"5. There is no crime and things run reliably well but you do not see the human hand in it. By contrast to Japan, there is an unmistakable trace of human effort in how their systems are kept functioning well."
This is an illustrative point. Singapore has little tradition to bind its diverse people together. It's the archetypal 20th century state --- a destination for globalists, a Disney Land for nouveau-riche and fuerdai to play aristocrat, second rate food from every ethnicity (and great Chinese food, to be fair), economically prosperous but devoid of soul.
Japan, despite radical demoralization in the 20th century, has managed to preserve its spiritual and ethnic identity (at least they are doing well by modern standards). Japanese are born into a home, a culture, a way of life, and even (the remnants of) a tradition that they by and large wish to protect and maintain rather than abandon or subvert. This is their secret ingredient, which is probably no surprise to GM readers, but is largely overlooked by most westerners.
I lived in a part of Tokyo that was considered a bit of a shithole by Japanese (but was, of course, incredibly safe, clean, and functional by western standards). There was a sign on the train station that said, "Together We Can Protect Our Town!", just completely unironically, a manifestation of a social phenomenon alien to my western experience. Even though I was just passing through, I was inspired to go above and beyond to protect this precious thing.
Anyone looking for a city similar to SG but with soul to spare, check out Hong Kong, before it's smothered by the mainland.
Sidenote, the other day I saw some Japanese guy on youtube talking about a book he'd read by a social scientist claiming all Japan's problems stemmed from Bushido culture, and Japan needed to abandon their roots and envision a more individualist and emancipated future to truly flourish. I commented something along the lines of, "might want to check how that went for the west..."
As as the great emo-pilled Sir Roger Scruton pointed out, all that is beautiful exists to be sacrificed.
Brooklyn thumping at 3 a.m.? I lived in Brooklyn in the mid-80s, for six years. If anyone had been thumping in my neighborhood at 3 a.m. he would have been thumped himself. I lived there when the car alarms that went off at a random noise were invented -- the kind that kept screaming all night. The local boys took one of those cars apart at 3 a.m. or so. There was nothing left at daylight but some tortured metal, shattered glass, and a spray-painted warning.
The question after all is, "What are we after?". To thrive on all fronts, one should be more Japanese, and less Singaporean. Better yet, more Amish; more extremist home-schooling Roman Catholic, with a big van. You can execute a strategy of being more than an NPC under any government. It turns out Singapore bred a lot of NPCs, despite an enlightened dictatorship, but then they're all Chinese and Indian sons-of-immigrants right? Sons-of-immigrants, especially English-speaking Chinese and Indian, tend to be some of the biggest NPCs in America too, so I'd propose it's unfair to blame poor old Lee KwanYew for not cutting this off earlier.
Enlightened dictatorship is still a highly adaptive government type, and will be associated with a lower share of NPCs. It's just that in this Singapore case, it didn't result in the people taking on highly adaptive "trad" and "based" memes. I mean big deal, it's one case. Look at Russia after 22 years of enlightened dictatorship. Can anyone doubt a Japanese Putin would work wonders for those islands?
I lived in Singapore for 6 years and did my Master's of Public Policy at the LKY School. Some observations.
Lee Hsien Loong is pretty gay. Literally and in a globohomo sense. He's basically the soft, casual social liberal that George W. Bush & most Republican politicians are in that eventually he'll come around to whatever the hyper Social Left wants.
2 things save Singapore from the fate of Taiwan, where the ruling DPP mandated gay marriage, gender fluidity etc against the explicit wishes (in multiple referenda) of 70% of the population
1) LKY's big mistake in the 60's and 70's with pushing population control.
2) The overseas Chinese reluctance to impose global homo on a historically Islamic people/country/island. (Even tho non-Muslims are the majority)
In my time there, I found that the young Singaporeans who were loudest about pro-Wokeism tended to move to Melbourne or Sydney and be replaced by some equally leftist expat who can't vote.
"I hate when all the examples of anything like what I believe in are bad. If the Lee family picked up Brooklyn in a firesale, would they sterilize it and treat it this way?"
Having some experience in the area, I think that Lee was capable but not something extraordinary (even if someone like that is totally lacking in the West and Europe in 2021).
What really made the country what it is (which until the 70s was a ex-colonial backwater pimp port) was the need for nearby Asian elites (and western powers) to have a stable offshore slash luxury living environment in SEA. Else it would be like any country in the area.
So it's neat and succesful in the way Liechtenstein is succesful, not from great inherent capacity, but because it was allowed to be so, and because it benefits quite a few interests for it to be so.
"5. There is no crime and things run reliably well but you do not see the human hand in it. By contrast to Japan, there is an unmistakable trace of human effort in how their systems are kept functioning well."
