2 Comments

Great talk!

On the section on the success of Singapore I'm surprised no mention was made of the British colonial period which at the very least imported legal and institutional structures, a great deal of social capital, and permanent connections to the western world through its role as a trading port. Failure to defend the city against the Japanese in WWII fatally soured pro-British sentiment. And it's glib to assert the Singaporeans avoided communism through some kind of special foresight. This wasn't for want of trying as Chinese communists fought a guerrilla war for that cause in the 1950s. So it was touch and go for a while. Lastly, Singapore is successful for being a micro-state. Micro-states have micro-problems. Which is why it's pinch-of-salt to compare them in international rankings; not to take anything away from them at all. Still have to put the hard work in and have the right system.

Expand full comment

Singapore also had a leader who was confident enough not to embrace Liberal Democracy or Soviet Communism. If two groups of people are debating ideas X and Y, then the moment we notice something wrong with X we unconsciously deduce Y is the truth. Our chimp brains love false dichotomies. Literally 70 years in a Cold War before anyone asks, "maybe X and Y are both false?".

Expand full comment