The ethics centre reminds us that in this country we've had
leadership spills, ministerial scandals, legal corruption,
campaign donations, misinformation, lies, and divisions.
Therefore it is no wonder that many Australians have become
distrustful of democracy.

Abroad we've had Brexit, the Middle East conflict, Russian
use of force, the near collapse of the EU and a former US
president trying to avoid impeachment.

It's therefore not suprising that many people are flloking
for something simpler, efficient, stabler, and easy.

There's more at:

http://www.ethics.org.au/democracy.is-still-the-least-worst-option-we-have/

Shirin Ebadi Iranian political activist, lawyer and
former judge was the first Iranian and Muslim woman
to be awarded the Nobel Prize in 2003.

She said:

"If you want to raise a crop for one year, plant corn.
If you want to raise a crop for decades, plant trees.
If you want to raise a crop for centuries, raise men.
If you want to plant a crop for centuries raise
democracies".

Carl A. Schenck said:

"Democracy cannot exist without respect for the
identity and worth of cultures and peoples".

Rigoberta Menchu Tum wrote:

"Men's capacity for justice makes democracy possible,
but man's inclination for injustice makes democracy
necessary".

My favourite quotes comes from Winston Churchill:

"Democracy is the worst form of government,
except for all those other forms that have been tried
from time to time" .

Cheers.

Foxy,
You say "People no longer fall for the outmoded tactics of the past."

Even though I wish this was true I have to disagree with you.

Recently in QLD there was a change in government essentially based on the rage bait slogan "adult crime adult time".

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/79127-if-your-plan-is-for-one-year-plant-rice-if

“If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children. ”
― Confucius

Maybe this is where Foxy got her quotes from...

http://www.ipu.org/news/news-in-brief/2021-09/you-may-not-know-these-7-quotes-democracy
_______________

Comment- Foxy's quote attributed to Rigoberta Menchu Tum "Men's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination for injustice makes democracy necessary".

Answer- This sounds similar to Mencius and Xunzi both Confucian scholars Mencius (man is naturally good) and Xunzi (man is naturally bad). Also similar to Locke (man in a state of nature is good)/ Hobbes (Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes) and Mill (harm principle)/ Aristotle (virtue). Man's Good/ Bad natures can be compared with Hegel's Thesis/ Anti-Thesis/ Synthesis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xunzi_(philosopher)
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Xunzi
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/xunzi/
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09552367.2024.2430121

Confucian philosophy considers the family as the atom of society.

Oxford University- Confucianism and Social Structure by Alan T. Wood
http://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/45499/chapter/392459146

http://www.britannica.com/topic/Confucianism
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Zhougong
http://www.britannica.com/topic/Zhouli

http://www.worldhistory.org/Confucianism/

"A belief in a higher power alone was not enough to encourage right action, however, nor to control one's baser instincts. Confucius advocated a strict code of ethics one should adhere to in order to maintain the middle way in life of peace and prosperity. These are known as the Five Constants and Four Virtues:

Ren – benevolence
Yi – righteousness
Li – ritual
Zhi – knowledge
Xin – integrity
Xiao – filial piety
Zhong – loyalty
Jie – contingency
Yi – justice/righteousness

All of these were equally important, but they began with filial piety. People were encouraged to honor and respect their parents and observe a hierarchy of authority where a son obeyed his father's wishes, a younger brother respected and deferred to his older brother, and women did the same with men. In this way, the family would live harmoniously and, if enough families embraced filial piety, one would soon have a whole community of contented people, then a state, and then an entire country. There would be no need of oppressive governments or laws because people would, essentially, be governing themselves through recognition of the benefits of virtuous behavior."

The sad thing is China lost it's way to legalism.

Essentially Confucianism is bottom up hierarchical society based on traditional eternal structures. Legalism is top down authoritarianism. China's Emperor's chose authoritarianism so did Mao in his adoption of authoritarian Marxism. Rome and the Catholic Church use a localistic hierarchical bottom up model. Machiavelli and Aristotle saw the bottom up approach as less authoritarian. Is fear or love the better way to govern society? Marxism or Traditionalism??

Gustav Le Bon says that a cultures direction is determined by deep cultural principles that are not easy to change. It will not be easy for China to rediscover the roots of their society.

India was ruled by the Mogul's as I understand. A foreign power without sympathy for the local population, without the desire to preserve them and their identity, only to use them. Does India now desire the become the Mogul. Do they have the wisdom of their desires. The Zealot preaches before he instructs or learns. I think they should rule themselves first, then seek to influence others.

http://www.britannica.com/place/India/The-Mughal-Empire-1526-1761