One Mob, One Vote

Tantrums rack Asia's new democracies, showing how bad old habits die hard.

Pornchai Kittiwongsakul / AFP-Getty Images

Rebel Yell: Thai rallies against the government (like this one on June 20) could threaten the democratic order

By Jonathan Tepperman | NEWSWEEK

July 7-14, 2008 issue

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Even as China and Burma have struggled recently to rebuild from the Sichuan earthquake and Cyclone Nargis, disasters have struck a number of other Asian states. But these are shocks of the man-made kind.

The countries in question, which include some of Asia's strongest economies, have suffered enormous street protests, parliamentary meltdowns, threats of military intervention and other forms of bare-knuckled politics. In South Korea, tens of thousands of angry demonstrators have paraded nightly through Seoul—the biggest protests in two decades—demanding the ouster of the new president, Lee Myung-Bak.

Thailand has been racked by similar spasms, including massive marches and a parliamentary vote to censure Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, which he only barely survived. Taiwan's legislature broke into another of its famous melees in late June when screaming opposition M.P.s tried to physically block the foreign minister from speaking. And in India, talks on the U.S. nuclear deal collapsed yet again thanks to the obstruction of communist parties.

In most of these cases, democratic excesses have undermined the national interest. In South Korea, for example, President Lee is pushing free-trade deals on a nation that has benefited hugely from globalization. And for India, the nuclear deal offers access to U.S. technology and virtually free membership in the club of nuclear-armed nations. Yet such goals are slipping away in states that are supposed to rank among the most successful democracies in the non-Western world. South Korea, Taiwan and India are often praised for their freewheeling public debates, broad press freedoms, expanding civil liberties and strong economic performances.

So what explains the breakdowns? While there are individual factors at work, the struggles share some underlying common causes. First is a lack of democratic maturity. It's crucial to remember that in South Korea and Taiwan, democracy is barely 20 years old; in Thailand it's about 35, and even in India it's only 60. Habits formed under earlier periods of military or authoritarian rule die hard. Traditions of corrupt, highly personal, big-man-dominated, winner-take-all politics persist, turning every political skirmish into a struggle for survival.

There are already signs that the unrest is dying down—Taiwan is nowhere near as fractious as it used to be, and the Korean protests are slowing, with Lee's standing inching up. Short of another coup in Thailand, the prime minister and the constitutional order will also likely survive. But the underlying forces that allow, even encourage, protest to paralyze reform in these nations remain. And that's bad news at a time when spiraling food and energy costs and a global economic slowdown make decisive action more important than ever.

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Posted By: accrew4 @ 07/11/2008 3:32:51 PM

Thailand with massive marches? Give me a break, these people are just a collection of malcontents with nothing better to do. They lost the election last year and are now doing everything possible to discredit the new Prime Minister and his Cabinet. I was in Bangkok - China Town, during the last part of June. The so called massive marches took place a little over 4 blocks from where my hotel was. These malcontents were causing traffic jams all over the center part of Bangkok, but little else. Starting at the Democracy Monument and then moving to the Government House after 30+ days of demonstrations. Originally they were calling for a confidence vote and trying to prevent changes being voted on to the Thailand's Consitution. The Peoples Democratic Party was using the press to sway public opion and to gain international attention. Guess it worked with the international press but the Thai's I talked to were ready for the whinners to go back home. .

The standing Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his cabinet gave the PDP what they originally wanted. This only empowered the PDP and they continued the protest adding additional issues. The PDP have called for resigination of the Prime Minister, Interior Minister, and many others. They were also trying to make a issue of a pending World Heratige Site in Cambodia. Concerning a Temple site and boarder area that the World Court ruled on forty years ago. What this has to do with the present ruling government, who knows. But it makes good press. Ha! Ha!

In the USA what the PDP is doing would have been labelled as actively trying to overthrow the standing government. They would have been met at the Government House by armed troops and hauled off to the closest prison. Yea we support free speach in the USA.

The week I left Bangkok, the feeling of the majority of the Thai's I talked to. Was summed up by the PM saying, "Nothing was going to be done to the protesters as long as they are having fun." IMO the PM is giving these people just enough rope to hang themselves. Though according to the Interior Minister, "These protesters were in voilation of Thai Law and were looking at 6 year prison terms." I'm sure something is going to happen. But to give the PDP any credibility is just sad.
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Posted By: olderwiser @ 07/07/2008 8:28:00 PM

Nins, it is unexplainable how voters are so distracted by who wears lapel pins, and then decide to vote for lapel pins and against one who might not have put his hand over his heart when the flag drove by. You can tell people how the Mc Cain plan continues to pick the pockets of ordinary middle class people and stick the cash into the pockets of the shareholders of insurance companies, and they might just turn around and vote for some fake patriotic BS. We continue to somehow survive this but I am not convinced that it can last too long if people don't wake up and throw these thieves out into the street.
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Posted By: Nins @ 07/07/2008 1:28:15 PM

Did you know that if McCain is elected you will have to pay income tax on the value of the medical insurance that your employer gives you? Worse still, he is offering a tax break for people who pay their own insurance, BUT only $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.

Let's say you have a family of four. Your insurance policy costs would be at least $1,500-2,500 per month under a self-pay plan, which cost more than employer group plans. So, you pay $18,000 -$30,000 per year for insurance, and you get to deduct only $5,000 of that. If you paid $25,000 for you insurance, you would be out of pocket $20,000 per year. This is FAR WORSE than the current system, where if you are self employed you can deduct 100% of you medical insurance costs.

So, if you're not self employed, you would stick with your Employer's plan. Employer plans for a family of four have a value of $900-$1,500 per month totaling 10,800-$18,000 per year. Surprise! On April 15th, you owe tax on all of that as INCOME to you. Say your bracket is 25%, and the value of your Employer medical plan is $14,000. You will OWE THE IRS an additional $3,500, and that's ON TOP of whatever monthly premium you already pay to your employer for your insurance.

Many analysts say that McCain's new rules would encourage employers to stop offering health benefits. If that happened, then far fewer Americans would be insured than are insured today, because what family of four can afford $18,000-$30,000 out of pocket per year for self-pay health insurance?

Furthermore, McCain's plan does not require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions of people who self-pay their insurance. People under employer group plans have all of their pre-existing conditions covered. This is a hugely unfair aspect of the current system. Insurance companies can afford to cover the pre-existing conditions of the much larger pool of people with group insurance, but they refuse to pay the pre-existing conditions on the smaller pool of self-pay customers. They have been allowed to price gouge the self-pay customers, which is a form of market manipulation that should be illegal.

So let's say one of your kids had diabetes and you have high blood pressure, then your employer stops offering insurance. You now have to buy your own, but you and your child are INELIGIBLE due to pre-existing conditions. Oh, yeah, they will let you buy the insurance, but you can't use it for any pre-existing condition until you have paid on time every month for two years. And you know what happens at one year and 11 months? You get a letter saying your policy has been cancelled. I have many patients this has happened to.

McCain's plan SUCKS.

It does nothing to help middle class working Americans afford or obtain medical insurance. In fact, it makes the current system WORSE.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/29/mccain_unveils_health_care_pla.html?nav=rss_email/components