8 Comments

Thanks so much for this. I knew a little about Norway but nothing about Singapore. It's an eye opener.

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Thank you so much for that succinct exacting dissection of truth amidst the storm.

As an American I have taken note during my 58 years that no pundits or politicians here ever dare make direct comparisons between our exploitation model versus better ones.

The false dichotomy of monopoly Capitalism or Stalin.

Recently reported private wealth holding in the States increased for the top 10% to 44 trillion, up from 14 trillion, 14 years ago. Speculation, hyper leveraging and betting both ways with all future wealth, perpetual war covering up crimes, leaving the people holding a big bag of burning poop.

Organized Crime

is a more appropriate title for western governments, especially that monstrous expression of hate and intolerance planted atop Palestine as Cancer in the Heart of our world.

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I can comment here but seems not on substack.

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Thank you, AAV! You read the book, so the rest of us didn't have to. Self-sacrifice - above and beyond.

There are some who think Truss had this book ghost-written - by Philomena Cunk.

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An excellent example of deconstructing Tory bullshit.

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You should also add that Singapore is only notionally democratic, with the tiny opposition parties facing repression, financial ruin, and sometimes imprisonment.

The Singapore government also has a highly interventionist and eugenicist approach to population control. Women with at least secondary school graduation are encouraged to have more children ("if you can afford it") while less-educated women are encouraged to be sterilised.

For the nationalist right-wing followers of Truss and her chums, they might be interested to know that the native Malay population is a small minority and has the lowest average income. A "Singapore on Thames" would presumably have the indigenous population serve as lackeys to the new arrivals.

However, "patriots" would be cheered to realise that 39% of the population are not classed as residents and have no citizenship rights. Wealthy Singaporeans of course employ these non-resident migrants as servants - a more accurate word would be "slaves".

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This is nonsense, Tom. Truss was obviously talking about trade relations post-Brexit (it's even in the quote you used). When people refer to the Singapore model, they are generally referring to the Free Port, open market, and tariff-free economy, and when referring to Norway in this context, they are generally referring to so-called "Fax Diplomacy." It is a legitimate comparison for Truss to have used, and you are just taking it out of context.

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Thanks for this explanation.

Thatcher's legacy continues to break Britain.

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