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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

"So why don’t we apply the same argument as eagerly there?" Who are "we"? I apply it. And therefore I suggest you not hold your breath till "a low-free-speech nation becomes higher status"; it isn't going to happen. By the time it gains high status, China will be a moderate-to-high-free-speech nation (I predict).

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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

The world has emulated Western policies mainly because those nations were high status, not because their style of law or government was obviously more efficient.

Not to put too fine a point on it, your assumption is flawed at best. I seriously think you need to reconsider some of your assumptions on this one. I don't know how much experience you have living in a developing country (take India, for instance) but I certainly possess quite a lot and I can assure you that many developing countries gravitate toward adopting (emulating, if you insist) Western policies because those policies are more humane, promise greater individual liberties and personal freedom, provide greater scope for growth (in the most general sense), etc. It is somewhat unfortunate that you seem to be blind to many of the best things that the West has to offer the world.

(Note: I am a big fan of your blog, but on this one I felt you were being rather flippant. Not all Asians are mesmerized by the Chinese political structure or their economic model.)

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