Innovator
I am an innovator. I like to solve problems. One problem I want to tackle is why so many countries have failed to adopt a true democratic governing system? A true democratic society is wonderful because everyone is free and fair. Everyone enjoys a rich and progressive society. But reality has shown that only countries in Western Europe have been able to maintain a true democratic society. In the years since the end of WWII, many countries have indeed attempted to adopt a democratic government, but many have failed to improve the standard of living of their people, especially the so-called third world countries. The four ‘Asian Tigers’ (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong) have had some degree of success. But they are not a true democratic society.
Russia has tried a Western-style democratic society under Boris Yeltsin but brought total chaos to the country. Russia was forced to adopt a tight control governing system under Vladimir Putin. Under Putin, Russia made economic progress. China also tried a democratic government after the fall of the Qing dynasty. The Republic of China was formed in Nanjing on March 12, 1912 with Sun Yat-Sen as President. However, this government performed poorly. Officials were notoriously corrupt. China also failed badly. I want to find the answer as to why these failures have occurred.
I spent considerable of time to ponder those questions. Finally I have found some answer from genetics. A true democratic society requires its people to behave democratically and people’s behavior is related to their genetic background. I want to give an example to show why a democratic society requires its people to behave democratically. One well known case of social injustice was the trial of O.J. Simpson. O. J. Simpson was acquitted in his murder case by a group of black jurors, even though the evidence was overwhelming. Those black jurors do not realize that without a fair justice system, a democratic society cannot function and this is why third world countries are so corrupt. Why Black people respond differently to social injustices such as this? This is because they have a different genetic background than Westerners.
Let me explain the relationship of people’s behavior and their genetic background. From a purely physical standpoint, human beings are animals. All animals have instincts; for example, a young cat will learn how to effectively catch mice after just a few tries. But what exactly is instinct? I have come to the conclusion that instinct is just memory passed down genetically from one generation to the next in the form of "old memory," which requires certain stimulation to activate.
Since humans are a type of animal, we must also have this genetic memory. Take for example Beethoven, who at a pre-school age could repeat a piece of music on the piano after hearing his father played it only once. What is the explanation for this? Beethoven came from a musical family, with both his father and grandfather having musical talent. His musical ability was just genetic memory passed down to him from his ancestors.
The method of verifying this hypothesis is to carry out an experiment whereby a group of ten pairs (male and female) of mice are initially trained to push three buttons in sequence, red, yellow and blue, before they receive a food reward. The average length of time required to train them is recorded, and the mice will continue to be fed in this manner for the rest of their lives. The offspring of the five pairs with the longest, not shortest, training times are then selected, and are divided into another group of ten pairs. These ten pairs are again trained and fed in the same manner as their parents, and the length of time needed for training is recorded. This will continue for many generations. According to selective breeding theory, these mice should require longer and longer training times with each successive generation. However, if my theory is correct, these mice will actually require shorter and shorter times to get trained with each successive generation. I expect the required training time will be shortened after each generation and after many generations a talented mouse might appear who can learn very quickly. After many, many generations all the mice will be similarly talented, and this behavior will become an instinct for this group of mice. This is the mature stage of inheriting experience. After reaching this mature stage, no more improvement in training time will be observed. This experiment will verify whether genetic memory does exist.
If my hypothesis is correct and memory can be passed down genetically, this can explain many racial and behavioral differences, such as the Westerners’ and Non-Westerners’ differing views on the abortion issue. To find the answer one must look back to see how people's ancestors lived during ancient times. Basically, there are three main types of environments in which the first people lived: 1) the desert people of the Middle East and Northern China (Gobi desert); 2) the cold weather people of northern Europe; 3) the hot weather people of Africa and other regions near the equator.
The desert people lived in very harsh environments. I can imagine the kind of hard life these people endured, and the environment dictated these people's behavior. Furthermore, they could only survive if they maintained a certain ‘desert people’ behavior. They needed to hunt and survive as a group because there was very little chance of surviving individually. They needed very skillful leaders to guide the groups because incompetence results in death in the desert. Therefore, members respected their leaders very much and they were very loyal to the group. Unity was important in the group and the interest of the whole was considered more important than the interest of an individual member.
The cold weather people lived in the frigid climate of northern Europe. Again I can easily imagine that life in this cold environment was difficult and that this dictated these people's behavior. They must also form hunting groups to survive. The most important factor affecting people's behavior here was the cold, which can easily and quickly kill. Any unlucky person who was unable to return to shelter when a blizzard suddenly arrived could face death. Therefore, in order to maintain the population, people considered life to be very precious and they did all that they could to preserve it. People in this environment could select a leader, and if his or her performance was not up to the expectations of the group, a new leader could be chosen. Because life is scarce and group members were hard to recruit, each member was considered to be equal and each member's personal preferences were highly respected, as long as it would not affect the performance of group too greatly. This is where the concepts of democracy and human rights originated in Western culture. Considering life to be precious will affect many behaviors, such as social fairness and justice fairness to reduce dispute, food safety, building and work safety, peace loving etc and the list goes on. Therefore their evolved behavior seemed to be more peaceful and fair.
