Singapore is also an authoritarian state which administers corporal punishments which our founders Constitutionally banned as “cruel or unusual”.
Sociologists were baffled by this for a long time, but they eventually figured out that the key to social contentment is not freedom, but consistent application of the law. Singapore might be an authoritarian state, but its citizens accept it because it is authoritarian for EVERYONE.
The article I read about this cited an example of a young adult man who was the son of a leading national political figure — maybe Singapore’s equivalent of the Vice President. He was arrested for some kind of petty crime like vandalism or minor theft. In almost any other country the crime would have been swept under the rug or, at worst, the young guy would have gotten a slap on the wrist. But in Singapore, the politician father wanted to make an example of his own son … so he insisted that the kid would be flogged repeatedly with a bamboo cane on national television. THAT surely sent a message to both the son and the nation as a whole.
There really is no right or wrong place to live. Each person prefers his own earthly paradise.
Singapore emphasizes order, efficiency, and economic development over liberal democratic norms. It ranks high on rule of law, anti-corruption, and public service delivery, which some argue offsets its democratic deficits. Singaporeans prefr it that way.
The U.S., while more liberal-democratic, faces its own challenges with polarization, institutional gridlock, and disinformation—but maintains stronger protections for dissent and pluralism. Americans prefer it that way.
I don’t see Singaporeans wanting to migrate to the USA or vice versa.
To each his own.
“ corporal punishments which our founders Constitutionally banned as “cruel or unusual”.
No, they didn’t.
“Singapore is also an authoritarian state which administers corporal punishments”
I would prefer that 100 times over the revolving door disaster our jails have become.
A good public caning for the miscreants is a hell of a lot more effective and way less expensive.
You might say they are cane and able.
Since the Bill of Rights applied to the federal government, whipping and flogging were legal punishments at the state level until the Supreme Court did away with them 50 or 60 years ago. It was mostly applied as a punishment in prisons before that, rather than a sentence of its own.
Most counties and towns didn't have enough money to incarcerate people in jail.