All I want is to live in a society where if one works hard they can afford basic dignity like housing, food, healthcare, entertainment, vacation, and optimism towards the future

These things are literally only possible in democratic societies though. Everyone wants this, so the societies that achieve this are de-facto democratic because the wishes of people are satisfied.

I find this particular report is fairly grounded in reality. What makes it so valuable is that it was started by an ex-NATO chief and claims to unite democracies. So it’s not some anti-Western outfit cooking the books. And their methodology is that they simply ask people if they feel their government works in their interest and if they can hold it accountable. That’s the whole ballgame, because if people don’t believe the system is democratic, it loses legitimacy no matter what the constitution says. And this year’s results are incredible. France now ranks alongside Kazakhstan, Yemen, and Zimbabwe in the eyes of its own citizens. The US is split down the middle, about half of Americans don’t think they live in a democracy anymore. China, on the other hand, sits up there with the Scandinavians, Switzerland, Ghana, and India.

Chinese people overwhelmingly say the system works for them. And one common trope is people claiming that it’s because Chinese people are afraid to speak out. Yet, the report shows Russia at a -21 score, Belarus at -9, so the they’re afraid to speak excuse falls apart here. Turns out that people in what the west defines as authoritarian states do complain when they’re unhappy. The report also finds that more Chinese feel they can criticize their government without consequences than Americans do.

What’s happening right now is a legitimacy meltdown in the Western liberal model. People watch their living standards stall or fall no matter which party wins, so they’re starting to clue in that the game is rigged. The material base is driving the superstructure, just like diamat tells you. In the US and France, the state is an instrument of capital, so it fundamentally can’t deliver secure housing, healthcare, wages that keep up, or a sense of control over the future. Elections simply offer a choice between two managers of the same ruling class. Meanwhile China’s state, whatever you call it, has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty in one generation and now rolls out high-speed rail, green tech, and digital infrastructure that people actually use. The government runs a 24/7 hotline for complaints and routinely adjusts policy based on local feedback. People see their material life improve and they see their complaints get addressed, so they feel represented. That’s a functioning democratic feedback system even without liberal elections. And because the Alliance of Democracies Foundation is a Western-aligned institution, this data can’t simply be dismissed out of hand, the whole narrative that the West is the beacon of freedom is unravelling because people in the west stopped believing it.