Fuck the government!

A little on the late side, but just to you know that you are not alone I must, say, however, that your diagnosis is just a little off. It is not that “the brightest from our education system tend to be lefties” but that–like the well-educated from most education systems, actually–they tend to see society as a something that can be tweaked and designed by conscious human activity for the good and just (as opposed to a unimaginably complex system such that conscious human attempts to shape it often falls prey to the law of unintended consequences).

(Let’s call it “social intelligent designism”)

This is not a specifically left-wing issue–there can also be right-leaning sorts who think the same way. They just prefer that society be tweaked and designed for their conception of the good and just.

I also don’t think that it has a lot to do with the fact that our education system is state-run. Either that, or if it has something to do with it, only to the extent that the state looms so large in general in Singapore (rather than in education in particular).

It seems to be the specific vice of the educated and thoughtful, the ancient and classic exemplar being the conceit of the philosopher king…

See this: http://leecaneyou.blogspot.com/

I don’t think this has as much to do with left-leaning beliefs as it is to do with an ingrained ‘confucian-values’, or ‘asian-values’ type of government, such that both government and businesses are run in a highly heirarchical and patriarchal manner, therefore creating grateful citizens and employees who regard the government and employers as surrogate parents who demand and command unquestioning respect and gratitude and servitude whether or not it is deserved.

if they were truly left-wing, they would not consider themselves to be employees, but comrades/brothers and sisters in arms/proleteriats etc. and if singapore were truly socialist and encouraging left-leaning ideologies, why is there a 20-fold difference between the poorest and the richest, with nothing in welfare returns to narrow the gap? (apparently taken on a gross income basis, the difference between richest and poorest is about 20 times here in britain as well, but when welfare and tax breaks etc are accounted for, it narrows to 4 times)

the government has all the control over resources like a socialist/communist state, but the citizens get nothing resembling benefits in return.

personally, i would consider myself a libertarian, but at the same time i recognise the need for positive provision of certain rights and goods so as to enable substantive equality between individuals. it’s no good being all libertarian and saying everyone has equal rights and opportunities to succeed, but are pre-socially/legally/politically disadvantaged and are not able to exercise those rights to equality meaningfully.

Well, for your information you are born in a country which believe just in that lolz.

Just look at how many policy in S’pore are made to design and tweak society, it is amazing.

Singapore is considered by many as one of the the most successful socialist state in the world.

Anyway right wing and left wing are juz values as KTM had said, trying to argue your value is superior than others is inherently problematic.

Cheers.

I am curious to know if you have read ‘Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism’ by Peter Marshall.

“I believe: that economic liberty and individual freedoms are two sides of the same coin, and neither can be severed from the other”
Err. There are lots of countries where they are.

“that governments exists primarily to apply their monopoly over the use of physical force in the enforcement of rules that prohibit duress, coercion and physical violence”
They also exist to address market failure.

“that we human beings are all too fallible to entrust with the power to plan or control the lives of others”
State intervention /= total planning and control

WTH

james