Wednesday 17 January 2007

Politics for beginners

I read this on Channelnews Asia today:

However, he did address perceptions about such unpopular moves being introduced after elections.

"That's not quite wrong. That's politics. That's the way campaigns should be fought. You concentrate on what you want to do – the positive parts. And of course, in some instances, you have to raise revenue to support the programmes. And after the election, you have got to translate your pledge into reality," said Mr Goh.

NO, NO, Mr. Goh, that is NOT politics. That's NOT the way campaigns should be fought in a DEMOCRACY.

In a democracy, the various parties will have plans to spend money, but THEY SHOULD ALSO HAVE PLANS HOW TO PAY FOR IT. And there will be independent economists, universities, etc., who will calculate if the government income will be enough for the government expenditures. And then the various political parties will try to convince the people that they have the best balanced plans for new expenditure and the way to pay for it. That's how a democracy works, Mr. Goh.

Why am I wasting my time on this?

2 comments:

botomato said...

good point, but u also miss out the other end of the scale. If the government fails to deliver or for some reason implement policies/ initiatives contrary to what was promised, isn't it the role of the PEOPLE to vote them out or demand a referendum in a DEMOCRACY? maybe we are just a politically apathetic lot.

happyamsguy said...

You are right. In the end, it is the task of the Singapore people to demand change. "Every country gets the government it deserves"