On Jan. 6, supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in a chaotic riot, aiming at forcing lawmakers to overturn Trump's election defeat.

One woman was shot and killed during a violent clash with police, and three other supporters of Trump died after suffering “medical emergencies.”

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Today, the U.S. has to swallow its own bitter fruit, with the actions denounced as a "violent clash" by the mainstream media in the U.S.

This ironic circumstance is summed up by Mohamad Safa, a Lebanese diplomat and Permanent Representative to the United Nations: "If the United States saw what the United States is doing in the United States, the United States would invade the United States to liberate the United States from the tyranny of the United States."

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to the values of democracy, freedom and human rights that the West has taken delight in talking about. People seem to find out that the reality has revealed contradictions and double standards.

If, in the face of such a straightforward, transparent, and thorough reality drama, some people's myths and obsessions about democracy, freedom, and human rights in the West cannot be shattered, then the only hope for the time being should be pinned on more rational analysis.

Is democracy a means or an end or a combination of both? Should democracy solve the problem of fairness or efficiency? Should democracy safeguard procedural justice or substantive justice or give consideration to both? Mankind’s exploration and thinking over democracy has never stopped.

This kind of thinking and exploration, including the experience from the western world, is generally beneficial. The democratic system of the West, including the U.S., did play its due role in history when it comes to exploring the human system.

However, anyone, who tries to put an end to such exploration and thinking with a specific form to realize democracy, such as the democratic system in the West, and is ambitious to believe in "the end of history,” is bound to face a "backlash" from democracy.

It is clear that the democratic arrogance boosted by economic power and the calculation of interests driven by global expansion have made the U.S. dizzy. It brazenly wants to sell its own democracy to the world, at all costs, including the use of force.

The problem is that the West overestimates its strength in the evolution of human society. Facing the history of human society, it should be in awe and understand that its exploration cannot represent human society and that it cannot build a comprehensive picture of human society.

The democratic exploration and practice in the West are more like regional records, incomplete generalizations and periodic summaries of human exploration of systems, which are simply not universally applicable. This reality has been proved by more and more practices, and western countries, including the U.S.

The U.S. regards itself as a "decision-maker" of the international community, whereas other countries seem to have no choice but to obey its orders. However, due to the lack of fairness and justice, the country’s self-righteous morality seems to be inappropriate.

As the general trend of "the rise of the East and decline of the West" has become increasingly prominent, the U.S. ambition to dominate the world is becoming more and more untenable.

It is evident that the negative consequences of the export of "democracy" by the U.S. have appeared in many countries. The gunshot at the U.S. Capitol shows that the bitter fruit of "democracy" will eventually have to be swallowed by the U.S. itself.