I'll ask some simple questions.
And you can think about the answers.
1. If there are illegal immigrants in your country, what should your Government do about them?
2. Should they be allowed to work?
3. Should they be allowed to claim benefits such as unemployment benefits or any social support benefits, like food aid, etc?
4. If someone takes a study loan, should they work after getting their degree and pay off the loan?
5. If they study a rubbish subject and cannot find a job, is it their fault?
6. If they take too big of a loan which they have difficulty in repaying, whos fault is it?
OK... So...
If any opposition party in Singapore says...
We will accept illegal immigrants into Singapore, we will not deport them.
We will allow them to work and depress wages in SG.
Also, they are eligible for benefits and support programs from the Government.
If you are Singaporean, would you vote for this opposition party? Would you be angry?
If someone takes a university study loan, I think any logical person would feel that it is expected that they will work in the field that they study.
If they find some weird major, then that's their fault that they can't find a job which suits them and it's also their fault that they can't pay off their loan.
If someone takes up a $200,000 loan and has difficulty paying it then they should have thought about that before they took the loan right? They should have done some form of calculation to ensure that they are able to repay that loan.
If any opposition party in Singapore says that the Government will repay all these loans for the students, what would you feel?
What if they say, "If you saved and was frugal and you mangaged to repay the loan, good for you, you won't get any of your money back. But if you can't pay for the loan, the Government will step in and help you repay your loan. FREE."
Cos all these free loans will be paid by the taxpayer. The money needs to come from somewhere you know.
If you've paid up your loan, good for you. Now we'll take some of your tax dollars to help others who haven't paid up their loan.
Also, if you're not a uni grad, your tax dollars will ALSO be used to pay for someone else's university education. How cool is that?
If you are Singaporean, would you vote for this opposition party? Would you be angry?
Ok, next question, what kind of people would vote for such an opposition party?
Would you vote for such an opposition party? Why? Why not?
Well... if you voted for this party, congratulations, you voted for the Democratic Party in the US.
Now, I may not be getting ALL the policy details entirely correctly. But these are the gist of some of the policies being supported by the Democrats.
The news showing people being deported from the US, well, those are illegal immigrants who don't have any visa or have any legal right to be in the US.
And yes, many of them get medical support and food stamps from the US Government.
Now... I'm not saying Trump is a nice guy. He's far from a good or nice guy.
But if I'm looking at policies which actually impact ME (assuming that I'm a US citizen). Then it makes compelling reason to vote for Trump or any Republican party member.
It's easy to look at the usual media outlets and conclude that Trump is mad and a horrible person.
Most media outlets are owned by people with affiliation to the Democratic party with an agenda to portray him as a terrible person.
BUT a terrible person doesn't mean that overall Republican policies are bad.
The media does a really good job of picking out all the worst parts of Trump and keeps drumming on it to incite anger, hatred and fear of Trump and his antics.
Now, I'm not saying the Republican party is a party of angels. They also have their issues.
Both parties lie or mislead or withhold information to further their own agenda.
I've written about this before. Politicians need to stay in power to get things done.
So they will lie if they must. Cos, no votes mean no power, and nothing happens.
If they lie, and get into power and get found out later... well too bad, they are already in power.
The point I'm trying to make is... As Singaporeans, it's really hard to see what's real in the US.
Cos from halfway across the world, many people don't know much about the US and the issues they face.
The news which we receive in SG is what the mainstream media feeds to the media in SG.
It's easy to think that so many Americans must be stupid to vote for Trump again.
Even when I am here, it's easy to just follow mainstream media and get the impression that Trump is a terrible person. And maybe he is.
BUT... if I'm an American... There's good chance I'll vote for Trump, not cos Trump is good.
But cos I won't like Democratic policies.
As someone who is in a position of privilege, I don't want to be subsidizing other peoples' mistakes, lack of planning, lack of wisdom, etc.
Help people, yes, subsidize stupidity, and encourage irresponsible behaviour, NO.
It's easy to fall into the narrative that Trump is a bad person and shouldn't be voted for.
But that's voting based on feelings.
And if you just watch the media which is 80% Democratic affiliated, you'll feel so angry when watching Trump on the news.
And if you don't get into the details of policies and what the different parties actually stand for, then you'll be voting based on feelings.
If you look deeper, then maybe views change. I may not like the person. I may be angry at the person. BUT at least the party would be implementing policies in my interest. And isn't that what voting for a Government is all about?
What I'm saying is to keep an open mind and understand things.
I don't proclaim to know EVERYTHING about the US politics and what they stand for. There's probably a lot of other details and different views.
Maybe I will like some Democratic policies, etc...
The thing is, it's hard to conclude without knowing more and doing more research.
Just watching sensational news about Trump and his antics isn't research.
Similarly, many other countries would think Singaporeans are crazy to keep the PAP in power for years.
Do they really understand the situation?
Are Singaporean lives really that hard?
Or is the silent majority really folks who are ok with the PAP, and those who are vocal about their opposition are just getting more media coverage?
So maybe it SEEMS like there's really a lot of people who are anti-PAP, cos there's so much noise by the various alternative media.
But actually most people are ok. Cos the results show for themselves.
So I'd say... keep an open mind and read more, just cos you don't like someone doesn't mean that the person is working against your interests.
Similarly, if you like someone, doesn't mean that person is working in your interests.
Read and research and read and research some more.
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