Equality

is a myth. there is no way there can be equality in practice. and especially not so in a modern technological society, which is highly hierarchical and whose modus operandi is based so much on the division of labour.

the theory is that the rich and powerful will help those who are not be better off than if the rich and powerful were not there. however, the rich and powerful can only stay at the apex of the pyramid if the 'lower class' supports them, cooperates with them (someone's got to do the dirty work...).

looking from another perspective, such a system will fail if 2 things happen:

1. the rich is unable to provide an increasingly good quality of life for the poor
2. the poor becomes too envious of the rich and decides not to cooperate with the rich.

another characteristic of this pyramid (at least in Singapore... at least in theory) is that the stones are not fixed in place. the elements in various strata are in constant motion. someone who is poor today can, through hard work (supposedly) move to up the pyramid and someone rich and/or in power might, if he/she fails to deliver, drop down the pyramid.

the problem thus comes when the poor feel that the rich are holding on to power through unfair means. or when the gap between the top and the bottom become too wide. then the social fabric gets strained to breaking point. Singapore seems to be moving steadily towards that threshold. that is why we now have workfare.

it is thus very clear what the PAP is trying to do. it is focussing on the bread and butter issues. it knows that those are what the people are concerned with, not issues of freedom, human rights, etc. once the PAP and the elites give the poorest in the society a minimum standard of living, which is much better than they could expect from any other society, then the PAP and the elites can rightly demand cooperation from those in the lower social-economic strata.

can Singapore continue with that strategy? can we continue to exist as a nation by concentrating on economic development?

why not?