Kremlin propaganda on Putin’s meeting with Xi touts them as equals. But it is China and the US that are on a par, says Rafael Behr
, causing a sudden economic contraction, refuted a central myth in Xi’s doctrine – that autocrats make the best economic managers.
It never works that way. Silencing dissent deprives dictators of the data they need to know when their judgments are wrong. Underlings are afraid to flag up flaws in the plan. Mistakes are compounded and covered up. Domestic discontent that can’t be crushed is diverted by whipping up a patriotic fervour against foreigners, setting the country on a path to war. Despots are predictable that way.
That isn’t an argument against democracy but a reminder of the difference between democrats and populists. The latter exploit impatience. They peddle simple solutions to complex problems. Anyone who queries the method is denounced as an agent of decline endorsing a rotten status quo, or a traitor intent on thwarting national renaissance. Sound familiar?
The threat is all the more acute when the economic model that has underpinned democracy is also failing. British wages have been stagnant or falling in real terms since 2008. The 20th century promise that children would grow up to enjoy higher living standards than their parents is broken. Liberal democracy offers social advancement through merit and hard work. The only reliable conveyors now are inheritance and luck.
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