> And it works, too. Look at the quality of life in China, compared to India... Or Vietnam.
Can't say for Vietnam as I don't know much, but quality of life in India is much much better than quality of life in China.
People in India have access to full Internet, have access to real Democracy, have freedom of speech, live free life, aren't afraid to speak their mind, minorities are not being thrown in concentration camps, Government has no control over their thoughts and so and so forth. Sure, they may not have as many life's luxuries, but I think most people will take a free-er life than a gilded prison.
> but quality of life in India is much much better than quality of life in China
Just no.
> People in India have access to full Internet
Internet penetration in India is 25% compared to China's 71%. I suspect most people would take censored internet over no internet[0].
> have access to real Democracy
I suspect this is one of those hierarchy of needs things. India. India has 21% of its population living on under $1.90 a day, where China has 0.7% the same. Perhaps they can eat their ballot papers?[1]
> have freedom of speech, live free life, aren't afraid to speak their mind
Really though? "[India] ranks poorly at 138th rank out of 180 listed countries in the Press Freedom Index 2018 released by Reporters Without Borders (RWB)". That's _terrible_ for a supposed Democracy, even if China is worse. At least their censorship is out in the open...[2]
> minorities are not being thrown in concentration camps
No, they're just being killed with mob violence instead[3][4]
> Sure, they may not have as many life's luxuries, but I think most people will take a free-er life than a gilded prison.
> most people will take a free-er life than a gilded prison
Maslow's hierarchy applies here. I won't start worrying about freedom of speech till I have food and stability. The fact that so many non-democratic countries transition to becoming democracies only after reaching some level of economic development (see Taiwan, South Korea) would imply that this is a trend in the world.
Ten years behind in life expectancy, five times behind in GDP, despite starting from a similar economic footing in 1948... Except China had to deal with five decades of communist misrule, three of which were under the leadership of, well, Mao Zedong.
This isn't a 'Oh, China enjoys a few more luxuries then India'. Today, there are three hundred million people in China that are living nearly-western lifestyles, whereas twenty years ago, there weren't any.
There's nearly an order of magnitude in the difference of development, between the two countries.
Don't get me wrong - India has made a lot of great achievements over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. But if you were to ask - which approach to trade brings prosperity - the winner is pretty clear.
Can't say for Vietnam as I don't know much, but quality of life in India is much much better than quality of life in China.
People in India have access to full Internet, have access to real Democracy, have freedom of speech, live free life, aren't afraid to speak their mind, minorities are not being thrown in concentration camps, Government has no control over their thoughts and so and so forth. Sure, they may not have as many life's luxuries, but I think most people will take a free-er life than a gilded prison.