Earlier quoted context omitted.
Okay, but that's unfairly ( to police States ) correlating lack of economic development with with increased State power. A more realistic comparison is: would you rather live in London, or Hong Kong ( or even better, Singapore )? ( terrorism is rare in HK, which is basically a police state protectorate of China, and SG is almost certainly a police state ). You could just as easily say Paris v Warsaw, or Berlin v Shan…
I'd take Sweden over Singapore anytime. I mean, I like Singapore, but I'm not a fan of having one party that runs everything, the draconian drug laws and wide application of the death penalty. It's also worth pointing out that large numbers of the wealthy have left HK (and been replaced by transplants from China) and a similar trend has been happening in SG for decades
I could say people leave HK because it's expensive and crowded and they no longer believe in its economic prospects, and are scared of how it may change by its proximity to China. And that some people's choice, or fear, not entirely related to China or, too lesser extent, HK being a police state isn't really a comment on my point that police states can work.
Singapore i don't know as much about. I can't tell you with any confidence why people leave there. I have heard the distrust of LKY before, but I've also hard a lot of love and admiration for what was achieved. I could be wrong but I thought that ethnic Chinese usually had a better time in SG, and Malaysians and ethnic "dark skins", either SG natives or immigrants, had a worse time, and would be more inclined to leave. But your username suggests you're Chinese background, so I have that question. But then i know there's a whole grassroots Chinese anti establishment movement in SG, in the same vein as HK students in Umbrella, like the asylum seeker kid, Amos Yee. Singapore is a very multiethnic place, and I know very little about it, so, you see I could have things all mixed up here or be missing important parts of the picture.
I can say tho that I think single party states work better like the Chinese model, and not when they, in my view, degenerate into a dynasty. Because the family descendents may not have the same passion or ability to rule as the originator. SG keeps improving, and I think the dynastic aspects are obstructing the son's rule and, the effectiveness of the police state suffers, and more vulnerabilities to misuse of its organs enter, when the ruler is not as strong. In other words, a strong state needs strength at the top and ask the way down, outrageous it starts to eat itself and fall apart. A melt bit of that erosion is surely happening in SG today.
Again, not that i really care so much about proving any point right, but, a weakened SG, or some people's dislike of it, is not really a good point saying that police states don't work. Since what weakened it is not a requirement of a police state, and while some prefer elsewhere, others prefer and love SG.
I hope this didn't offend you. I'm looking to learn more about SG, and while i think nothing can sub for lots of first hand experience, I'm happy if you can say more.
Also all I'm hearing lately about Sweden is bad news about how rapists are getting off free because they are immigrants and Muslims and the Swedes are trying to tolerate their rape culture. Tolerance is a useful virtue only so far as you don't tolerate things that harm your values. To me that's a bad sign of decline for Sweden. I'm sure there's also lots of things great about Sweden, and I'd probably like to travel there. But also, Europe is changing, but not necessarily adapting, and it's easy to romanticize it based on its past reputation. I think the best of Europe can be enjoyed if you're really rich. And can insulate yourself from how the standard of living at the low end has decreased due to stagnation and migration.