stay-at-home orders, refusing to wear masks and even organizing and attending the so-called coronavirus parties, leading to increased infections and deaths! This is not freedom. It is sheer stupidity, selfishness and irresponsibility for themselves, families and others! It testifies to the fact that the US lacks the solidarity and self-discipline of a strong country and a healthy society.
America's social governance is probably not even as good as that in some developing countries! The omnipresent drugs, pornography, gangs and guns manifest a degeneration of the society as a whole, with seriously deteriorated public order and unprecedentedly intensified social conflicts. In such a situation, albeit with a vast territory, many places in the US are not suitable for people to live a normal life. Francis Fukuyama, the author of The End of History, not long ago wrote about another persistent ailment in the American social governance, i.e., the serious redundance and low professional quality of the civil service and the consequent decline in the quality of public services. The American government subcontracts public services to the private sector, exacerbating lazy and slack administration and causing growing public discontent and social conflicts. In today's China, most public services are available with a few keystrokes at home, which is hard to imagine for many in the US. Not long ago, it was reported that some American residents have to go to vehicle management office late at night to queue up for a chance to get their business handled the next day and then end up spending the whole next day there before it's (not yet) their turn! What an epitome of poor social governance!
The US still enjoys visible economic and technological advantages. However, if something is wrong in the spirit and values of the nation, its development will hardly sustain, nor will it be able to keep its advantages for long! For example, in today's American society, rentierism, industrial hollowing out and financialization of wealth have long replaced the passion for hard work. If the alienation of American democracy and the systemic racial discrimination continue to spiral out of control, the country will be much less attractive for foreign talents and even native talents may leave, depriving the US of a strong intellectual underpinning for economic and technological development. The US, which reaps the wealth of other countries with the dollar, robs market resources peremptorily and bullies the weak, the small and the alien with its military strength, has already lost its self-assumed moral high ground. The other members of the international community won't endure for long its exploitation and oppression. It seems only natural for it to 'lose blood' in economy, science and technology.
American politicians, who constantly tarnish China's image and finger-point, isolate and suppress China, are rather narcissistic. The development of China follows the trend of the times and fulfills the aspirations of the Chinese people. The US, standing on the wrong side of history, is not qualified to dictate to China what it should or should not do, nor will it be able to stop China from making progress! China will develop into a rich, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist power, with domestic achievements and contributions to the world far beyond the imagination of these American politicians!