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Singapore is a different deal than most countries in the world. Perhaps free speech and civil liberties are not as strong there, but that trade-off gains them f
by jfoster 12y ago
Singapore is a different deal than most countries in the world. Perhaps free speech and civil liberties are not as strong there, but that trade-off gains them freedom from other things. Singaporeans are largely free from lots of types of crime that effectively plague many other first-world countries.
I think it would be nice if there were more countries that presented different types of trade-offs, and then some mechanism for people to decide what type of country they want to live in.
- arianvanp 12y agoYes I think it's interesting to realize democracy isn't the golden bullet (it isn't) but I think freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are two very important rights that should be protected in your constitution even if you're not 'democratic'. The problem is that the people have no way to overthrow or even audit their government. That's all nice and roses if the government is acting in good faith of its citizens (which people here claim is happening in singapore). But what if the next person is just totally insane? And abuses all his powers? You have no way to protect yourself from an abusive government. Which is very concerning. Maybe I'm too extreme in this? I don't know. But at least I can decide right?
- jfoster 12y agoI'm not sure that Singapore is any more at risk of an abusive government than other countries. Freedom of speech and assembly might let you protest against an abusive government, but if the government isn't interested in obeying laws, those freedoms can just be ignored. It's not as though governments always obey their own laws.