Why did China’s President Xi Jinping caution President Joe Biden that democracies are on the decline and that one-day “autocracies will run the world?”
Because he is both ignorant and arrogant—a dangerous combination for the autocrat.
However, for a brief moment in time, this might happen, unfortunately.
With affluence, people have become entitled. Their self-reliance and self-governance skills are in decline. Socialism looks increasingly interesting to them as their dependence on government grows. This makes possible the emergence of the autocrat.
However, some event will occur. Conditions will change. Maybe there will be a large volcanic eruption. Or, a meteor might strike the earth. A genuine pandemic might emerge. The ice age could return, bringing ice sheets a mile thick to New York. A drought or flood could reduce the food supply. Resources could disappear. The world changes.
The autocrat will attempt to react, but they will likely make things worse. Much worse. They always do.
Civilization could come to an end in the panic. People, broadly, will be reacting to new circumstances without the problem-solving skills to cope.
It has happened before. Many times.
Note also that it happens all the time with corporations. Once the entrepreneurs (the problem-solvers) leave, the corporation is left with the operators (the “autocrats”). The operators run the company for a time, then markets significantly change, and the company usually dies. The company hasn’t adapted (e.g., print media, broadcast media, etc.). However, if conditions remain static, the operators can successfully maintain the operation. What the company has not yet recognized in these circumstances is that it is dead already.
The “dead man walking” mode can happen to societies as well:
The operators, because they merely operate, never see or understand the change already coming their way.