The hot weather people lived in the warm areas near the equator. Since they did not need to deal with the harsh desert or cold weather environments, there was less impetus to form groups. Individual or family hunters and gathers could survive on their own. Because of the rich resources provided by the hot or warm climates, these areas became overcrowded, and individual fighting become inevitable.
The memories from these ancient lives can be passed down genetically from generation to generation. We can use this genetic memory theory to explain some of our present-day social behavior problems, for example, why the abortion debate only becomes a serious issue in Western countries.
To examine the reasons for this, we need to once again go back to prehistoric times. Westerners’ ancestors lived in the cold environment of northern Europe. As we have established, cold could kill, and in order to maintain the population, people considered life to be very precious. If someone attempted to end the life of another person, such as by abortion, that was considered socially unacceptable. This abortion issue in Western countries is the result of genetic memory passed down since these times. From the above facts, we can see that human beings have passed down genetic memory, though they are not aware of it, and that genetic memory can affect behavior.
What kind of governing system is most suitable for the passed down genetic memory of the Chinese people? First, compare the genetic memory of cold weather people and desert people. The cold weather people formed large groups in order to hunt large animals. For the group to be successful, each member had to consider the interest of the group to be higher than the interest of the individual. If they did not behave in this way, they would perish from the cold or starvation. On the other hand, the desert people also formed large groups in order to hunt, though at the same time, each group competed with other groups for resources. For a group to be successful, leaders constantly lectured members to commit totally for the good of the group, to be loyal to the group, and work in unity. Each member obediently followed the leader’s word. Therefore, the difference between the cold weather people and the desert people is, while both considered group interest above individual interest, the cold weather people did it voluntarily while the desert people did this through obedience to the leader’s word. Sometimes the leader might be wrong; however, members followed the leader’s word regardless. Just as when an army goes into battle, even if the general is wrong, the soldiers still have to follow orders. Taking group interest above individual interest was the main ingredient for the group to succeed.
Let us apply this genetic memory to explain 20 century history in China. A democratic government was established in China after the fall of Qing dynasty. The Republic of China was formed in Nanjing on March 12, 1912 with Sun Yat-Sen as President. However, this government performed poorly. Officials were notoriously corrupt and the Chinese military could not effectively fight the Japanese in the Second World War. Only with the help of the USA and the Allied Powers was Japan was defeated and driven from China. Even after the war, corruption was still a serious problem in the republican government, which led to the Chinese civil war and eventual victory of Communist forces in 1949. Corruption is taking individual interest above group interest. The Republic government failed because its government was too weak, allowing people to do whatever they wanted. This would seem to suggest that a Western-style democratic governance system does not work well in China.
On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was formally established, with its national capital in Beijing. Mao Zedong was initially in control of this new government. Seeing the importance of obtaining fast results, he initiated many reforms, most famously the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Corruption was virtually non-exist, but the economy was a disaster. The explanation for this failure might be attributed to the Chinese people’s nature; they blindly followed the leader’s orders. If the leader was wrong, everything was wrong. However, Mao Zedong’s failures paved the way for China’s future success. Just like launching a rocket to the Moon, you do not expect to be successful in the first try. Since China had a failed governing system for a long time, some trial and error was necessary to find a suitable one.
After Mao’s death, the People's Republic of China undertook a new series of reforms, dubbed China's "Second Revolution", initiated by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s. This Second Revolution resulted in significant change to the Chinese Communist Party and its political activities, restructuring of government organization, reform of the economy, military modernization, and cultural and artistic reforms. Indeed, China's post-Mao leaders called for reform of every part of Chinese society. After this dramatic shake-up, the governing system still maintained political affairs under the tight control of the government, but the economy shifted to a free market system, with special attention given to fight corruption.
Under this new system, China’s economy flourished. Economic growth has been maintained at double digits annually, and China has become a member of the World Trade Organization. Standards of living have improved significantly as China saw the reappearance of the middle class. China finally stood up and found a workable governing system. Perhaps the biggest contribution of Mao Zedong to the Chinese people is that he initiated the search for a governing system that would fit with the genetic memories of the Chinese people.
