It was on the news again this week that in no more than a decade hence, China will surpass the United States as the world’s biggest economy. For those of us who are NOT particularly enamoured of either the political East or political West (and rather look up to religion for guidance), this news may be good as it portends another round of balance in world economic, as well as political, affairs. China being No 1 may well spell the end of the dominance of the Bretton Woods institutions as Dictators of the World Economy; it may even change the permutations at the United Nations.

I have been accused, more than a few times (even by some of my member-colleagues of our Editorial Board at Media Trust), of harbouring ‘undemocratic’ (or ‘anti-democracy’) tendencies. That my fascination with China – its execution of corrupt officials, its system of electing (or selecting or evolving) leaders, its clampdown on the internet at times – all go to show I am enamoured of totalitarianism. And that my ‘democratic’ credentials are not impeccable.

But this piece of news about the Chinese economy racing to surpass that of the United States (as it did the Japanese only a few years ago), seems to be a vindication of sorts for me. What is democracy but economic progress? What is freedom without commensurate social development? What more anarchy can there be but through the choice of the unready by the multitude of the uninformed?

I don’t particularly like Communism. Because it is Godless, it is an anathema to my religion of Islam as God is the centre of our universe. But is Democracy, Western Democracy that is, God-ful? Not exactly. In Islam, Western style democracy is X, an unknown. What we read in the history of Islam on how to evolve leaders has nothing to do with everyone over 18 trooping to the polls to elect the most…qualified? No! Most sensible? No! But most…money-spending. In Islam, people are supposed to be elected via the Shura System, where just, gentle and informed elders, plus some just, gentle and informed youth, convene and select the leaders. Monarchy, as practiced in many Muslim lands today is another double X.

Yes, China has its challenges: scores die down the mines in preventable accidents; trains collide; people go berserk and shoot others; there is a ‘scarcity’ of women. And yes, we do have problems with China: they take over small businesses in Africa and other places; they export fake drugs to us; they are said to ‘enslave’ workers in my country; my fellow Muslims in Xinjiang are suffering under Chinese rule, their freedom of religion and other basic freedoms compromised. But doesn’t America now kill innocent Muslims via drones in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other places?

All the same, if the Chinese system can create the wealth that is being created in China; if the Chinese system can create so much work and opportunity all over the world; if the Chinese system can create a semblance of order in their own country; if the Chinese system can ensure such stability in the polity by careful grooming of political leaders; then tell me what is Democracy but the Chinese system?

And now, for some Chinese Wisdom, ancient and contemporary.

SISTERS: A wealthy man died and his assets were split between his two daughters. Each daughter got an equal share, but since it was difficult to assign an exact value on what they got, each daughter suspected that the other had received the larger share. They took each other to court, each demanding that they receive the overage discrepancy from the other. The Judge heard the case and realised that the inheritances were equal, and he simply ordered that they exchange their inheritances. And since both daughters claimed that the other had initially received the larger share, neither of them could argue with the judgment.

SUSPICION: A man could not find his axe, and suspected that his neighbour’s son stole it. As the man inspected the boy—the way he moved, the look on his face, and the way he spoke—everything seemed to point to the boy’s guilt. “He stole my axe!” the man thought to himself. However, not long afterwards, he came across his missing axe while digging in a dell. The next day, he looked at his neighbour’s son again. This time, he could not spot all those cues that pointed to the boy’s guilt the previous day.

DEMONS: A travelling-artist was drawing for a Chinese King. The King asked him, “What is the most difficult thing to draw?” “Dogs and horses,” was the reply. “Then what is the easiest?” the King asked. “Devils and demons are the easiest,” replied the artist. “People know dogs and horses. They see them night and day right in front of them. There is no room for any distortions when drawing them. Thus, they are the most difficult to draw. “As for devils and demons, they have no shape, and nobody sees them. Thus, they are very easy to draw.”

WISH: A man had two daughters, the one married to a gardener, and the other to a tile-maker. After a time, he went to the daughter who had married the gardener, and inquired how she was and how all things went with her. She said, ‘All things are prospering with me, and I have only one wish: that there may be a heavy fall of rain, in order that the plants may be well watered.’ Not long after, he went to the daughter who had married the tile-maker, and likewise inquired of her how she fared. She replied, ‘I want for nothing, and have only one wish: that the dry weather may continue, and the sunshine hot and bright, so that the bricks might be dried.’ He said to her, ‘If your sister wishes for rain, and you for dry weather, with which of the two am I to join my wishes?’

GENTLEMEN: Whereas in many parts of the world ladies are generally served first at most places, in China it is gentlemen first. And this is not because of any gender discrimination. A Chinese couple went to a restaurant with another Western couple. The waiter took a good look at the guests and served the male of the other couple first, then the Chinese husband, then the other lady, then the Chinese wife. The Western gentleman loudly complained that the ladies should have been served first. The waiter seemed to ignore him, apparently oblivious of what the fuss was all about. It was later that it was explained to the Westerner that the Chinese serve according to age, not according to gender.

WIFE: In China, you will almost always see the wife walking a few steps behind the husband. Perhaps they will walk side by side if they are engaged in a conversation, but as soon as the conversation stops, they will automatically revert to a staggered formation. When they go out with other couples, the men will walk together and the women will walk behind the men. This is no gender discrimination; it is the hierarchy of age. AGE! All animals have it.

Yes, the Chinese are Godless, but they are building the rail in Mecca.