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28/05/2007
Singapore - Capitalism without democracy is exploitation
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Capitalism without democracy is exploitation – excerpts from A Nation Cheated
28 May 07
THE only difference between communism and capitalism, it has been said, is that the communists have admitted that they were wrong.
Such an observation, undoubtedly made with tongue firmly in cheek, is nevertheless a serious indictment of the economic system that has enveloped this planet.
The widening disparity between the world's rich and poor continues to ask questions about the way humanity conducts itself. Poverty brutalises and dehumanises the victims it claims. It is an evil that tears at the very heart of civilisation.
Giving succour to us is the knowledge that people are not defenceless when it comes to combating poverty. The weapon of choice is, of course, democracy. For without it, capitalism becomes nothing more than exploitation in disguise.
And yet, in Singapore the situation is such that while the ruling Peoples’ Action Party (PAP) remains alive to the capitalist world, it ensures that democracy is kept dead and buried. Such an arrangement renders the working poor voiceless and powerless, opening them up to abuse and exploitation.
A Nation Cheated addresses the fallacy that Singapore has a well-run, free-market economy system put in place by the PAP that continues to benefit the island’s inhabitants.
In fact, this report clearly demonstrates that there is nothing free or market-oriented about Singapore’s economy. Worse, developmental trends over the last 10 years show how Singaporeans have been economically displaced and socially dislocated as a result of PAP policies.
It documents the subjugation of the labour movement by the Singapore Government during the nation's formative years which has continued into the present. The official argument is that strong trade unions are inimical to foreign investment.
After nearly half-a-century of uninterrupted authoritarian rule, however, the results are abysmal. Singapore's economy seems unable to graduate into something more than a service station for multinational companies. The resultant effect has been the emergence of a significant layer of underclass.
The report also demonstrates that this system is actively maintained by an autocratic government whose political philosophy and practice is predicated on Lee Kuan Yew's idea that state resources should be concentrated on the top 5 percent of the pop-ulation "who are more than ordinarily endowed physically and mentally."
Most importantly, this essay presents a clear alternative to the course taken by the PAP who has bludgeoned into the minds of the populace that there isn't, and can never be, one.
It was first published in 2002 under the title First World...For Whom? Much has happened since and this updated version will bring readers up to speed about Singapore's political-economy, poverty, and labour.
Many have bought the e-copy of A Nation Cheated written by Dr Chee Soon Juan. If you haven't done so, order a copy today and support the democracy campaign in Singapore!
Option1: You can place your order through Paypal, either through your own Paypal account or directly with your credit card if you don't have a Paypal account. Click on the 'Buy Now' button below.
Option 2: If you don't want to use either of the above options, please write to speakup@singaporedemocrat.org.
13:25 Posted by soci | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email this | Tags: Singapore, A Nation Cheated
Comments
Adding on, same charge that Thorstein Veblen made against the neoclassical school of economics, which is the basis for neoliberal, free market ideology. Same with JM Keynes same with many of the Institutionalists school of thought. in fact, if you want to go back, Adam Smith was never a pure capitalist. How can you argue for a pure capitalist economy?
Posted by: J | 30/05/2007
In Fact, best to read Karl Polanyi's The Great Transformation and The Livelihood of Man.
Posted by: J | 30/05/2007
Without freedom and liberty, democracy will result in some form of tyranny — Hitler was voted in democratically, for instance.
If one belives in The State (I don't, I'm an anarchist), then what is sorely needed is some for of Bill of Rights precisely describing *individual* (as opposed to the "collective") self-ownership, the absolute right of PRIVATE property (as opposed to public goods), and the LIMIT to where government interference, and hence political interference STOPS.
Individual freedom and liberty are more important that democracy. The RULE OF LAW *must* protect the individual's right to do as he pleases as long as he is peaceful, and the right to own anything — as long as he uses it peacefully and has acquired it legitimately — i.e. individual rights and private property rights. Without these rights laid down in stone, a democratic majority can (and will) use the "might of the majority" to intefere with peaceful individuals and steal their private property.
Private property will always be a "scare good", which makes private property valuable. This is bound to breed jealously because individual wealth is, and always will be UNequal.
If Singapore is to survive, and thus prove my "Matilah Singapura" omen to be wrong, meritocracy must become part of the zeitgeist. If one works hard, paying the necessary "price", and eventually "wins", that is all there is to it. You earn it, you own it, you decide how to dispose of your wealth not "society", or "the democracy" or the state.
There is only one right, and it is a negative one: the right to be LEFT ALONE, in peace, to decide and act out one's very own unique life, without being trampled over by the mob or the herd.
Posted by: Matilah_Singapura | 30/05/2007
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