LOL half his rant was about traffic, apparent poor health care and being swindled out of money... not denying that they are problems, but he acts like it is something unique to us.
Being in the health profession myself, I have seen horrific stories about people being swindled by banks and insurance companies in the US too! He simply hasn't experienced it there!
fail to come up with a better defence for Indian democracy. Anyway, how could that be accomplished as your own people are moving out of India?
We are not the ones with the socialist paradise
I am of the of the opinion that just like in different paths in lives (like in Hinduism's multiple paths to enlightenment); different people need to follow different governments. I probably agree that in terms of raw GDP numbers, the number of plastic McHappy meal toys we crank out and the numbers of factories pumping out Nike Air Jordan's, a totalitarian government in India would be much better. Overall 'quality of life' (how westerners measure it anyway) would (probably!) improve dramatically.
However, after considerable deliberation on the issue, I have come to conclusion that in no way can India take a traditionalist far right/left wing approach to governance. There is far too much diversity. As the article you linked put it - Indians have been together far too long. And this 'diversity' is not some new found trend - but is linked to the metamorphosis of the Indus Valley civilization to to the evolution of the Vedas that have (for good or ill) shaped India today. Each distinct state/cultural group has their own distinct identity stretching back to such times - and they hold on to it. The development of an overruling dictatorship is impossible for this reason - no Indian will be happy to accept a cult of elites they do not view as their own controlling their futures.
Isn't India already the largest democracy, that should have attracted Chinese who desire for the taste of democracy?
The Chinese by contrast are a homogeneous society and have first hand experienced the sweeping changes (many of them positive!) made in the name of the "people's revolution". The enormous developments of the past two decades are a testament to the changes made by the CCP half a century earlier.
However, simply visiting/living in another nation isn't what makes a democracy special. True - Chinese do not leave China for a taste of democracy (perhaps some do) - but largely for $$$.
The Chinese have seen the $$$ made by to a significant extent, the policies of the CCP and hence want to continue down that road. However, as social standards improve closer to European levels, it will be interesting to see in the next couple of decades if any more democratic measures are implemented. The CCP have done a commendable job on eliminating poverty, improving infrastructure etc, however, have failed to take the role of the balancing arm of government - it is completely non-existent.
Different governments for different people. In the late 1920's; during the years of the Weimar Republic in Germany, after several years of finally achieving some stability post ww1, the democratic government spontaneously tumbled into Nazism. The British Ambassador to germany at the time (Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon) had a great quote:
The truth is the Germans do not want a President in a top hat... he has to wear a uniform and a chestful of medals. When they see their leader as a man who wears a top hat and looks as through he might have been a neighbour, then each thinks of himself "I could do that too".