An educated electorate the best insurance against political uncertainties
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Some useful examples of countries for such a discussion on political systems...note Russia is democratic in the sense that its govt is voted through elections...but it does not have press freedom and elections are apparently heavily rigged and controlled by the Putin govt; in other words, not a fully liberal democracy. Singapore faces the same accusation of not being a true democracy, but obviously, we are nothing like Russia.
Possible rebuttal to the article: note that educated people can be selfish and clouded by their emotions to make less-than-wise decisions at the ballot box. For example, the rich elite in the US are infamously known for evading taxes. These rich are likely to be educated too. Given a choice, nobody likes to pay taxes, whether they are educated or not; hence they're unlikely to support a punitive tax policy on high-income earners even if it's a fair one.
Anger against the establishment can also cloud one's intellectual mind and cause one to vote against the greater good of the nation. Evidence of this can be found in the recent Brexit and the US election, even though the media would attribute the fluke outcomes in both to the less educated group.
In the case of Singapore, it would not be too far-fetched to say that even if one is educated, one would still be disinclined towards hostile policies like GST hike, ERP, CPF minimum sums, etc even if one can see the need for these for the society to function. Of course, the uneducated are probably even more susceptible to this. But the point is that just because one is educated does not guarantee that one will vote wisely....
Qn: Only educated people should have the right to vote in elections. What is your view? (Cam. 2009)
Some useful examples of countries for such a discussion on political systems...note Russia is democratic in the sense that its govt is voted through elections...but it does not have press freedom and elections are apparently heavily rigged and controlled by the Putin govt; in other words, not a fully liberal democracy. Singapore faces the same accusation of not being a true democracy, but obviously, we are nothing like Russia.
Possible rebuttal to the article: note that educated people can be selfish and clouded by their emotions to make less-than-wise decisions at the ballot box. For example, the rich elite in the US are infamously known for evading taxes. These rich are likely to be educated too. Given a choice, nobody likes to pay taxes, whether they are educated or not; hence they're unlikely to support a punitive tax policy on high-income earners even if it's a fair one.
Anger against the establishment can also cloud one's intellectual mind and cause one to vote against the greater good of the nation. Evidence of this can be found in the recent Brexit and the US election, even though the media would attribute the fluke outcomes in both to the less educated group.
In the case of Singapore, it would not be too far-fetched to say that even if one is educated, one would still be disinclined towards hostile policies like GST hike, ERP, CPF minimum sums, etc even if one can see the need for these for the society to function. Of course, the uneducated are probably even more susceptible to this. But the point is that just because one is educated does not guarantee that one will vote wisely....
Qn: Only educated people should have the right to vote in elections. What is your view? (Cam. 2009)
posted by Dark Shadow | 3:01 PM
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