Ross Ashcroft said this in his documentary called The Four Horsemen,
‘When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together
in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal
system that authorises it and a moral code that glorifies it’.
Some of you may miss the significance of this statement on the state of
decadence. It is a truism that transcends time, society, culture and
ideology. Remember what happened to the Animal Farm in the final
chapters? I had a rude reminder of this kind of mindset last night over
Channel News Asia in the programme SG+ hosted by Melanie Oliveiro. It
was all about the idealism of a young socialist and the thinking of a
decadent establishment. The topic was about the widening income gap
between the rich and poor and the standard replies of the decadent mind
to brush aside the youthful ideas of socialism.
Every misgiving was quickly brushed away by shallow excuses. The points
that the income gap should be closed and the rich taxed more were
casually rebutted by well rehearsed replies of a new moral code. The
growing income gap is a normal thing in capitalism, must be accepted and
nothing should be done to curb it. We must not kill the initiative and
entrepreneurial spirit of the rich. Let them grow richer. We don’t want
to be all poorer like in communism.
Did anyone suggest to kill their entrepreneurial skill? Did anyone want
to tax them to run away? Did anyone want everyone to be poor communist?
Actually this is an outdated mindset. You need to be communist to be
rich. The new rich are the communist. Ask the comrades visiting the
shopping paradise of the world’s fashion capitals and they will tell you
they are communist. The capitalists are living in debt except for the
super rich.
We can help the poor by education and a level playing field. We should
not bring back estate duties. There is nothing wrong with the rich
passing their wealth to their children. We will help the poor to be
rich, would that not be better? Why rob the rich to give it to the poor?
The polite socialist corrected this by saying, no, it is not so silly
to just take from the rich to give to the poor. Why make such a silly
argument like daft children? The taxes could, yes, go to help the poor
in education and assistance schemes to make them help themselves.
There are rich not because they were entrepreneurial and investing in
industries and taking big risk. There are many that turned rich by
collecting salaries and passive incomes for doing nothing or doing very
little. But this part must not be spoken. The new moral code is to
facilitate some people to get rich by association without much
contribution, or just by bullshiting.
And everything is legally right, supported by a new legal system. The
Americans went much further by allowing the banks to gamble their
clients’ money or gamble against their clients, totally legal. Their
laws have been changed and new laws passed to allow such crimes to
become not crimes. Their stock exchanges were supposed to operate under a
fair system and a level playing field but no more. The unfairness and
unlevel playing field were not spoken, nobody wants to know or talk
about it. When crimes are no longer crimes, the decadence has reached
its peak.
It is only a matter of time when the system is brought down on its knee
and the perpetrators be put behind bars. A new social moral code and
legal system that are more equitable would be brought in to replace the
decadence legal system and moral code the rich elite have created for
themselves, to protect their vested interests.
You guys should watch the repeat broadcast of this programme these few
days or view it at CNA’s archive to know what I mean. It is a classic
production. The rich elite will justify their wealth and their robbery
by false and shallow pretences, sophistry that only they believe in.
22 comments:
"The rich elite will justify their wealth and their robbery by false and shallow pretences, sophistry that only they believe in."
RB
No need for the rich elite to justify their wealth lah.
Just 60% of the electorate will do.
And they are doing it every election for the past 45 years!
What stronger justification needed, u tell me lah?
But why 60% want to justify them for so long?
Why they don't want to justify a better choice?
9.08am I also don't know leh u tell me lar
RB, you speak my mind on this issue. Just like immigrants issue, we are not here to drive away immigrants and foreign workers. All we asked for is fairness in treatment. Rich and continue to make money but government must not sit isle and only help the rich. Attend to the poor too and make sure they are given a level palying field.
I think the elite are more interested in feeding and grabbing as much as they can from the system than to care about the poor. And they will tell you that it is normal and it is the hard truth that the poor must accept. What they will do for the poor is PR.
Nothing can be done.
Hi rb,
Great observation and well highlighted by you.
However, such wayang-wayang have been going on for an extended period of time and almost on a daily basis on MSM and in parliament. These repeated performances are well orchestrated with a focused intent on winning/protecting the ground at all cost. There is little counter-arguments against such onslaughts, save for some of your blog posts and elsewhere in social media.
To awaken to such fallacious arguments, the only way is to expose them to light, relentlessly. You are doing a great job.
faber
My apology for introducing something a little detached from this Thread.
I literary feel like washing the legs of DPM Tharman, if I have a full body portrait of him. Watched CNA and there he was proclaiming that the Pioneer Generation(PG) needs not worry about how to go about getting the Privilege. Even if the PG does not know how to go about it or forgottened to have their entitlement cards with them. According to the DPM, everything is in the computer. And this very assertion made by him traumatizes me and worse I wont know for how long. I only know that I shall remember him till I lose my faculty.
