Thought experiment: look at the following list of Confucian attributes, forget for a moment that it has anything to do with China per se, and tell me this isn't a strong and viable alternative (especially as it is already common sense to 1-2 billion Asians).
Source for the following:
http://mailstar.net/confucian-renaissance.html"A number of characteristics which have distinguished Confucian civilisation over several thousand years can be traced to these writings. These include:
"(1) A reverence for antiquity. Hierarchical order, due respect, the succession of generations, and the debt to ancestors are embodied in the Confucian sense of antiquity and provide the framework on which a purposeful and responsible life can be constructed.
(2) A spiritual concern with the forms and functions of the State. Confucius was unique amongst the world's great spiritual prophets in concentrating attention on the importance of the forms and functions of the State. By this means he created a spiritual concern for the proper performance of the duties of the State which has made a major contribution to the fact that throughout the several thousand years since his death it is likely that more human beings have been mobilised in one political entity in China than in any other part of the world. The Confucian influence has focused human energies on mastering the virtues which make for good government.
(3) A respect for education. Confucius emphasised by example and in his teaching the importance of education or self-cultivation in the service of the community and to achieve good government. His teachings have contributed to the development of a tradition of ruthlessly competitive education as a preparation for the holding of high office and as the essence of bureaucracy. This bureaucracy has governed China and continuously recorded this experience over several thousand years, in a manner unknown elsewhere in the world.
(4) A preference for government by Man, or virtue, rather than by law. Confucius clarified a major weakness of the rule of law which is little understood in the West today, in a key passage of the Analects in the following words
"Lead the people by laws and regulate them by penalties and the people will try to keep out of jail but will have no sense of shame. Lead the people by virtue and restrain them by the rules of decorum, and the people will have a sense of shame and moreover, will become good"
(5) An acceptance of the diversity of spiritual and philosophical authority. Confucius lived in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Period of the Hundred Philosophers in Chinese History, a time of remarkable philosophical activity, not only in China but throughout the world. The Confucian achievement, however, accommodated the rival teachings of Mozi, provided a strilcing compliment to the Daoist teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi, and prospered in the face of the conflicting teachings of the Legalist thinking of Han Feizi. Buddha, too, was the originator of a more familiar type of religious tradition which has been welcomed by the Confucian world of China. Confucianism has created a unique culture in China in many ways but perhaps in no way more important than in creating an environment where different spiritual traditions, ie Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, etc, can prosper together.
(6) The creation and promotion of unique concepts of humanity (ren) and ceremony (li). Confucius promoted a perception of social order where these concepts were central to the wholesome functioning of a human community. Subsequent interpretations have produced perhaps the most sophisticated understanding of how to order large numbers of people in the largest institutional structures the world has known."
(Con't below)