Monday, 03.24.08
The Buddhist Street
DESHAKALYAN CHOWDHURY/AFP Getty Images
"All things," Lord Buddha reminds us, "are ephemeral." The two Buddhist autocrats who saw their power eroded this week in South Asia might have kept this advice in mind. From his Dharmasala lair, His Holiness the Dalai Lama lamented helplessly as the violent protests in Lhasa -- and the crackdown by Beijing -- proceeded apace, not obviously affected by his pleas for calm. And Jigme Khesar Namgyel, son of the Scourge of Thimpu, watched his subjects vote for a national assembly for the first time, in a ballot he himself decreed, but that still diminishes his authority.
There may be something or nothing to learn about democracy from these spectacles. The first suggests that the movement for Tibetan independence does not answer only to the Dalai Lama, and that China may have a bigger problem, with a wider and more distributed base, than it thought. Perhaps Lhasa would prefer to exchange the unquestioned rule of Hu Jintao for something more than the unquestioned rule of Tenzin Gyatso. As for the Bhutanese monarch, all signs point to democracy -- except for the often and freely expressed desire of the Bhutanese to keep and revere the monarchy, with or without elections. Whatever else this shows, it should put rest to the notion that democratization of the Buddhist street is any simpler -- or more welcome -- than democratization of the Arab one.
Change"As the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom cautiously opens itself to the world, traditionalists fear for its unique culture," Arthur Lubow writes. |
A benevolent monarchy?Mike Russia looks at "how the success of a royal dynasty may have blunted the desire for democracy." |
The pursuit of happinessAfter Bhutan began its deliberate modernization program Marketplace wondered whether consumer goods would bring its people happiness. |
Why fix it if it ain't broke?William Dalrymple wonders what use idyllic Bhutan has for democracy. |
The case against self-governmentJohn B. Judis discusses a book by Fareed Zakaria, who argues that the world needs less democracy in the short term, not more. |