To make it short, I shall just relate what happened.
My Late Mother was a regular patient at Tampines Polyclinic and Changi Hospital for more than a decade. As She had to have review every 3 months and to have her prescriptions of long term medications, me had been sending her to both places over the years.
During one of her last visit, l had forgottened to bring along her IDENTITY CARD(IC). WHEN I REGISTERED HER WITH HER(MY MOTHER) APPOINTMENT CARD THE COUNTER, A REGISTRATION STAFF DEMANDED FOR MY MOTHERS' IC. WHEN I INFORMED HER THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN TO BRING ALONG, SHE TOLD ME SHE HAD TO REGISTER MY MOTHER AS AN ALIEN.
I THEN TOLD HER THAT MY MOTHER'S IC NUMBERS ON THE APPOINTMENT CARD WAS INDICATIVE OF MY MOTHER'S NATIONALITY AND SO WERE HER RECORDS IN THE COMPUTER DATABASE. BUT SHE INSISTED THAT SHE HAD TO COMPLY WITH THE SOP OF HER EMPLOYMENT. HO I REMAINED COOL TO THAT RESPONSE WAS SOMETHING I AM STILL FIGURING. I BLED IN THE HEART BUT I CANT AFFORD TO MAKE MY THEN 96 YEAR OLD MOTHER. I PLEADED TO HER AND LEFT IT TO HER WITH PREPARATION TO BE CHARGED AT THE RATE OF FOREIGNER.
ON THE SAME DAY FOR THE REVIEW, MY MOTHER WAS REFERRED TO CHANGI HOSPITAL FOR SOME TESTS. AT THE SPECIALIST REFERRAL DEPARTMENT IN TAMPINES POLYCLINIC, THE STAFF MAKING THE APPOINTMENT FOR MY MOTHER WITH CHANGI HOSPITAL, REMINDED ME TO BRING MY MOTHER'S IC WHEN I BRING HER FOR THE TEST.
OTHERWISE MY MOTHER WILK BE CHARGED FOREIGNER(ALIEN) RATE.
NOW THAT THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER HAD MADE IT VERY CLEAR THAT DATA IN THE COMPUTER WILL SHOW EVERYTHING (IDENTITIES) OF SINGAPOREANS, I HOPE HE WILL HAVE ALL CIVIL SERVANTS WELL INFORMED AND NOT INCONVENIENT FELLOW COUNTRYMEN FOR FUN.
DO IT, MAKE SURE YOU DO MR DPM THARMAN.
I WILL REMEMBER YOU TILL MY LAST BREATH.
patriot
Hi patriot, you forgotten they have this lovely thing called system and SOPs. I think their system is just as meticulous as the one the police are telling the COI. They must follow the SOP step by step.
Incidentally, did you ask the staff if she is an alien and if she is you should slap her and remind her you and your mother are not aliens but citizens.
Hi Anon 241.
Thank You, feel good to have your participation.
Me had chicken heart, fear most people with authority. Did and do my best to make those in power happy. Just hope that they do not take advantage to abuse their power s and bully sinkies like me for fun.
Frankly, me does feel that conscience have been very lacking with those in authority. But then again, we are lucky that we do have people like DPM THARMAN.
Hopefully, his colleagues and most importantly the Civil Servants can have commonsense like him even if they lack humane feelings.
Cheers!
patriot
RB, u kena attacked by SirNelspruit in the real singapore blog leh
Oh what did he say?
I read his comments and he came out as a young hothead that jumped to conclusion without thinking or understanding what I wrote. And he is another who only thinks that he must be right.
My post was poking at people who, with the benefit of hindsight, thought they knew what they could or would or should do in a riot and think they had the perfect answer. Go read my post if you have want a clearer picture.
When someone(wife of a gov paid civil servant) can say "S$600,000 a year is peanuts" and sided with someone who installed a gold-plated tap, collected a monthly salary of $25,000 (ten years ago) and collected a 10-month bonus in 2002 and a 12-month bonus in both 2003 and 2004 until being sued, access to a fleet of eight chauffeured cars and the NKF (charity foundation) paid the taxes and maintenance costs of his personal Mercedes-Benz. There is something toooooo wrong in the system. That person is out now and most like back to his old ways of 'sucking' human blood with his old friend LM Sham and FM Thar (aka SATAN)
Who is saying the communists are poor? All the capitalist cities selling branded goods at branded prices are laying out the red carpets to wait for the communists to unload their money in their shops. And some are so impatient that they are running all the way to Beijing and Shanghai to sell their latest sports cars, diamonds and jewelry to the 'poor' communists.
Who is this guy? and what has he been smoking? Or he has been away in Mars?
