I was published at Liberty Unbound with an article on democracy, India, China, and the Western tendency to treat democracy as a kind of religion.

In the article, I discuss the aftermath of Bal Thackeray’s death in Mumbai and the arrest of two young women for a Facebook post questioning the forced public mourning that followed. The episode revealed how little rule of law exists in India, despite its democratic form.

I also argue that many Western observers misunderstand both India and China because they assume democracy means freedom and dictatorship means unfreedom. Reality is far more complicated. India has elections, but often lacks basic liberty, order, and protection from local strongmen. China is not democratic, but it may offer more predictability, stability, and practical freedom than Western assumptions allow.

Read the archived article at Liberty Unbound via the Wayback Machine →