> But to put a place where one cannot buy chewing gum at the top of some list of free societies is an interesting choice.
I'm sure you believe that, as many do. I'm not saying Singapore is a free country. But it IS comparable to the US and western Europe.
So, you can't buy chewing gum in Singapore, big deal. You can't buy alcohol on a sunday in many places in the US. You can't buy wine in a grocery store in New York.
I've heard from a Yemenite guy that you can't get their traditional perfectly-legitimate-everywhere-else stimulant (can't remember the name - Jhat?) in the US.
Again, I'm not saying Singapore is free or a bastion of democracy. But theory means nothing, and in practice, it is on par with the rest of the western world.
I'm sure you believe that, as many do. I'm not saying Singapore is a free country. But it IS comparable to the US and western Europe.
So, you can't buy chewing gum in Singapore, big deal. You can't buy alcohol on a sunday in many places in the US. You can't buy wine in a grocery store in New York.
I've heard from a Yemenite guy that you can't get their traditional perfectly-legitimate-everywhere-else stimulant (can't remember the name - Jhat?) in the US.
Before Feb 2008, you could not buy a sex toy in Texas. In Alabama, you still can't. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_obscenity_statute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Obscenity_Enforcement_Act ; I don't remember which state right now, but in one of them, walking shirtless down the street is enough to get you on the sex offender list.
Again, I'm not saying Singapore is free or a bastion of democracy. But theory means nothing, and in practice, it is on par with the rest of the western world.