Political Evolution

 

The turmoil in China, the protests in Iran, the relatively speedy reforms that MBS (Mohammed Bin Salman) undertook in Saudi Arabia have something in common. There is an underlying current which points to freedom and democracy.

People living under single party dictatorships, or a dictator, or a Sultan of a royal family are revolting against their rulers.  Iran was a relatively free country when the Shah of Iran ruled in the 1950s. Then came the clerics who overthrew the liberal Shah and unleashed a brutal rule which followed the Shia dictates.

Many Arab countries were Sheikhdoms in the last century.  When the Europeans came, trading relations grew and these kingdoms acquired some semblance of political legitimacy as they provided protection to the traders and businesses, both domestic and foreign. The discovery of oil was a boon to the rulers, and increased their political power.

Iran is also witnessing unprecedented protests. Women in Iran are demanding freedom from religious oppression. The protests have spread and is now threatening the regime of the religious clerics.

The CCP power in China has been challenged. The Tiananmen Square massacre was an indication that all was not well with the communist party rule. China opened up its economy and grew rapidly in the last three decades. The current generation of Chinese people do not know what it is to be without a job, or even economic hardship. This economic affluence kept political pressure for freedom at bay. The people were getting what they were promised. But what goes up, generally comes down. The Chinese economy began to contract just before the covid pandemic set in.

Today the Chinese growth story is all but over. This has created huge problems for the CCP. They can no longer guarantee livelihoods to the Chinese people. Also, draconian anti-covid measures enforced for the last three years have tried the patience of the Chinese people. The Zero covid policy has brought down the Chinese economy due to frequent lockdowns.

There may be many reasons for the current spate of freedom movements across the globe. One can say that this is an evolutionary step taken by nature. We always talk of evolution being an improvement. The evolutionary process on which the human race has embarked, is now in the midst of a sociological evolutionary step. Freedom is being demanded from autocratic political systems in various parts of the world.

This movement is far bigger than anything that can be crushed by force of the military and guns. What we are witnessing is the process of evolution. This is not biological evolution, it is political / sociological. Just as humans evolve biologically, their social systems also need to evolve. This is precisely what we are witnessing.  The fact that many parts of the world are witnessing similar movements gives credence to the theory that as humans are evolving so are their social systems.