Excessive defense spending and inadequate social spending weakens. singapore.....

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Today singapore is the second most militarized nation on.earth after israel. our high defense spending dwarfs our social.spending which is the lowest among developed countries but have the threats changed? is it wise for us to keep going in the same direction and compound the mistakes of the past?

Today singapore faces the problem of a society with high ncome inequality and our inadequate social.spending has led to hardship in a large and increasing segment of our society. this undermines the fabric of Singapore society and.weakens us from the inside. this imbalance can later lead to abrupt and severe changes that will make Singapore weaker.

Today the singapore govt says it has to raise Medishield premium to cover those above 90, they also say Straits Time article says GST may be raised because there is insufficient money to support this....if there is no money, how.come Singapore has money to consider buying the most cost ineffective F35.... this really shows where the priorities of the govt lies . They perpetually fail to.see the needs of the people and fail to adjust to the changes due to globalization. Today our assumed.enemies are dependent on global trade and democratizing rapidly....shifting our real threats from external.to.internal. and Singapore has to address these changes or face more severe problems down the road. it is better for our defense planners to start adjusting to an allocation of the budget that is long term sustainable as our population ages rather than be forced to make abrupt changes later on. They need to build long term capabilities, delay acquisition to forestall obsolescence to make most effective use of a more balanced allocation.

Restoring balance in our spending will give us the best long term survival.odds as our population ages and social needs increases. A society with the highest income inequality without the social safety nets to mitigate the social problems will weaken internally as cohesion among class segments erodes over time - support for the system and willingness to defend it also decrease. Today no developed country has such a big unbalanced budget spending as Singapore. The US spends an equal amount on defense and social spending - both have to be proportionately cut to reduce its countries debt. Israel has significant social spending despite direct and overt threats to its existence, it understands the need for social spending to mitigate the inequalities in society. Singapore unbalanced approach will become increasing unsustainable as our population ages and the proportion of foreigners increase. Singaporeans are told to defend a mixed population when they feel the needs of old, sick and poor are not well taken of compared with those of other developed countries will lower our moral high ground and weaken our position.


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