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21 What Is Democracy? Ionce heard a politician callin g out ecstatically, 'Democracy , I love you!' That left me with the impression that, to him, democracy was some kind of goddess to be worshipped. That politician had obviously fallen in love late i n life, because he was already about fifty an d had until the n never shown the least interest in democracy. In fact, democracy is not a god to be worshipped, but a state of mind, and a democrat is not a party member but a person who cares about people. That declaratio n o f love for democracy a t once gained the politicia n many admirers among extreme rightist politicians and rampant capitalist s in th e Unite d States . Thes e righ t win g capitalist s hav e bee n usin g 'democracy' a s their battl e cr y for ove r fift y years , with th e intentio n o f overthrowing foreig n nationa l leader s wh o fai l t o bo w dow n t o thei r economic empire. Ironically, thi s grea t Hon g Kon g 'democrat ' constantl y rail s agains t capitalists in Hong Kong, naming them 'communists', while some members of his own democratic party behave like the extreme-leftist 'Re d Guards' of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Yet, as long as he claims to be a democrat and seeks advice from Washington, he is acceptable. After all, even General Pinochet was supported by Washington. Another politician , who claims to be democrat number one in Hon g Kong, sees democracy merely as 'one person, one vote', full stop. Before the year 2000 elections, this 'democrat' explained that she had not been able to do muc h fo r Hon g Kon g because th e governmen t di d no t giv e her a big 170 Colonial Hong Kong in the Eyes of Ebie Tu enough allowanc e t o carr y ou t he r work . On e o f he r colleague s rightl y pointed ou t tha t succes s depend s no t s o muc h upo n mone y a s upo n dedication to the public. Our youn g people ar e being misled int o thinkin g tha t th e universa l franchise will be the panacea for all ills. It will not. Injustices are solved by dedicated people who get on with the job instead of wasting time on abstract ideas. Debating abstract ideas can waste taxpayers' money and politicians' as well as administrators' time, but it will not improve the lot of the people unless reasonabl e an d viabl e changes ar e made i n legislation . Politician s who promise t o reduce taxe s and charges , and a t th e sam e time improv e public facilities , shoul d no t b e trusted , becaus e thos e promise s ar e economically impossible, and they are made simply to attract votes. Since this book is intended mainly for young people who may be familiar with the pressing problems of the day but who know nothing about the past few years when the y were too young to understand, I will keep i t simple. History repeats its mistakes generation after generation because instead of studying the mistakes of the past, young people try to 're-invent the wheel', so to speak, instead of seeking to improve it further. I do not mean to blame young people. We all go through similar experiences in youth. But I would like to point ou t th e danger s of allowing older, less principled people , t o lead them int o activities that the y will regret when they mature. It is my intention t o explain simpl y what i s the tru e meaning o f democracy, an d how i t ha s bee n distorted , especiall y i n th e pas t fift y years , i n countrie s which clai m t o hav e pu t democrac y int o practice . Indeed , th e wor d 'democracy' ha s deviate d fro m it s origina l purpos e o f servin g people , t o become one of the greatest deceivers of mankind. It has become a pretext for aggression , and for interferenc e i n the affairs o f many countries of th e world. Indeed, it...

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