A book entitled The Values of Progress must at the outset address a problematic that no intellectual can afford to ignore, namely, will democracy lead to the spread of the values of progress as defined in this book, or can these values, even in an environment with a modest margin of democracy, create a general climate that could gradually expand this margin and transform it into full-fledged democracy? I asked myself whether it was possible to come forward with a book entitled The Values of Progress when some could justifiably question the feasibility of disseminating such values in the context of a margin of democracy that may be growing but is still extremely narrow. These concerns nearly made me discard the manuscript of this book and place it in the file of other writings whose publication is indefinitely postponed. This file is more voluminous than the file of my published works, although the latter comprises thousands of pages. But I decided to push ahead with publication when, purely by chance, I came across a number of studies on the experiences of ten countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Although as recently as ten years ago, these countries had not made their economic breakthrough, did not enjoy democracy and had not adopted the values of progress, in the last decade they have become relatively rich in all three elements.

    Like many others, I was familiar with the amazing progress achieved by all ten countries in a relatively short period, but finding these in-depth studies explaining the process was a timely eye-opener. According to the studies, while certain societies had made their breakthroughs in the context of open democracy, which served as the framework in which their economic, scientific, educational, cultural and social development unfolded, others, like the case models addressed by the study, had made theirs in a different context. Instead of a slow and gradual development achieved over centuries, as was the case of Europe, the countries of Southeast Asia and Latin America took a short cut to development, making their great leap forward on the backs of two engines. The first was a human cadre of executive leaders who both embodied the values of progress and imposed them on society at large. The second was a radical reform of the educational system and the establishment of a new system based on the values of progress. The first engine served the requirements of development in the short and medium terms, the second in the long term. This two-pronged approach, based on leadership, example and creative education, laid the groundwork for the spread of the values of progress and created a general climate conducive to a dynamic and fruitful social mobility, leading to the emergence of a broad-based middle class standing on a solid cultural and economic foundation.

    Parallel with this was a determined effort by the thriving countries of Southeast Asia and Latin America to expand the margin of democracy. Their experience stands as an eloquent rebuttal of the argument that democracy takes centuries to develop and that some countries are simply not equipped to live by the rules of real and open democracy. This argument can only be accepted by the advocates – and beneficiaries – of oppression. Those who believe in democracy as the greatest achievement of humanity must constantly strive to find formulas by which it can be established within the shortest possible time frame, while at the same time laying down frameworks and mechanisms to ensure that the democratic process is not abused by the enemies of democracy and used as a means of acquiring, and hanging indefinitely on to, power. The successful experiments of the ten countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America prove that we must not allow ourselves to be discouraged from planting the values of progress in our soil under the pretext that it is not ready to receive them.