Monday 14 October 2013

Meritocracy is the Enemy of Democracy. Discuss.

Meritocracy is the process of selecting a person based on their merit/ability.

Democracy (Representative Democracy, anyway) is the process of electing a representative based on the voter's choice.

Ergo, unless voters choose based on merit, Democracy subverts or at best ignores merit, and if the most meritorious candidate does win, it is usually a coincidence.

[Longer post to follow.]

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Why Singaporeans are dissatisfied

This article was written with an American audience in mind, but it does apply to somewhat to Singapore too.

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7 Reasons the World Looks Worse Than It Really Is

By David Wong August 19, 2013

A billion people have been lifted out of poverty in just the last 20 years. Did you know that? Do you know how it happened? Do you sit around thinking about how wonderful that is?

Thursday 3 October 2013

Should you buy a car?

A Checklist.

A) Do you NEED a car?
What do you need the car for? Commuting? Expanding your social horizons? Work (your job requires you to run all over Singapore, and time is of the essence)? Family (you have 4 kids under the age of 12 and your parents are in wheelchairs)?

B) If you don't have a car now, how do you cope with whatever you need the car for in (A)? How do you get to work currently? How do you expand your social horizons? How do you do your work without a car? How do you move your family around?