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Democracy for Nepal

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    Almost ten years have passed since the royal power collapsed in Nepal. I am not an expert in the field of history, politics and economy of Nepal, but I don’t think one have to be an expert to suggest that the king did not really care about the welfare of his people. As far as I remember (I first arrived in Nepal 10 years before the fall of the monarchy), under the monarchy there were the same hopeless dirt, noise, poverty and ignorance everywhere around.

    So, there is no king any longer, and Nepal is ruled by the Parliament. Democracy won. And what we see 10 years later? The same hopeless dirt, noise, poverty and ignorance. It seems that the new authorities care about their people no more than the previous kings did. And you know why? Well, because the democracy is a great step forward for educated, developed countries, but in poor underdeveloped countries the democracy only leads to further degradation, becoming a sort of dual power: ignorant people at the bottom and corrupt elite at the top. Of course, such dual power brings chaos not only to the backward countries such as Russia or Nepal, but even to those countries that have not yet grown to the level of highly developed cultures despite being close to them. The democracy begins to work and do good and becomes a new round in the development of civilization only in those countries that have already matured to that. For other countries, the democracy becomes a hindrance. Every maid cannot govern the state. No possibility that uneducated, corrupt people with respective mentality could build a modern, developing country, even if they come together and call themselves “the parliament”. If the blind lead the blind, where will they come? And what if the blind leaders are corrupt?

    Many are fascinated by the achievements of the developed democratic countries. But we must not forget that they were able to reach their level of development because the process of their gradual development had been going on for centuries. For centuries! Backward countries have simply “missed the boat” and now they don’t have a few hundred years to spend on their gradual development.

    One should simply understand that Nepal, as well as many other lagging countries, is very far behind the advanced cultures, for centuries. And now it is absolutely pointless to try and follow the beaten track of gradual development towards enlightened democracy – it will require hundreds of years, while there is now a completely different way, due to the same developed cultures.

    Would Singapore have appeared on the map of civilized world, if not Lee Kuan Yew? Would have South Korea appeared there, too, if not Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee? Would a pearl of Chile be shining now on the South American continent, if not Pinochet? Would we now have a new star in Africa – Botswana, if not Seretse Khama, who turned the poorest and most desert region of the continent into the most actively developing African country with the new capital of Gaborone, which is now the most dynamically developing African city? Only half a century ago (!!), these countries were as poor, ignorant and dirty as present-day Nepal. Only half a century ago. But they were lucky. These countries started to be headed by clever dictators. Other countries were less fortunate with dictators and have no luck so far. Russia is still ruled by a Stalinist dictator. Hungary is a mafia state headed by the mafia boss. Leaders of Venezuela, Belarus, Cuba, Zimbabwe etc. are totally inadequate dictators. Therefore, you cannot rely on luck. We cannot allow that Nepal will be governed by someone like Mugabe, Castro or Stalin.

    You cannot further live in underdeveloped democracy, where the parliament will be solving their own issues for another three hundred years, forgetting about the people. Nor can you rely on the off-chance, waiting that frail pseudo-democracy will suddenly give birth to an unpredictable dictator.

    We must not forget that the democracy in Nepal can no longer grow and get stronger “in its own way”, because there are other countries, where life is moving too fast, and the people simply won’t drag out a miserable existence in the end. Already, we are seeing a massive pilgrimage of Nepalis. They leave their country for anywhere – for Malaysia, the Emirates, though even for Russia – for anywhere, because Nepal, alas, is presently one of the poorest and most backward countries. Will Nepal survive as a country, as a habitat of Nepalese ethnic groups, if all this goes on? If you Nepalese cherish your homeland and culture, then you need to find a solution.

    Actually there is a solution, and quite an obvious one: the dictator is necessary… to be chosen and hired! You do not have to go that hard many-hundred-year path, aggravating by the fact that all the other countries are racing ahead. You just have to employ someone and give him the dictatorial powers. It is not necessary to look for some kind of ideal. It is enough to choose, with the support and advice from developed countries, such a specialist who has sufficient experience and ambition to build a new state. Let him be not quite perfect (as were not perfect the dictators of Chile, Korea and Singapore I listed above), but in any case he will create a team of professionals like him – ambitious and enthusiastic, where his successors will come from. You cannot spend years and decades in a fit of perfectionism on the one hand and indecision on the other. No need to look for “own way”, rejecting what will undoubtedly improve the current life. Just build the state in which people live at least approximately like those in Finland, Singapore, Chile, Korea, Sweden, New Zealand – at least roughly. And then it comes time to think about uniqueness and so on. It would be a crime – to your people, to your family and eventually to yourself – to go on living in barbaric conditions, discarding the achievements and potentials of highly-developed cultures.