This is an illustrative point. Singapore has little tradition to bind its diverse people together. It's the archetypal 20th century state --- a destination for globalists, a Disney Land for nouveau-riche and fuerdai to play aristocrat, second rate food from every ethnicity (and great Chinese food, to be fair), economically prosperous but devoid of soul.
Japan, despite radical demoralization in the 20th century, has managed to preserve its spiritual and ethnic identity (at least they are doing well by modern standards). Japanese are born into a home, a culture, a way of life, and even (the remnants of) a tradition that they by and large wish to protect and maintain rather than abandon or subvert. This is their secret ingredient, which is probably no surprise to GM readers, but is largely overlooked by most westerners.
I lived in a part of Tokyo that was considered a bit of a shithole by Japanese (but was, of course, incredibly safe, clean, and functional by western standards). There was a sign on the train station that said, "Together We Can Protect Our Town!", just completely unironically, a manifestation of a social phenomenon alien to my western experience. Even though I was just passing through, I was inspired to go above and beyond to protect this precious thing.
Anyone looking for a city similar to SG but with soul to spare, check out Hong Kong, before it's smothered by the mainland.
Sidenote, the other day I saw some Japanese guy on youtube talking about a book he'd read by a social scientist claiming all Japan's problems stemmed from Bushido culture, and Japan needed to abandon their roots and envision a more individualist and emancipated future to truly flourish. I commented something along the lines of, "might want to check how that went for the west..."
As as the great emo-pilled Sir Roger Scruton pointed out, all that is beautiful exists to be sacrificed.
Singapore is an IQ Shredder. Intelligent and productive people immigrate to make money while driving down their fertility rates.
See “Lee Kuan Yew drains your brains for short term gain” by Spandrell and “IQ Shredders” by Nick Land.
Brooklyn thumping at 3 a.m.? I lived in Brooklyn in the mid-80s, for six years. If anyone had been thumping in my neighborhood at 3 a.m. he would have been thumped himself. I lived there when the car alarms that went off at a random noise were invented -- the kind that kept screaming all night. The local boys took one of those cars apart at 3 a.m. or so. There was nothing left at daylight but some tortured metal, shattered glass, and a spray-painted warning.
Now all I need is for someone to dispel my delusions about Liechtenstein and I'll be set
The question after all is, "What are we after?". To thrive on all fronts, one should be more Japanese, and less Singaporean. Better yet, more Amish; more extremist home-schooling Roman Catholic, with a big van. You can execute a strategy of being more than an NPC under any government. It turns out Singapore bred a lot of NPCs, despite an enlightened dictatorship, but then they're all Chinese and Indian sons-of-immigrants right? Sons-of-immigrants, especially English-speaking Chinese and Indian, tend to be some of the biggest NPCs in America too, so I'd propose it's unfair to blame poor old Lee KwanYew for not cutting this off earlier.
Enlightened dictatorship is still a highly adaptive government type, and will be associated with a lower share of NPCs. It's just that in this Singapore case, it didn't result in the people taking on highly adaptive "trad" and "based" memes. I mean big deal, it's one case. Look at Russia after 22 years of enlightened dictatorship. Can anyone doubt a Japanese Putin would work wonders for those islands?
I lived in Singapore for 6 years and did my Master's of Public Policy at the LKY School. Some observations.
Lee Hsien Loong is pretty gay. Literally and in a globohomo sense. He's basically the soft, casual social liberal that George W. Bush & most Republican politicians are in that eventually he'll come around to whatever the hyper Social Left wants.
2 things save Singapore from the fate of Taiwan, where the ruling DPP mandated gay marriage, gender fluidity etc against the explicit wishes (in multiple referenda) of 70% of the population
1) LKY's big mistake in the 60's and 70's with pushing population control.
2) The overseas Chinese reluctance to impose global homo on a historically Islamic people/country/island. (Even tho non-Muslims are the majority)
In my time there, I found that the young Singaporeans who were loudest about pro-Wokeism tended to move to Melbourne or Sydney and be replaced by some equally leftist expat who can't vote.
Then where the fuck do we go? Think I posed this question in the comments before, but still. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them out.
LOL, this came up when I searched my mailbox for "Crocs" yesterday.
"I hate when all the examples of anything like what I believe in are bad. If the Lee family picked up Brooklyn in a firesale, would they sterilize it and treat it this way?"
Having some experience in the area, I think that Lee was capable but not something extraordinary (even if someone like that is totally lacking in the West and Europe in 2021).
What really made the country what it is (which until the 70s was a ex-colonial backwater pimp port) was the need for nearby Asian elites (and western powers) to have a stable offshore slash luxury living environment in SEA. Else it would be like any country in the area.
So it's neat and succesful in the way Liechtenstein is succesful, not from great inherent capacity, but because it was allowed to be so, and because it benefits quite a few interests for it to be so.