Spring Break
Singapore Trades Freedoms For Happiness
Bryan Murphy
Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: Commentary
Of course, I don't expect anyone in the U.S. to care at all about the political apathy of Singaporeans. As Jimmy Buffet would say, "It's their own damn fault." The unsettling implication is what their silence might mean for, well, all of us. Why don't Singaporeans complain when minor drug pushers are straight-up hanged, or when Playboy.com is added to a national block list? Mostly, it's because things are pretty good here. Singapore is extremely clean, extremely safe and extremely wealthy. No one gets worked up over Presidential elections - even when they're entirely canceled by the Presidential Election Commission - because what does it matter? "The Father" will take care of things, anyway.
It's part of the American value-system to believe the rest of the world is chomping at the bit for their chance for democracy and personal freedom - but really, one has to wonder how many in the Third World want to emulate America's rights and how many really just want to emulate America's economics. The Singaporeans seem to have settled this question for themselves and the answer is not what John Locke would have hoped. One has to ask oneself what the truth is even here, in the homeland of Thomas Jefferson - what price do Americans affix to their freedoms? Is a couple hundred dollars from an Economic Stimulus plan enough to buy them off? If not that, then how about a vague assurance of freedom from terrorism?
It's the romantic view to believe that everyone burns with a deep-seated desire for freedom and political rights, but it often seems more accurate to assume that everyone burns with need for an iPod and a Corolla.
Weekly Columnist Bryan Murphy is a 4th-semester economics major currently studying abroad in Singapore. His column appears on Friday. He can be reached at Bryan.Murphy@UConn.edu.
It's part of the American value-system to believe the rest of the world is chomping at the bit for their chance for democracy and personal freedom - but really, one has to wonder how many in the Third World want to emulate America's rights and how many really just want to emulate America's economics. The Singaporeans seem to have settled this question for themselves and the answer is not what John Locke would have hoped. One has to ask oneself what the truth is even here, in the homeland of Thomas Jefferson - what price do Americans affix to their freedoms? Is a couple hundred dollars from an Economic Stimulus plan enough to buy them off? If not that, then how about a vague assurance of freedom from terrorism?
It's the romantic view to believe that everyone burns with a deep-seated desire for freedom and political rights, but it often seems more accurate to assume that everyone burns with need for an iPod and a Corolla.
Weekly Columnist Bryan Murphy is a 4th-semester economics major currently studying abroad in Singapore. His column appears on Friday. He can be reached at Bryan.Murphy@UConn.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
GC Chwee
posted 2/08/08 @ 9:09 PM EST
Hello Bryan,
You got pretty much of your facts right. But your reasons for why Singaporeans are politically apathetic are far from accurate.
It is the ruling elites, the oligarchs, that want to emulate only the American economy and not the rights you enjoy and probably taken for granted. (Continued…)
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