"Mature" democracies

What makes certain democracies mature and other infantile?

Recent events in Taiwan, centered around the Anti-Chen demonstrations and the resulting violence caused between clashes between the "Red" and "pro-Chen" camp have led me to keep asking myself this.

The survival of the Chen government seems to have been hedged on the maturity of Taiwan's democratic institutions---at least, that's what Chen and the DPP want people to believe. That is, if the system holds Chen in place, and withstands public pressure from below, Taiwan can breath a sigh of relief: it has matured because, the unreasonable demands of a vocal group that seeks to undermine stablity has been weathered down, channeled into institutional "problem-solving" methods and a "power-grabbing" crisis averted. Ultimately, Taiwan cannot allow raw emotion to govern society. Taiwan would descend into certain chaos.

We all saw what happened during the 9-15 protest.
Hundreds of thousands of people, not divided by gender, class, occupation, age and political leanings marched for the purpose of demanding Chen's immediate resignation as president. There was no storming of the barricades or mob violence as intially feared. The demonstrations demonstrated the maturity of Taiwan's democracy. Impassioned, but rational---the demands of the people were channeled into one simple and spirited message: the hope that corruption would not rule the country indefinitely. Even the staunchest critics and enemies of Shih Ming-Te could not assert that this gathering was mobilized from above by political parties. People jammed the streets on their own initiative and though their actions didn not bring Chen down from office, they still sent meaningful shockwaves through out Taiwanese society. This was democracy at its finest moment.

It is not the people clad in crimson who threaten the longevity, stabilty and ultimate maturity of Taiwan's democracy. Rather, the perpetuation of a system that bends the rule of law, is what threatens the fabric of national harmony and democratic values. Far from representing the will of the majority, the ruling regime is now bent on creating new dichotimies in society: Reds versus Taiwanese, chaos versus order and anarchy versus democracy. Ultimately, the government continues to bury its head into the sand, even as the need for honest introspection is long overdue. It is the government's willingness to shift blame to the pan-blues, the Reds, the Communists, the police, Mayor Ma's puppy, impassioned grade school students, moms, green turncoats, Chinese pigs, the weather and those who don't like the President is what makes Taiwan's democracy infantile.

幼稚執政者下台! 臺灣民主萬歲

A fiery descent...

I've been having nightmares lately.

This time, it a flight training session, with a flight instructor in one of the those training planes.

I took off without a hitch from the runway, but as soon as I reached a certain elevation, the started to pitch backwards.

The plane crashed.

I remember getting out (uninjured even though the plane was now in complete ruins and on fire) and talking with the flight instructor (also unharmed) about what went wrong. This is when I woke up.

Interesting.
Now I'm trying to imagine if cadets in the pilot training programs have these nightmares everyday?

Is Hell paved with good intentions?

The Thai government has been overthrown by a military coup.
This has rapidly lead to people here in Taiwan to think: Could the same thing happen here?

I don't want to use the backdrop of "cloak and dagger conspiracies" as a means to introduce an analysis of what has taken place here in Taiwan over the past two weeks. However, I cannot help to feel that the lastest Thai episode gives us an uncanny opportunity to project our deepest hopes and fears. The anti-corruption campaign that seeks to oust President Chen from office and indeed, the citizens of this republic are now poised to have their legal institutions, beliefs and values tested in the most strident ways.

My brother suggested that I take time to put my thoughts down in writing. Clearly, we both think that this is a very crucial, if not pivotal point in Taiwanese history, not just Taiwanese political history. With this suggestion in mind, I will use this space of expression to unload my restrospections, introspections, frustrations, juxtapositions and interpretations on this latest social movement.