I think you're over-estimating the amount of control the party has or tries to enforce in China. Inside Chinese border, the amount of people who fear the party is probably in line with those who trust it -- not many.
If you want some of that growth, it seems logical you need to allow freedom. How much? How soon? How to stop it descending into anarchy? With a billion + lives on the line ... well I have a lot of sympathy for Presidents who go to China and then don't jump up and down screaming "become a democracy NOW"
edit: I would be interested in knowing why the down votes. I tend to delete when I reach minus figures but I am interested with what opposing view to the above others have (if it was just random expressions of dislike I will live with it.)
i.e Why is China's growth so far outstripping India's given India has more freedom?
Is this a common practice? If you do this do you avoid the existing karma hit, or is it just to avoid going more negative yet?
Singapore.
So I would still say yes, freedom does bring economic benefits. One assumes the more freedom the more benefits.
We ought to remember that at the polling stations
The polling stations only represent a small part of the problem.
You know what I wish we had? A movement of common-sense intellectually honest discussion groups. Groups that are focused on media distortions and facts. Groups that are predicated on the idea that the media and politics is self-interested in promulgating drama and debate beyond what really makes sense. I would like to be part of a group that likes to look behind those curtains.
I think if one looks hard enough at an acrimonious debate, you eventually get to some kind of hard question. Despite what the media often portrays, we're often all just people trying to get to the bottom of some hard question, and we should expect people to come to different conclusions.
What we have in almost all newspapers and tv outlets is not Journalism and when it occassionally is it is not comprehensive, sustained or penetrative
I suspect that in the uk as we may or may not get so e press regulation, we shall find blogging as the protected speech and slowly find local issues becoming driven from local blogs.
It's going to be fun to watch