But how can genetic memory explain the rise of the four Asian Tigers? Although all of the Four Tigers have some form of democratic system, taking group interest above individual interest is still the main ingredient for society to succeed. The important question is whether people doing this voluntarily like Westerners or just following the orders of the government. In these societies, there seems to be a mixture of three types of people: 1) those who follow what the government says; 2) those who do this voluntarily; 3) those who place personal interest above that of society. Which one comprises the majority in these countries?
Singapore, for example, is often called an illiberal democracy or socialist democracy by international observers, since Singapore's laws do not conform to some elements of liberal democratic values. There are no jury trials and there are laws restricting freedom of speech, which the government argues may breed ill will or cause disharmony. Criminal activity is punished with heavy penalties including heavy fines, corporal punishment (caning), and long prison terms. The government argues that Singapore has the sovereign right to determine its own judicial system and impose what it sees as an appropriate punishment, including capital punishment (hanging) for first-degree murder and drug trafficking. Singapore’s government has a strong control over its people, which shows the main reason Singapore can achieve such progress: its people follow what the government says. This might be termed ‘Eastern’ style.
As for the other three members of the Asian Tigers, the situation is more or less the same. This also includes Japan, which is not a Western-style democratic society since one party always wins the national elections. This aspect is similar to Singapore. Korea and Taiwan have been under martial law, and Hong Kong has been under British control. These governments have maintained a tight control over their citizens and its people follow what the government says. This allows society to progress. People in the truly democratic countries of the Western Europe have much more freedom. The reason for this freedom is because people voluntarily consider social interest to be above personal interest.
How to explain Russia's failure then? Russia has tried a Western-style democratic society under Boris Yeltsin but brought total chaos to the country. Russia was forced to adopt a tight control governing system under Vladimir Putin. Under this tight control governing system, Russian progresses back to where it was. The majority of Russians are desert people, since Russia was conquered by Mongolia in past times. Communism was the similar way of life of the ancient desert people lived. That is why Communism can take root in Eastern Europe and Asia (people there have the passed down genetic memory) but not in Western Europe.
Another point worth examining is why China has had a serious corruption problem, while Japan has not, though they originated from the same people. The best reason might be because China had a long and prosperous period starting from the Tang Dynasty in 618 AD. The Chinese people were surrounded by wealth and good fortune and as a result, they became greedy. People who live like this always want more. During that period, government officials accepting bribes was a short cut to wealth, and the old imperial system was not effective in curtailing corruption. Slowly, after thirteen hundred years, this behavior of accepting bribes became a genetic memory in the Chinese people. Not everyone has this memory, but a fairly high proportion does. A corrupt government will damage the unity of the people and weaken the country. The Japanese on the other hand did not have a long period of prosperity. There was much in-fighting, and as a result, they still maintain the genetic memory of loyalty and unity to the group from the desert people.
From the above I have come to the conclusion that the most the suitable governing system for the Chinese people is one which China has now; tight political control that at the same time allows for a free market economically, with special attention paid to corruption. Under this governing system, not only China’s economy flourished, but it also developed a highly efficient society. Infrastructure was built with immensely fast speed in accordance with Western standards.
Can the Chinese be trained to someday voluntarily consider social interest to be above personal interest like the Westerners? I think there is a possibility of this, but it is a very difficult task, since the population of China is so big. However, we could use Hong Kong as an exemplar. Hong Kong wants to have a true democratic society, but in order to do so they need to alter some behaviors of the Hong Kong people. An organization should be set up to monitor the democratic behavior of Hong Kong people. A democratic behavior index should be established to compare the democratic behavior of Hong Kong people to those of the Westerners. The democratic behaviors should include:
1) Willing to accept different opinions. I have seen political representatives shouting and yelling and throwing banana peels to disrupt parliament meetings. Those are not democratic behaviors.
2) Social fairness. Hiring and promotion should be depended solely on one’s ability and not on whom someone knows.
3) Justice fairness. People should realize that without a fair justice system, a democratic society cannot function.
4) Willing to make sacrifices. If someone witnesses a gang related crime, someone should willingly testify in court and even if someone’s family safety is in jeopardy.
5) Corruption. Whether or not one will take a bribe depends on if one has the “taking bribe” genetic memory. Not everyone has it but a large portion does. Actually a lie detector could find out if someone has it, but this would invade someone’s privacy. It is better to advise the person not to take up jobs that are likely to result in bribery.
6) Honesty and peace loving.
The list can go on. If Hong Kong is successful, this will set an example to the world. People of different genetic backgrounds other than Westerners can also achieve a true democratic society.
Finally, I must say I am an innovator, and am trying to construct theories and ideas. I sincerely hope people will be interested in my thoughts.
If you have any question or comment, write to
Stephen Cheng