In contrast, China, which did much better than India in several respects, such as the spread of basic education and health care, had the largest famine in recorded history in 1959-62, with a death toll that has been estimated at 30 million. In fact, the protective power of democracy in providing security is much more extensive than famine prevention. The poor in booming South Korea or Indonesia may not have given much thought to democracy when the economic fortunes of all seemed to go up and up together. Democracy, which is valuable in its own right, may not be especially effective economically all the time, but it comes into its own when a crisis threatens and the economically dispossessed need the voice that democracy gives them. Among the lessons of the Asian economic crisis is the importance of social safety nets, democratic rights and political voice.
Political deprivation can reinforce economic destitution.
To look at a different type of interconnection, there is plenty of evidence from the positive experience of East and Southeast Asia that the removal of social deprivation can be very influential in stimulating economic growth and sharing the fruits of growth more evenly. Social poverty has helped perpetuate economic poverty as well. If I am hopeful about the future, it is because I see the increasingly vocal demand for democracy in the world and the growing understanding of the need for social justice. Democracy is recovering some of its lost ground in Asia, Latin America and even Africa. Gender equity and basic education are beginning to receive more attention in India, Bangladesh and elsewhere.