Dad just called. Talking about my election card and so on. Oh well… Guess I’ll have to reregister in 2011 when the next elections are held. I’ll be off somewhere again I guess. So maybe overseas voting for me. =P
I really do believe that I am very upper middle class in my political leanings. I believe in little interference with the economy when it comes to the government (which means both the PAP and WP fail by my definition). As little government intervention as possible. The government should only provide public goods. Primary healthcare, education, these are essential for the workforce. It’s mostly economic rationale, nothing to do with caring for the weak and what not. The services should be available to all citizens. The rich can opt out and got to private schools and clinics.
Yet I tend to be socially more relaxed. Gays should be allowed to marry, in fact the state should not regulate marriage at all. There should not be any benefits or incentives for married couples over unmarried singles. As long as two consenting adults choose to be married, the state should allow it. The only reason why the state should recognise the marriage is for economic reasons. When the marriage ends, the pooled resources has to be equitable in its distribution. As for things like spousal abuse and rape (rape is ok in marriage in Singapore for now), they can be reassigned to assualt/battery and rape, no need for any special treatment. It’s one citizen violating the rights of another, no matter if one is married to another. Marriage should be for religions to decide, the state has no place to worry about that.
Laws are designed to regulate society, not to regulate morality. The justification should be to protect the rights of citizens. You have a right to blare loud music, unless it interferes with your neighbours’ right to sleep after midnight. It’s not a moral issue, it’s an issue compromise between people living in a community. You can’t steal someone’s money, not because it is wrong, but because you are taking what is not yours to start of with. The protection of property rights is the cornerstone of capitalism.
Education should be provided to all not because it is a social leveller, but because it ensures a well trained workforce. I don’t care the class origins of the workforce, they just need to be prepared to expand the economy. A more knowledgable workforce will ensure that we can move towards tertiary industries, which tend to be white collar jobs, and that requires a well educated workforce.
I know it all sounds very cold blooded and calculative, but that’s how I think. The state’s only role is to ensure that people in a community don’t start killing each other. The state is the only entity in a community that has control of violence in the form of a military and police force. It’s goal is to prevent anyone else from using violence. Mind you that the state is subject to the sovereign, which in a democracy is the will of the people. It is not a social leveller or equaliser. It is merely the representation of the social contract. It enforces that social contract, and in our postmodern times, it’s all economics. Private citizens can care for each other, feed each other and so on. But the state has no place for that. If public services are limited to really essential stuff then taxes can be lower, and so people can spend accordingly.
Sometimes I think when it comes to political thought, I can be very ruthless. I do care about the less well off and the struggling, afterall I am Catholic, but I think it should be private enterprise, not state intervention that should provide for the weak.
Yeah, very upper middle class, aren’t I?
