I want to invite people into a thought experiment, one that I suspect many will find insane. The thought experiment: China is more democratic than the US. Numerous *Western* surveys have now found that the Chinese government enjoys more public support than the US government. On the question of legitimacy, China fares better. China also does better at securing basic economic freedoms and meeting the material needs of its poor. What's the point of the ballot box when politics becomes performative and politicians aren't held accountable when they fail to deliver universal housing, healthcare, or education? I suspect a big part of the explanation for the Chinese government's commitment to public service is that top-level politicians in China need a proven track record in the domain of public service delivery. The Chinese political system is highly meritocratic, unlike the American one. Becoming a top-level politician in the CPC requires decades of bureaucratic progression. Of course, China isn't more democratic than the US on every measure. The US has a free press and open competition for political power, although both of these are highly influenced by corporate interests. While I am not convinced there's a clear answer to this thought experiment, dismissing China as a tyrannical dictatorship is ignorant. There are examples of failed authoritarian states around the world (I've lived in one), and China is not one of them.