Singapore has had an even more "draconian" (from the US perspective) social policy than China for many years. Ever hear of it in the US media that trumpet the "Singapore miracle"?
The fact is that Asians are traditionally much more social than Americans, who are the most highly individualistic people in the world. One nation's "liberty" is another's "license." This is also the case internally in the US, and it is one factor in the extreme divisiveness that the US is now experiencing socially and culturally. Even has a name — "the culture wars."
There is no genuine personal freedom without responsibility, and responsibility is a social phenomenon.
A friend of mine who lived in Switzerland for a while told me that he received two tickets and was fined for the infractions. The first was when someone came by and measured the tread in his tires and found them insufficient. The second was for leaving fruit that had fallen from fruit trees in his yard on the ground and not picking them up. In some European towns, it is also an finable infraction not to have flowers growing in the window flower boxes.
I recall being appalled being in Europe in the Sixties and being subject to show ID to police without cause. On the other hand, Europeans were shocked that Americans had to have driver's licenses and were subject to speed limits or drive with their headlights on at night.
Zero Hedge
"Your Pet Will Be Confiscated!": A Shocking Glimpse Inside China's New Social Credit System
Tyler Durden
2 comments:
Andre Vlitchek wrote about the Singapore socialist miracle. Yes, under its so called capitalists economic miracle it has quite a lot is state provision and so is more like a social democracy. But Vlitchek did say that if you drop some litter you could get a $5000 fine. He mentioned other ways in which the authorities can harsh. I thought, maybe that's a small price to pay to be able to live in a country where the majority of people are better off than most other people in the world.
In UK, the streets might look bad after a Friday or Saturday night out. There might be discarded hamburger cartons and empty bottles all over the place. But I don't think the British public would stand tor £2,000 to £3,000 being issued out. But maybe in Singapore the pubic does support this. Maybe they pride clean streets above liberty.
China is the opposite, you're allowed to drop your litter anywhere. That seems crazy to me, to just be able to come out of a shop and drop your litter right on the floor, but they think it's the job of the street cleaners to sweep everything up. They have quite a lot of street cleaners. So, it's about different cultures.
But everything needs to be weighed up individually. In some US states they are very homophobic, but just because the majority hold these views it doesn't make it right.
I read a little while back how Europeans are often shocked when they see U.S. police roughly handle ordinary civilians occasionally while they are on holiday in America. They might see this occurring at airports. But I read how most Americans approve of this as they believe the police are ensuring their safety and protecting the public. So, again, different cultures.
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