What’s really rotten in the city-state of
Singapore?
The following is an excerpt from the Econlog
Professor Bryan Caplan clarifies he is not a PAP apologist
Still, lest I be mistaken for a PAP apologist, this is a great time
to air Singapore’sreal dirty laundry. The Singaporean government
has many disgraceful policies. My top picks:
1. Conscription. Though they laughed at me in Singapore, this is
clearly state slavery – and there are plenty of less draconian
means to defend the city-state from conquest. (Like… paying
soldiers market wages). Only a democratic fundamentalist would
imagine that the right to vote is more important than the right to
say “No” to a job offer.
2. The death penalty for drug trafficking. Jailing people for
capitalist acts between consenting adults is bad enough. Murdering
people for selling intoxicants to willing buyers is sheer
barbarism.
3. State ownership. While Singapore’s state-owned companies act
surprisingly like capitalist firms, why settle for second-best? And
if you needed further empirical evidence that state ownership
undermines personal freedom even if it is “run like a business,”
take a look at the Straits Times or Singaporean television.
4. Defamation law. Letting people sue people who badmouth them is
bad enough. But Singapore takes defamation law to its logical,
absurd conclusion: You can’t even badmouth government officials
unless you can prove that your charges are true. The problem with
these laws isn’t that they’re undemocratic – after all, Singapore
still allows criticism of policies. The problem is that they
violate human freedom. People should be allowed to say what they
like about whoever they like, whether or not they can prove it, and
whether or not they’re right.
5. Censorship. The Internet has made Singaporean censorship largely
obsolete, but it’s still an outrage that you need the government’s
approval to stage a public performance.
Bottom line: Singapore’s critics have plenty of genuine grievances
to denounce. (And under Singaporean law, it’s legal to do so – just
don’t get personal!) So why do the critics keep complaining about
“lack of democracy” when the real story is that most Singaporeans
persistently prefer the PAP to the opposition?
Source:
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/11/whats-really-rotten-in-the-city-state-of-singapore/