RB, do not be bothered with young, inexperienced, heavily pap brainwashed people out there.
Proverbs 26:4-14 "When arguing with fools, don't answer their foolish argument..."
'Why rob the rich to give it to the poor?'
- the situation in this small island is worse. it is robbing the poor to pay for the protection of the rich. e.g. the defense budgets should be solely contributed by the rich. they owned the assets. the poor has ZERO assets. even the building of some expressways should be paid by the rich. they are the ones with cars.
Patriot: SOP are set by people, and as always flawed in many sense, running a department used to doing SOP's, i find it stupid as the application to parts, machine, process and people differs greatly, ppl that follows SOP's are robotic, as the gerneral use is of pictures showing the next step with words of explanation.....used on machines operation it would be ideal but when it comes to the ppl's touch, i find a WI (work instruction) better, i'm not writing all this to boast how much i know but to tell you that SOP's can be challenge, which i do most of the time....ask them who audit their system (in fact, demand, to know) then demand that they show you the SOP's.....if she's stupid enough to show you.....in a million SOP's there are a million flaws.
Hope this help bro.
Hi Anon 932:
appreciate Your Enlighting Response.
Me did National Service and was in the Discipline Force for one and a half decades. There cant be more rigid and regimental rules and regulations in most other organizations. However, must say that not all uniform personnels are stupid and robotic. Most people anywhere in the World do use commonsense and initiative.
In the Case me highlighted, I will not blame the Staff in particular, in my view whoever had set up the SOP and the Ministry itself are more guilty of putting their commonsense-less staff to irritate others. And me does not rule out that some 'chenghu lang'(civil servants) like to throw their weights aroubd just to feel important (powerful/authoritative).
I will not rule out that some parliamentarians have similar inclination.
Me just feel good that DPM Tharman iterated that particular statement in the Official Media. Hopefully from now onwards, we will have less difficulties with Officials and Civil Servants.
Cheers
patriot
Is there a SOP to shoot the local people to protect the assets of the rich (locals or foreigners), and will the police or military people (who are paid by ALL taxpayers monies) here blindly follow as we see in many countries?
If the rich and powerful people turned the military and defence force against their own people, is that not a hideous crime?
Rb: // A new social moral code and legal system that are more equitable would be brought in to replace the decadence legal system and moral code the rich elite have created for themselves, to protect their vested interests. //
How?
In 1993, there were about 48,000 new born.
In 2003, about 37,000.
The latest figure revealed is about 31,000 in 2013.
Can you see the implication in 10 to 20 years time?
Before what you mentioned in the above quoted statements could ever come about, likely more serious issues might have engulfed the society ....
Basically by another 18 years ( 2013 + 18 = 2031 ), you are staring at 8,500 less military and home team NSFs as compared to 2011 ( about 24,000 vs 15,500 ).
Old age problem is an important issue but not the most pivotal in our long term survival.
Stock market issue is also not the most daunting issue facing this little red dot.
But TFR is likely to be the decider of the future of this nation.
Over the next decade, if the TFR plummets like it did in the past two decades, many issues that netizens kpkb about might be moot because by then, it may be as good as game over for the sustainability aspect ..... Without sustainability, likely everything else becomes "irrelevant" ......
So there may be only one more chance left over the next few years and that's not VTO .....
It is to arrest the further decline in TFR and turn it around by " practically all means and any means ".
It seems at the moment "the whole nation's attention" is on PGP, COI etc than on this arguably most daunting issue confronting our long term sustainability and viability ..... Well, to "behave in the right manner and be accepted socially" let's all be "ostrich and bury our heads in the sand" pretending the problem is not there and "nobody can see the ostrich's body". Let's continue kicking the can down the road and "immersed ourselves in materialism, pure growth and merry making" for the next 10 years and somehow everything will be well ......
Ha ha
as a nation we may be left with this one last chance to resolve this TFR issue over the next few years otherwise our future generations may be back to catching fish for a living just like back in the 19th century when Sir Stamford Raffles arrived .....
Let's "toast" to the "job well done" by our hard working leaders and pioneer generation for bringing such a "hopeful" future for our next generations ....
When did they discover that the TFR is falling? What are the causes for the fall? Who is the culprit that is causing the fall? Is replacing TFR with foreigners a good solution?
Many developed countries have been living with near 0 TFR for many decades and are still kicking.
Falling TFR is a natural phenomenon in a way. The pop of the world must not be allowed to go up and up. When the population is low enough, the TFR will rise again when living becomes more conducive.
The biggest threat to mother earth is population explosion. It is actually desirable for a lower TFR, to stop the world population from growing for a few decades to stabilise the balance between resources and consumption.
Our crazy idea of unstoppable population growth as a must for economic growth comes from Woodbridge.
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