Plato, Hobbes, and Confucius: Dialogues and Analects Against Democracy

The Greek philosopher Plato was one of the many Greeks who frowned upon the concept of democracy, which in its original translation, meant the rule of the people-- but in its original context, the people who rule were actually closer to the mob mentality and the chaos that comes out of it. Historically, the old Peloponnesian War of the 5th century BCE had the democratic power of Athens throwing its weight around trying to impose its will on other Greek city-states, whereas the militaristic oligarchy of Sparta was fighting against their empire-building ambitions and for their own sovereignty. This example is often used by critics of democracy when they show how it has traditionally never been the pure and infallible ideal that has been championed by the west (especially the French and Americans) for so long.

Plato believed that people should be ruled by what he refers to as the "philosopher king" who is a just, fair ruler that becomes the leader not because he wants to rule (he actually does not want to wield power at all; he actually avoids it), but because he fears what could happen if an inferior ruler was in charge, and takes the job only to make sure it is done right.

By contrast, the Confucian belief system was that everyone had a role in society based on specific social relations that are often misunderstood in the west, especially when confusing it with the later Neo Confucianism of the Song Dynasty that outlined women's roles as being strictly tied to their duties in the home. In terms of how the relationship between the ruler and his subject in the traditional Confucian philosophy, it was not just people putting their faith in the absolute authority of the ruler, but the accountability and responsibility of the ruler to his people, lest their faith be misplaced.

Looking at these two perspectives of governmental responsibility, how do we assess democracy in an age where the definitions still elude many? To begin with, it is important to know that democracy is not simply entitling everyone the right to vote, as it can happen as an act for show, much like the elections in Iraq that voted Saddam Hussein into power for another term before he was ousted in 2003 along with his totalitarian dictatorship. Democracy-- especially in terms of development-- refers to the institutions and bureaucracies, as well as the accountability of them and officials in charge for their actions and responsibilities.

How much of this has been lost since democracy has been mis-represented as the freedom to express offensive ideas or promoting the process of voting rather than creating actual accountability and representation? When looking at current failures and corruption in governments masquerading as democracies in name only (the fallen Republic Iraq and the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea being prime examples), or the Americans who allow hate groups to exist in the name of their democracy, it is somewhat disillusioning to see what has happened to the idea of democracy.

Under the current (mis)understanding of democracy, the Philippines, after a visit from Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew, earned his comment that it "needed more discipline and less democracy" due to the communication divide. Part of the problem in developing countries is that the criticism of leaders by allowing an excess amount of expression in democracies is that it creates such a level of distrust that governmental support and political aspirants rarely have a chance to work in good faith due to the unfair association of being susceptible to corruption even before committing those acts, which in turn inspires them to achieve their political goals through corruption in order to survive.

Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan a pillar of western political thought, would be disappointed at the way that the allowance of excessive free expression undermines the authority of the government and the respect due, which in turn weakens the relationship between the citizens and the government. After all, the social contract did not just detail the responsibility of the government to protect its citizens, but for the citizens to be responsible for their government as well, meaning that if they expect to have a responsible government, they cannot erode its image by mixing its effectiveness with the personal lives of its leaders, especially if it is no concern of the people to judge whom their leaders are sleeping around with behind their wives' backs, especially if those same leaders are doing a good job.

Perhaps the real issue is not to just let the idea that democracy is about voting and freedom of expression, but to correct that misconception and clarify its meaning of accountability and responsibility, as well as limiting the expression that allows libelous articles from tabloid-level journalists to mistakenly draw connections between state leaders and their extramarital affairs while promoting an image of the government that is consistent with its level of responsibility.

Cultural Imperialism 101: Colonizing the Panties

One of the greater divisions in the cultural gap between east and west is evident in the popular western sexual fetish for Asian pornography. Asian pornography does not necessarily refer to pornography produced in Japan or Korea, but based on the ethnic stereotypes for people who would otherwise all be categorized as Orientals. Oriental here is referring to not actually being from the Orient (as the term is now far too archaic and politically incorrect), but to the idea and concept that those who are perceived as having Asian heritage are forever foreign, exotic, and mysterious, left to the minds of the misinformed and uneducated to fantasize and speculate, thereby objectifying the culture and people they have misrepresented and misperceived, especially in their pornography.

The basic stereotype for women is that she is exotic, forever a foreigner, knows ancient pleasure techniques, submissive, and willingly offers herself to the westerner, whom she finds far more pleasing and greets as a liberator rather than lecher. The stereotype for the male is that he is sexually impotent due to his supposedly smaller body size (and consequentially his penis size as well), selfish, and oppressive to women. Both stereotypes speak more about the racial bias from early or initial impressions that westerners have of the Asian peoples rather than being drawn from factual evidence, as well as a complete disregard for culture.

One of the common fantasies in Asian pornography are usually about how some sexually-charged women are visiting the west in search of sexual partners or encounters with western men, whom they perceive as physically more attractive and capable with larger penises and muscular frames. Parallels to the Nazi Germany ideology of the Aryan as a symbol of human perfection comes to mind when observing this mindset.

Another fantasy involves a young girl lost and seemingly unaware of the environment she has found herself in, to which the lecherous pornographers seek to take advantage of her by telling her things such as how she will be a model and that they simply wanted to get to know her better, which involves much sexual touching and objectifying much like they were inspecting goods, before they proceed to make sexual advances on her.

Dialog also proves to be tasteless: when two performers are discussing the physical differences of each other's anatomy and resulting incompatibility as one example seen on a popular American site specializing in the Asian fetish, the male performer says, "the egg roll does not fit in the take-out box!" Hearing lines like this, one feels more inclined to laugh before shaking his or her head in disbelief.

It is such garbage like this that generates income for the pornography industry at the expense of ethnic groups being misunderstood and the viewers absorbing the misinformation, fostering ignorance in the long run. Surprisingly, some of the people who benefit are the performers, as a number of the female performers are college students earning tuition money. Some could argue that it is no different from prostitution, but one performer in the U.S. said "wouldn't you blame the education system for forcing me to subject myself to this, with student loans and financial aid harder and harder to come by?"

Other people have different opinions. One college student from China at UCLA who was asked about how the stereotype affects people's perceptions of her said that "I feel people are approaching me because they want to try something new instead of actually getting to know me or about my culture, like I'm some sort of new food they want to try for the sake of trying as they attempt to hit on me and tell me how much they like my culture. It's very degrading and disrespectful, and I don't tolerate it." Since arriving in the U.S., she feels that people are constantly trying to take advantage of her the way they do in pornography. "I'm not interested in their approach, their methods, or pornography. I'm just another person not from the U.S., I don't want to fulfill someone's fantasies from what pornography they have watched," she said after the stereotype and the popular fantasies.

If the west wants to start taking other cultures far more seriously, then perhaps some methods of control should be utilized in spite of constantly fighting for creative expression and corporate profits. Perhaps we need to be reminded that such ignorance can be dangerous, recalling specifically the American soldiers in Okinawa, Japan or Angeles City, Philippines where they were charged for raping local girls, under the impression that they can get away with their actions for being men of privilege, coupled with the misconception that these women were helpless and completely submissive-- common misrepresentations of both the western men and Asian women in pornography.