It’s not supposed to work this way. Conventional economic theory suggests that the richer a society becomes, the more citizens demand democracy, freedom and liberty. There is even a happily metric magic number: 10,000. Historically, when a country’s per capita GDP hits the 10,000 level, it is either a democracy already or it becomes one within a decade. GDP per capita in SA in 1994 was eerily close to that level. China hit the 10,000 level in 2014 and yet, when President Xi Jinping of China delivered his marathon speech at the opening ceremony of the 19th Communist Party congress on Friday, concessions to a freer society seemed the last thing on his mind. In fact, the opposite. Xi held out China as a model for the new era, saying his country had developed its economy without imitating western values. "It offers a new option for other countries and nations who want to speed up their development while preserving their independence," he said. So should countries like SA take Xi up on h...
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