3 ms·

Gmerc, your comment is borderline abusive. What is happening in other countries has no bearing on whether Singapore is a police state or not, it is what Singap

by lgvln 3y ago

Gmerc, your comment is borderline abusive. What is happening in other countries has no bearing on whether Singapore is a police state or not, it is what Singapore does that qualifies it. While the term “police state” might be too strong for Singapore, here is why it might apply: 1) Internal Security Act - The ability to detain anyone deemed as a “national security threat” indefinitely without trial. Lee Kuan Yew famously argued against it before independence. After independence, he retained it and went on use it against political opponents. (Who do you think are the new colonial overlords telling others how to behave, what to say or what to think?) 2) Lack of civil and political rights to act as check and balances against overreach by the state. Eg. Widespread and intrusive surveillance of much of the country, especially in the poorer areas; extensive power of the police to investigate with little oversight - TraceTogether data debacle; politically motivated persecution of dissidents and journalists etc. 3) Control and manipulation of the local media landscape in order to achieve/support their goals. [0] https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211411/spin-dictators https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211411/sp... Let me remind you again that you need to address my arguments to refute it.

gmerc 3y ago
Ah, your cherry picked definition of authoritarian police state. And custom definition of abuse as freedom from having your nose thumbed into cognitive dissonances. No, I need to do no such things as to address the vapid statements you make more than pointing your the internal inconsistency and massive cognitive dissonance of Americans and Brits trying to define true freedom. By all means, let’s glance over the National Security Letters, Family Separation at Borders, the Snowden and Assange clown shows, Guantanamo, Black Sites, Texas or North Carolina travesty of governance but mention at any random thread about Singapore (colors!) that it’s authoritarian because … princeton study says it is. What is the thought process behind this urge? You avoided this question at every step, yet you demand engagement and protest abuse. No, I don’t need to refute your arguments. Because they are none, but shifting strawmen. They are massive blinders of cognitive dissonance. Spare us your judgement over here, all you have is books and definitions and colonial mansplaining. May you one day travel the world and get cured from your indoctrination.
- lgvln 3y ago
  [dead]
- mdp2021 3y ago
  > cognitive dissonance of Americans and Brits Gmerc, you have provided good information and insight - and I myself have noted about 24hrs ago here that if someone wants to mention authoritarianism (or oddity, whatever daring idea) in a page about colourfulness some reference about how the two would relate is required -, and I understand that hearing the same in-ways weak ideas past the n-th time can make one edgy, but look: if a Norwegian noted that Swedes have bumpy roads, he is not at all mandated to live somewhere without bumpy roads. The bumpy roads of Sweden are such if it is reasonable to call them so after fair assessment. The bumpy roads of Norway become relevant when somebody is denying that. There are not just «Americans and Brits» in the public, there are not just people interested in defending one specific position in public, and crossfire that gets divergent from substance is not good for the system. Some people may instead look at Singapore with interest (naturally also its counterpart: concern) because they are seeing a crisis in their own environment and may look at apparent champions with hope. Assumptions should be limited. And we should remain coolheaded.
hnfong 3y ago
> Let me remind you again that you need to address my arguments to refute it. It's getting hilarious at this point. It's like you think you had a valid argument and expected others to engage with you on your level. You had empty assertions. GP explained why Singapore is not a "police state". Now you admit Singapore might not be a "police state" effectively agreeing with them, then finally follow up with substantial arguments, and accuse the GP of not engaging with them. I'm not sure whether you're aware, your "arguments" are like so tired that I might have seen them hundreds of times. Why even bother to engage with an evangelist who's not interested in constructive discussion but rather in some toxic "refutation" of one's arguments?
- lgvln 3y ago
  If you believe I do not have an argument, feel free to refute my references and construct a coherent argument backed up by credible references (YouTube or thekopi.co are not). Here is a selection: [0] https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/politics-international-relations/south-east-asian-government-politics-and-policy/singapore-identity-brand-power https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/politi... [1] https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/authoritarian-rule-of-law/E7911140302F6029C738AD13A5D58D0F https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/authoritarian-rule-of-l... [2] https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211411/spin-dictators https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211411/sp... [3] https://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/products/air-conditioned-nation-revisited https://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/products/air-conditioned-natio...
  - gmerc 3y ago
    None of these seem relevant to the question of why you feel the need to jump onto a thread about the colors found in Singapore with colonial mansplaining about authoritarianism.. backed up by writings from Cambridge, cherry on top by a writer specialized in Colonial Law. Since all you do is basically spew links while ignoring any of the attempts to have a conversation, we thank you for your service of acting as a poster child for colonial mansplaining we shall be using in an upcoming article on the topic.
  - hnfong 3y ago

