Americans love to think that we live in "most democratic" nation on Earth, while China is supposedly some gray authoritarian nightmare where freedom doesn't exist.
It's the kind of propaganda we've been marinating in since birth, so much so that most people never stop to actually compare how the two systems work.
Once you do you may come to the uncomfortable truth that China actually has more democracy built into its system than we do.
Here's why.
In the U.S., elections are nothing more than auctions.
You don't "win" because you're ethical, competent, or capable of leading. You win because you convinced the right billionaires, corporations, and foreign lobbies to bankroll your campaign.
If you don't sell yourself like a piece of real estate, you don't even get invited to the table.
That's why our "choices" always look the same, two candidates who are both corporate products. One wears a red tie, the other a blue one. Both are owned.
Think about the dynasties that have dominated American politics.
Bush, Clinton, Kennedy.
Or the billionaires who jump the line because money buys them instant credibility, Trump, Bloomberg.
Where's the democracy in that? You don't climb to power through talent, vision, or service. You climb through family, wealth, and connections.
Sounds an awful lot like aristocracy rather than democracy.
In China, leadership isn't bought on TV airwaves every four years.
It's cultivated through a meritocratic system structured to reward competence.
To rise in the Communist Party, you actually have to demonstrate that you can govern. That means running a province, managing a city, overseeing major programs, and proving you can deliver results.
China's current president, Xi Jinping climbed the ladder for decades, governing multiple provinces, learning the machinery of the state, and actually producing outcomes.
In America, that would disqualify you. If you haven't been pre-packaged for corporate donors since birth, you'll never hold national office.
In China anyone can ascend through competence.
In America, you don't even make it onto the ballot without selling yourself to Chevron, Pfizer, or Lockheed.
Americans love to sneer that China is "less free."
But what exactly is free about choosing between two pre-selected puppets every four years while lobbyists and corporate PACs make all the actual decisions in between?
What's free about a system where you need millions, sometimes billions, just to campaign?
What's free about politicians spending more time fundraising than legislating?
What's free about the fact that if you're not already in the club, already rich, already connected, you will never get a seat at the table?
Washington needs to keep screaming "authoritarian China" because the comparison is embarrassing.
Beijing doesn't let ExxonMobil or Raytheon dictate foreign policy.
They don't let hedge funds decide whether their citizens get healthcare.
Their leaders don't spend half their terms begging billionaires for cash.
If Americans ever woke up to how hollow our democracy is, the whole circus would collapse. So the safest move is to keep pointing the finger at China and saying, "See? They're worse," even though our leaders know that isn't true.
If you want the clearest picture of how fake U.S. democracy is, just look at the price tag.
Running for president now costs billions of dollars. A Senate race can run into the hundreds of millions. Even House seats, which are supposed to be the "people's chamber," can cost millions just to be competitive.
That means the average American, no matter how ethical, competent, or dedicated, has no chance without billionaire backers, corporate PACs, or foreign lobbies footing the bill.
*cough* AIPAC
Now compare that to China's system.
In China officials don't buy their way into power, you don't start at the top because your dad had connections at Goldman Sachs.
You start at the local level, running a city, managing a province, overseeing policy programs, and you're judged on whether you can actually govern.
Did your region grow economically? Did you improve infrastructure? Did you reduce poverty?
If you succeed, you move up. If you fail, you're done.
In America, the only "performance" that matters is how much money you can raise from corporations and wealthy donors.
In China the performance that matters is whether you can run something competently before you're trusted with more responsibility.
The U.S. loves to export "democracy" at gunpoint, but we don't even have it at home. Our system is an oligarchy, plain and simple.
China has a functioning meritocracy where leaders are at least tested on the job before they're handed the reins.
In the U.S., power is reserved for the rich, the dynasties, and the donors.
In China you have to prove you can run something before you run a nation.
America isn't afraid that China has no democracy.
America is afraid that China has more of it.