Among the many countries in Southeast Asia, Singapore stands out for its unique complexity. Despite having a land area of only 733 square kilometres, it controls the vital Straits of Malacca and has been the focus of international attention since its inception.
Singapore's rise under pressure is due to a visionary leader, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding father. With his charisma, he led the small country to find a path that suited its own development.
Throughout his leadership career, Lee Kuan Yew has successfully explored strategies for the survival and development of small countries through skillful interactions with countries around the world, and has a deep insight into many countries.
In particular, Lee Kuan Yew has pointed out that the United States has three core advantages, which are the key to the cornerstone of American development.
Excellent talent attraction mechanism.
In his 2013 book, Lee Kuan Yew's View of the World, Lee Kuan Yew provided an in-depth analysis of the world's major powers and the international situation. The book is divided into six chapters, covering the United States, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and other regions.
The reason for the book's separate discussion of the United States and China is not only because they were the world's largest and second largest GDP at the time, but also because they had such a significant impact on Singapore that Lee Kuan Yew paid special attention to.
In the section on the United States, Lee Kuan Yew provides an in-depth analysis of the country and makes a clear point that the United States has three outstanding development advantages that guarantee the continued momentum of American development.
Lee Kuan Yew believes that the three major strengths of the United States include an advanced talent attraction mechanism, a strong emphasis on scientific research, and an excellent environment for innovation and entrepreneurship, the most important of which is its talent policy.
As it is said in "No Thieves in the World": "What is the most precious thing in the 21st century? Talent! "The United States is a best practitioner of this idea, and as a country that started out as immigrants, it has maintained its strength in talent.
The U.S. offers a huge attraction to talented people from overseas, including high-net-worth individuals and professional and technical professionals. The former injects funds into the development of the United States, and the latter is a key force in driving the technological progress of the United States.
In order to attract investment immigrants, the United States has taken a variety of measures, including a significant reduction in tax rates, which will encourage them to enjoy a lower tax burden than Europe while earning high incomes. This confidence is based on the status of the United States as a non-high-welfare state.
In addition, U.S. law also provides ample tax shelter for high-income groups, who can accumulate more wealth by operating properly. The U.S. justice system is more friendly to wealthy people, guaranteeing their security and wealth accumulation in the United States.
At the same time, the United States has spared no effort in attracting professional and technical personnel, providing a series of convenient policies.
The U.S.** has even introduced an alien registration card system, which allows overseas skilled immigrants to receive the same treatment as U.S. citizens without having to renounce their nationality, which is extremely attractive to many.
It is thanks to these continuous inflows of talent that the United States was able to maintain rapid development after World War II and gradually consolidate its position as the world's hegemon.
Extreme emphasis on scientific research.
The U.S. talent policy has laid the foundation for its rapid technological development. Thanks to the extreme emphasis on scientific research, the United States' scientific and technological innovation capabilities have been rapidly improved.
In fact, in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the United States' scientific research capabilities were not outstanding, and it was basically under the suppression of Europe. However, thanks to its geographical advantage, the United States managed to avoid the direct impact of the two world wars. During the war, a large number of top European scientists chose to take refuge in the United States, which greatly improved the level of scientific research in the United States.
After World War II, the United States was at the forefront of science and technology in the world. The participation of these scientists has led to the emergence of higher education institutions in the United States, providing a solid foundation for their subsequent scientific research and development.
The United States** attaches great importance to scientific and technological innovation in many ways. In 1945, Van Neva Bush, director of the Bureau of Scientific Research and Development, submitted a report entitled "Science: The Endless Frontier", which had a profound impact on subsequent U.S. science and technology policy. The report has been widely recognized by Congress and has become an important guiding document for the development of science and technology in the United States.
The submission of this report led to the establishment of the Scientific Society in the United States in 1950 and the beginning of the establishment of a network of national laboratories.