by lgvln 3y ago

gmerc 3y ago

Ah, your cherry picked definition of authoritarian police state. And custom definition of abuse as freedom from having your nose thumbed into cognitive dissonances. No, I need to do no such things as to address the vapid statements you make more than pointing your the internal inconsistency and massive cognitive dissonance of Americans and Brits trying to define true freedom. By all means, let’s glance over the National Security Letters, Family Separation at Borders, the Snowden and Assange clown shows, Guantanamo, Black Sites, Texas or North Carolina travesty of governance but mention at any random thread about Singapore (colors!) that it’s authoritarian because … princeton study says it is. What is the thought process behind this urge? You avoided this question at every step, yet you demand engagement and protest abuse. No, I don’t need to refute your arguments. Because they are none, but shifting strawmen. They are massive blinders of cognitive dissonance. Spare us your judgement over here, all you have is books and definitions and colonial mansplaining. May you one day travel the world and get cured from your indoctrination.

lgvln 3y ago
[dead]
mdp2021 3y ago
> cognitive dissonance of Americans and Brits Gmerc, you have provided good information and insight - and I myself have noted about 24hrs ago here that if someone wants to mention authoritarianism (or oddity, whatever daring idea) in a page about colourfulness some reference about how the two would relate is required -, and I understand that hearing the same in-ways weak ideas past the n-th time can make one edgy, but look: if a Norwegian noted that Swedes have bumpy roads, he is not at all mandated to live somewhere without bumpy roads. The bumpy roads of Sweden are such if it is reasonable to call them so after fair assessment. The bumpy roads of Norway become relevant when somebody is denying that. There are not just «Americans and Brits» in the public, there are not just people interested in defending one specific position in public, and crossfire that gets divergent from substance is not good for the system. Some people may instead look at Singapore with interest (naturally also its counterpart: concern) because they are seeing a crisis in their own environment and may look at apparent champions with hope. Assumptions should be limited. And we should remain coolheaded.

hnfong 3y ago

> Let me remind you again that you need to address my arguments to refute it. It's getting hilarious at this point. It's like you think you had a valid argument and expected others to engage with you on your level. You had empty assertions. GP explained why Singapore is not a "police state". Now you admit Singapore might not be a "police state" effectively agreeing with them, then finally follow up with substantial arguments, and accuse the GP of not engaging with them. I'm not sure whether you're aware, your "arguments" are like so tired that I might have seen them hundreds of times. Why even bother to engage with an evangelist who's not interested in constructive discussion but rather in some toxic "refutation" of one's arguments?

lgvln 3y ago
If you believe I do not have an argument, feel free to refute my references and construct a coherent argument backed up by credible references (YouTube or thekopi.co are not). Here is a selection: [0] https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/politics-international-relations/south-east-asian-government-politics-and-policy/singapore-identity-brand-power https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/politi... [1] https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/authoritarian-rule-of-law/E7911140302F6029C738AD13A5D58D0F https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/authoritarian-rule-of-l... [2] https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211411/spin-dictators https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211411/sp... [3] https://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/products/air-conditioned-nation-revisited https://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/products/air-conditioned-natio...
- gmerc 3y ago
  None of these seem relevant to the question of why you feel the need to jump onto a thread about the colors found in Singapore with colonial mansplaining about authoritarianism.. backed up by writings from Cambridge, cherry on top by a writer specialized in Colonial Law. Since all you do is basically spew links while ignoring any of the attempts to have a conversation, we thank you for your service of acting as a poster child for colonial mansplaining we shall be using in an upcoming article on the topic.
- hnfong 3y ago