Reject Democracy, ‘Freedom of Speech’ and predict the collapse of Western civilisation?..you’re called an extremist….unless you’re Chinese!

Enter Eric X. Li, a successful Chinese Entrepreneur in Shanghai, and political scientist, whose educational history includes both universities in China, and Berkeley USA.

He spoke at the famous TEDx platform and explained how he was once fooled by two systems coming from the West. His first belief, was the belief of a gradual and inevitable progression of humanity towards justice for the poor, under Communism. After he became disillusioned with Communism after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he went to USA and ‘bought in’ to Individualism (Liberalism), where all people in the world would ‘progress’ toward ‘individual freedom’ and establish electoral Democracies.

But Liberal Democracy, according to Eric, has mostly been a failure, and the narrative of Liberalism was that only democracies can be adaptable, eliminate corruption and possess legitimacy – he demonstrated that this belief is simply untrue of Liberal Democracies. Furthermore, China a one-Party state has better achieved these goals – fatally shattering the Liberal Democratic myth.

Eric not only blast Liberal democracy using facts and statistics from its global practice, but also showed how democracy is inefficient, static, lacking popular consultation, and corrupt – with power concentrated mostly in the hands of elites. In virtually most countries democracy has been implemented in, it has proven a unsuccessful form of government.

Eric spoke eloquently, using statistics and data, to show how the Chinese government has been highly adaptable, composed of mostly working class origins, meritocratically oriented and highly consultative with the people – and has achieved the greatest uplifting of the poor into wealth, health and prosperity ever achieved in modern times. However, the same can’t be said for Western countries, where popular dissatisfaction, economic problems and non-flexible government is on the rise.

In the Oxford Union, Eric spoke again, predicting the end of the dominance of Western Civilisation, and the rise of China and other nations. He blast the Western hypocrisy behind ‘free speech’ by exposing the simple fact that all countries and cultures, including Western ones, have taboos, where people are allowed to say somethings, and not allowed to say other things (a lesson many incarcerated Muslims have painfully learned living in the West). Eric then simply declared that Freedom of Speech doesn’t exist, and China merely does the same as any other country around the world – outlaw what is taboo, and legalise what is not.

In both TEDx and Oxford Union (as well as many of his articles), Eric’s main point was this – the West claims that their system is universal and is the only way for all people on earth to achieve success and prosperity. China has proven this narrative wrong.

The lesson that the Chinese system serves, is not to show that the Chinese system should be applied all over the world as an alternative to Liberal Democracy [which Eric says will not work], but rather the message China can teach the world is simply that alternative systems to Democracy are possible and even preferable for most countries and states around the world.

Eric advocates that each nation around the world should implement a system that is based upon their own values, beliefs and worldviews which work for them, not a foreign ‘one size fits all’ system imported from the West.

Although the Chinese system has many problems and issues, Eric’s point about it demonstrating that superior alternatives to Liberal Democracies can and do exist, is a powerful lesson all people around the world should take note of.

However, there is one small lesson I would like to note here. If a Muslim said exactly what Eric says (like many Muslim public speakers do), they would be called ‘extremist’, ‘anti-modern’, ‘backward’ and ‘Islamist’ – yet when an individual from an undisputably powerful, advanced and developed country says exactly the same message, he’s (grudgingly) called ‘thought provoking’.

So dear reader, if anyone calls the campaign for re-establishing the Caliphate (Khilafah), extremism, simply reply that you are merely taking the non-extremist, Eric X Li’s advice. And when the Khilafah ascends successfully to prominence in prosperity, technological advancement, scientific research and enlightened civilisation (Inshallah) – perhaps then they’ll invite ‘Islamists’ to TEDx talks too…

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[To see both of Eric’s X Li’s lectures, please see below – highly recommended]

Eric X Li speaking at TEDx

Eric X Li speaking on the failure of Democracy at the Oxford Union

Eric X Li giving a speech at the Oxford Union on a world without the Western order

Eric X Li giving a speech at the Aspen Ideas festival