61–70 of 110 posts
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Meanwhile, the US carries out extrajudicial killings over drugs
It's not at all clear they they're not just killing fishermen and migrants.
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I’ve never been there but whenever I read something about it I get the vibe that they’re an HOA with a military.
Not really. They are famous for having a lot of rules, but the instances where they really go wild are when someone has been particularly egregious. For the most part it is just insanely materialistic as the main downside. Most of the "harsh" rules make a tremendous amount of sense when you actually go there. Yeah, gum and spitting are illegal, and that is a good thing in a city as crowded as that with a significant…
This trope, long exhausted and repeatedly regurgitated, persists despite the reality having shifted considerably.
In truth, chewing gum has been legally obtainable in Singapore for a long time and is available for purchase through local pharmacies.
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It’s practically a one party state, no? And I’ve heard lots of stories of protesters getting disappeared after the police arrest them. Easy to say these things.
They are a one party state, but not for lack of trying. It just turns out that turning a country from a fishing village to a world-class economy in a couple decades buys you a lot of good will from the voters.
china could do the same btw. china also, as far as i heard, does allow dissent within the party.
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And yet the average Singaporean is freer economically, socially, and ideologically.
No freedom of press, no freedom of speech, no freedom of assembly, government owns/operates roughly ⅓ of the economy that features many state monopolies, the PAP maintains a gerrymandered control over the electorate, criticizing the government lands you in court for defamation and conveniently bankrupts can't run for parliament. Singapore is many things but not none of what you've written.
Most countries are going to fall flat compared to the United States. Singapore is pretty amazing.
Singapore is an odd country. The only country, to my knowledge, that had independence thrust upon it without its consent. Extremely prosperous compared to its neighbors. An autocratic, single party state where the government is so popular that they need to rig their elections against themselves to get dissenting voices. One of the most militarized countries (#3 by military spending per capita) in the world, yet their…
I’ve never been there but whenever I read something about it I get the vibe that they’re an HOA with a military.
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> "The country also passed a new law earlier this year that would allow the police to control the bank accounts of individuals who they suspect to be scam targets and limit what transactions they can do." This is crazy to me. How far are we willing to go in terms of restricting freedoms for safety?
But this is just part of how Singapore is different than America and Europe. China has even stricter controls in terms of limiting what individuals can do with their bank accounts (you can't transfer money to non-Chinese-citizens at all!). Western countries put enormous value on personal liberty — America probably the most so, but even EU countries are extremely liberal in a liberty sense compared to historical norms…
Ah yes, nothing screams valuing personal freedom like having 2 million people *in prison* right now in US. A rate of what, one every 140 adults?
And nothing screams personal freedom like spying every single of it's citizens or hacking every single chip on this planet.
Hell, US respects your freedom so much, you can't even renounce their citizenship!!
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If you live in Singapore: don't ask us! If you disagree, vote against the government, and/or get out on the streets and protest! If you don't live in Singapore: it's not your problem.
Human rights are everyone's problem.
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If you live in Singapore: don't ask us! If you disagree, vote against the government, and/or get out on the streets and protest! If you don't live in Singapore: it's not your problem.
It’s practically a one party state, no? And I’ve heard lots of stories of protesters getting disappeared after the police arrest them. Easy to say these things.
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I’ve never been there but whenever I read something about it I get the vibe that they’re an HOA with a military.
William Gibson got a lifetime ban for calling it "Disney with the death penalty" in a Wired article.
Singapore is an odd country. The only country, to my knowledge, that had independence thrust upon it without its consent. Extremely prosperous compared to its neighbors. An autocratic, single party state where the government is so popular that they need to rig their elections against themselves to get dissenting voices. One of the most militarized countries (#3 by military spending per capita) in the world, yet their…
It's not a single party state. Over 1/3rd of Singaporeans vote for the non-PAP candidates.