Subsequently, the United States** investment in the field of science and technology continued to increase, reaching the world's leading level. As a result, the income and social status of scientific researchers have increased, attracting more outstanding talents to devote themselves to scientific research, and promoting the continuous progress of science and technology in the United States.
Scientific and technological progress has not only promoted industrial upgrading, but also improved the level of equipment and enhanced the United States' advantages in international competition.
Excellent environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Lee Kuan Yew pointed out that although Europe and Japan have also tried to emulate some of the practices of the United States and have achieved some success, the United States has encouraged innovation and entrepreneurship in a way that other countries cannot match.
The United States has maintained good class mobility for a long time, giving ordinary people the opportunity to change their destiny through hard work.
The United States** offers a number of policies that support innovation and entrepreneurship and encourage young people to experiment. At the same time, American society has a tolerant attitude towards failure, believing that failure is the mother of success, which provides a good social environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Finally, relatively speaking, the U.S. education system places more emphasis on the cultivation of an anti-authoritarian spirit. It encourages every student to speak up and not be afraid of the rules and regulations set by the old system. This is clearly reflected in American films, television and literature, and the rebellious spirit of confronting authority is vividly embodied.
Taken together, these factors make the overall social climate in the United States more supportive of people who are innovative and free from stereotypes. Lee Kuan Yew believes that it is conducive to promoting product innovation and industry development, and is an important driving force for the United States to move forward.
Lee kuan yew. Realistically speaking, the overall strength of the United States in 2023 is already quite far from that of a decade ago. Especially after the impact of the new crown epidemic, it is even more mournful, and many problems are gradually exposed.
What is certain is that the United States is already in substantial decline.
Some of these issues do validate Lee Kuan Yew's thinking, such as the spread of general conservatism, which has led to a gradual contraction in the United States' attitude towards immigration.
The atmosphere of openness and inclusiveness that was talked about by many people in the past has gradually collapsed in the United States, especially the discrimination against Asian Americans, which has caused many technical talents to give up immigrating to the United States. Suffice it to say, the United States' attractiveness to the best has gradually begun to decline, and this is one of the reasons for America's decline.
But this aspect alone cannot explain the rapid narrowing of the balance of power between China and the United States. After all, the intensity of scientific research investment in the United States is 2Around 8%, it is still the world's leading level, and its entrepreneurial atmosphere and encouragement of innovation have not stopped.
Lee kuan yew. Looking back now, Lee Kuan Yew's summing up of the so-called three advantages of the United States actually has a sense of déjà vu that is the cause of the opposite.
For example, the attraction of talents, on the one hand, is because of the excellent introduction policy, but more because of the strong strength of the United States itself, which has a strong talent siphoning effect.
Moreover, the inclusive and open entrepreneurial atmosphere is also because the United States was once in a period of rapid development, and there are more opportunities, so that investors have more room for decision-making. When the pace of development slowed, Silicon Valley and Wall Street immediately became cautious.
Fundamentally, the basis of America's world hegemony is not what Lee Kuan Yew mentioned, but its great military power and dollar hegemony. In particular, the latter can suck blood from the world for the United States on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can also relieve its domestic pressure and balance contradictions.
Lee Kuan Yew's so-called three advantages of the United States are all frameworks built on the basis of these two hegemonic powers, and they have indeed played a role in promoting the development of the country, but they have never been the real core of the United States' rise to strength.
Lee kuan yew. Overall, Lee Kuan Yew's View of the World is a detailed analysis of the international situation and the world's major powers by Singapore's founding fathers. But many of these ideas seem to be superficial and not really analyzed in depth.
This is also not unusual, as 2013 was a critical time for the launch of Obama's pivot to the Asia-Pacific strategy, to which Singapore** was a key contributor.
Therefore, in the various works he publishes, it is natural to carry out all-round propaganda of the mainstream values of the United States. Lee Kuan Yew's so-called three strengths are the core of American values, so they are more like the work of Ying He.