Democracy engenders human freedoms necessary for economic progress.
More importantly, democracy can prevent the gains of economic progress from being completely whittled away by corruption, cronyism or inefficiency and allowing some benefits to filter down to ordinary people. In the pursuit of life's happiness, Asians value social order above all else. Events in Indonesia highlighting the painful and at times bloody march to democracy have placed democracy in a negative light. The natural tendency is for Asians to reject any ideas that cause social disruption and disorder even at the expense of genuine democracy. Despite the obvious benefits of freedom, openness and democratic rule, the masses fall easy prey to lies and threats of public disorder by the ruling elite.