The Spirit Level - Why Equality is Better for Everyone - Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett

This was XM's recommendation. It strikes right at the heart of an issue that XM and I have been talking about alot recently. The crux of the book is that inequality (particularly in terms of financial endowment) in a society leads to significant issues for individuals, ranging from health and social problems to softer issues such as the level of trust people share. The data is surprisingly consistent, and shows that even in countries with higher levels of economic development, where everyone is better off, the inequality between individuals at the top and bottom of the pecking order still leads to all the gamut of issues above. And this is more strongly correlated with the inequality rather than to the absolute financial wealth of the society as a whole.

At a very personal level, I do believe that the capitalist economic model has worked very well and I haven't seen anything that drives human behavior towards industrious ends and focused action as successfully and on as wide a scale. However, I must concede (to XM too) that I think our society can be even better off than today. (And yes, I don't really need a Maserati in this lifetime.)

Our current economic model is fundamentally driven by consumerism, and industries are blooming by creating greater and greater capacities for spending in people. A TED talk that I listened to this morning aptly called it: "people spending money they don't have, on things they don't need, to impress people they don't care". The crux is this. Capitalism has become wildly successful because it has insidiously creeped into our social selves. Our very social well-being, hierarchy and beliefs, have become so intertwined with our earning / spending power that it is sometimes difficult to tell the two apart. Apart from material goods to make us feel good, we are also sold "experiences" nowadays, which is an attempt at elevating consumerism to a spiritual and hence, nobler, pursuit.

I think I will have to start by rewiring my own brain first - there is too much beliefs about success, effort, anxiety about financial security, achievements, and so on, that is deeply ingrained in me that I think I have a long way to go to having a more enlightened view of society and how I should live my life.

Thanks to XM for getting me to read this book :)

In Lieu of Ideology - An Intellectual Biography of Goh Keng Swee

Goh Keng Swee, one of the key personalities in the founding of Singapore, had passed away earlier this year. After reading Ngiam Tong Dow's depiction of GKS's towering intellect and many accomplishments, I had always wanted to find out more about the man and his ideas. This book came at an opportune time when I was also trying to learn and understand the Singapore Civil Service at a deeper level.

The book indeed gave me much insights into GKS's ideas, but I must say that I only got quite a one-dimensional picture of the man. Didn't seem to be able to glean his deeper beliefs and emotions from the book. Nonetheless, it is a rich repository of Singapore's history from an intellectual perspective, and here are some of the key learning points that I took from the book:

1. GKS's thinking is that a capitalist system suffers from two ailments - widening income inequality and the tendency to go through boom-bust cycles, which lead to significant wastage. In particular, the emergence of a wealthy class leads to economic "wastage" as significant economic resources are "invested" in status symbols rather than things that are of real social or economic benefit. However, a socialist system has even greater handicaps, not least is the difficulty to incentivise people to pursue excellence. Ultimately, GKS believes that the intelligence, energy and sympathy of the people determines the success of the system, rather than its form or ideology.
   
2. From the social angle, the book gave insights into how poor Singapore really was at one point in time (around 1950s to 1960s), when GKS conducted his census. An observation that was made at that time was that immigrants generally were more willing to work than the locals. I wonder if this is a scenario that is being (or will someday be) played out in Singapore.
   
3. GKS believed in the advantage of having a "ruling elite", and saw no inconsistency between having such an elite and democracy. Unfortunately, this was not explained in greater detail and I wasn't able to understand the thoughts behind this belief. However, it was stated that stability and consistency in the government allowed industries to prosper and social / welfare policies to develop (based on the income generated by the industries). A strong central government is also necessary for socialist policies to be implemented wisely.
   
4. He had a belief that the "modernisation of the traditional man" takes place in the city, which allowed traditional values to meet with and be amalgamated with global ideas.
5. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, and defence was one of the top priorities for GKS. However, he believed that both the regimental (punishment and reward-based) and the ideological (almost akin to brainwashing) type of armies were not suitable for Singapore. The book was not clear in what he felt was the ideal model though, except that it would be similar to "Frederick the Great's". One point that he found to be missing in today's society is the absence of a desire in a people to want to defend themselves. In this respect, national service can help to build loyalty and national consciousness.
6. Tourism was a method through which wealth from the rich countries is distributed to the less well-endowed ones. Never thought of it before!
   
7. In terms of education, GKS had expressed his concern with the significant amount of effort and resources that went into studying for examinations, and the society's preoccupation with how much everyone had in the bank balance. This restricted the ability of the education system to deliver larger and more holistic (although he didn't really use this blaise term then) educational outcomes for our students.
8. How some of the older initiatives failed dramatically, in particular, the introduction of religious studies, which led to widespread proselytism as an unintended outcome. This is an important lesson - even really brilliant people can make some mistakes sometimes. So one can never be too humble in terms of viewing one's own capabilities and judgment.
   

Do hope to be able to put my mind to the greater benefit of the world or society someday, like GKS did. Would be really grateful if I can have even one-tenth of his list of contributions!