(As posted in www.findsingapore.net/forum}
Other Views on proposed new constitution of Singapore:-
"Matilah_Singapura" Yes, please provide a link to the post if
you can. Thanks.
From what you've posted as a response to this new constitution, it
seems (ok I'm pre judging) that is a document that would thrust the
people in tyranny in a matter of time. Once you hand over legal
power to any authority, there is a good chance of
the system turning into totalitarianism.
I agree with your view that in a sense democracy is like a mob
rule with sections of populations engaged in struggles over one
another leading to more abuses and exploitations of people to serve
the interests of groups or individuals in power.
In our case, the governing elites initially have worked hard to
serve the people in order to gain their supportm trust and
confidence. Even though they were autocratic and authoritarian
people tolerated their imperfections and returned them in
power.
However after they have acquired more powers they have since become
more arrogant and began to resort to manipulations of the electoral
process and even defamation laws to entrench themselves in power.
They no longer listen to the people. Power corrupts and absolute
power corrupts absolutely.
It is simply impossible for individuals or citizens to check on
their rising power which are obtained under all kinds of media
hypes about imagined threats to society. Majority of citizens can
be converted by propaganda into beleving in all sorts of social
ills to allow the governing elites to come up with more laws and
controls to do as they like. There is no practical means for
ordinary citizens to stop such power from turning themselves into
rogues to serve their own end.
Ideally, I would personally prefer lesser government or the laissex
faire practised by the Hongkong society or the market economy to a
certain degree of America.
The argument that "democracy is not perfect... but..." is weak
and hollow - it is, IMO careless and dangerous because there are no
checks on the power of the mob.
Remember, it is The INDIVIDUAL which is the smallest
minority in the UNIVERSE, not citizens, or the weak or the
poor. These are just collectives and myths in the
mind, but an INDIVIDUAL and only INDIVIDUALS are REAL.
Handing over the power to the citizens as a group or groups is as
tyrannical as handing over the power to the government. What
happens to groups is that under circumstances of divisive issues,
they engage in warfare with each other.
Never forget, the modern singapore story is one where the warfare
between groups and the targeting of a particular individual by a
bullying group plays the main role. (UMNO vs Lee Kuan Yew and the
PAP resulted in S'pore being kicked out).
The democratic society with free election or protection of
citizens' rights as enshrined in the constitution offers a tangible
framework and conherent processes to allow orderly form of
government - more stable transition of power from one government to
the next, rule of law and jequitable processes to prevent abuses
etc. The so-called checks and balances often exist only in name
because the democratic framework can be interfered or tampered with
under all kinds of justifications.
Whoever government in power will continue to grant patronage of all
kinds to the rich and powerful who will remain as always
influential in getting opportunities and deals for themselves as
compared with the ordinary less-connected businesses.
How to prevent inter-class struggles or mob rule as you put it
within democracy is any bodys guess. No matter who is in power the
elites the rich and powerful will always be working for their own
interests and get more out of the system.
Rich property developer wants the set of property laws to benefit
only themselves. Rich bankers would like to charge higher interests
and handling fees to make more and more monies. Elites would put up
their stories and pretences to get themselves good salaries and
good opportunities to get richer and more powerful. This is what MM
Lee called "big fish eats small fish and small fish eats shrimps".
Some calls it "dog eats dogs" society.
For the time being, people must tolerate all the doings of the
elites even if they succeeded in their wayangs and charades to look
good in the eye of the public, This is simply the fact of life we
have to live with. None of us can do away with government or change
to laissex fair system midstream. There will be regulations to
floor us even if majority of the citizens behave civilly. In other
words, democracy is no guarantee against shenanigans and false
pretences and cannot prevent abuses.
Lysander Spooner wrote the Constitution of No
Authority in 1870. He was a lawyer, and a staunch defender
of freedom. And freedom means freedom of the individual from
government or ANY coercive authority - including groups.
LINK
The idea of a constitution was to protect the citizens from the
absolute power of the governing elite. When you think this way, you
introduce irresolvable contradictions because you hand the power
over to citizens (as a group).
That in itself usurps the freedom of the individual. Once that
happens, it's all downhill soon after.
Having said what I have just said in the foregoing about
democracy and the inescapable anarchism at works in society, let us
return to business as usual reality. If we have no choice but to
put up with democracy in its current form we will have to make the
best of it.
We have to call a spate a spate and do not let the elites get away
with murders so to speak or all kinds of high cost practices and
arrogance they have been doing all these past 40 years.
We have to post on NKF malpractices and check on their fallacies to
get themselves back in favor one wave after another again and
again? We have to jettison the high-cost policies of the past and
make the elites realize their follies. Otherwise there is nothing
anyone can do except to migrate.
It is precisely we have seen the true face of elitism and
large-scale neglect of people's welfare and wellbeing that we are
now suggesting a new constitution and major legislative reviews to
reinvest Singapore among some forumers.
The greatest obstacle is : people are already brainwashed mostly by
40 years of government propaganda. The faint hope in the horizen as
you have probably noticed is : with the increasing awareness of
their rights among the people helped by the widespread internet
communication they are now more vocal in their demand for
change.
The only peaceful way for humans to deal with each other is by
the trader principle or voluntarily. A
constitution forces the individual citizen into associations with
others whom he may not even like, respect or choose to associate
with under normal circumstances.
The moment you start controlling education, welfare, healthcare you
are on the way to a welfare state. If you put these into a
constitution, you end up controlling the peaceful
choices of individuals, ensnaring them into divisiveness
and pitching one man against another by forcing them to
cooperate by the absolute power of the state.
Cheers
Trading ways or commercial or merchant system of running a
government might well be an alternative. s long as citizens can
earn a living and pay to get the government they want to serve them
just as well. Such a commercial system would need more fine-tuning.
For example, HongKong does not need a LKY to govern it and it might
be just as well - vibrant and progressive. Only the media has us to
believe otherwise about Hongkong as a degenerate place.
Macau can make majority of its people gamble to earn a living and
yet it can buy commercial services like policing education etc to
function as a nation.
Macau may under merchant system of government diversify into
technology development too if it wants to with progressive
conversion of their gambling incomes into the right form of
long-term investments to sustain their future growth. Any cat that
can catch a mouse is as good as a cat. There is no necessity to be
over-hyped about leadership or any meritocracy which has been
concocted to serve the elites' interests in the name of
government.
What about democracy ? It offers practical frameworks of government
which has already made many gains for the ordinary citizens in many
countries. Democracy itself is not at fault. At least with
democracy there is some hope and protection against potential
wrongdoings under autocracy or worse. The democracy framework can
be further fine-tuned into more accountable and transparent
workable empowering processes.
It will be up to the people to turn the current democracy framework
into one that is truly accountable and transparent constitutional
guarantee or bill of rights to ensure future vibrant governing of
the country. Without institutiionising such basic democratic
framewwork, the future might be worse.
