風蕭蕭_Frank
以文會友
李光耀教我認識世界的 12 件事
“考慮到它的起點，新加坡的記錄比美國好得多，這並非偶然。 在那裏，權力集中在一個才華橫溢的人李光耀身上，他就是新加坡的沃倫巴菲特。”
— 查理·芒格
新加坡似乎注定要失敗或屈從於一個更強大的鄰國。 這個國家是迄今為止東南亞最小的國家，自然資源也不多。 李光耀不這麽認為。 “他的願景，”亨利·基辛格 (Henry Kissinger) 寫道，“是一種不僅可以生存，而且可以通過卓越而獲勝的國家。 卓越的智慧、紀律和獨創性將替代資源。”
為了讓您了解李光耀取得的巨大成功，當他接任時，人均收入約為 400 美元，而現在，僅在大約兩代人的時間裏，人均收入就超過了 50,000 美元。
以下是我從李光耀那裏學到的關於世界的 12 件事，以及我們目前許多疾病的根源閱讀李光耀：大師對中國、美國和世界的見解。
1... 您需要自由交流想法。 “中國將不可避免地在絕對 GDP 方麵趕上美國。 但它的創造力可能永遠無法與美國相提並論，因為它的文化不允許思想的自由交流和競爭。”
2... 技術將改變治理的運作方式。 “技術將使（中國的）治理體係過時。 到 2030 年，70% 或 75% 的人口將居住在城市、小城鎮、大城鎮、特大城鎮。 他們將擁有手機、互聯網和衛星電視。 他們將消息靈通； 他們可以自己組織起來。 你不能像現在這樣管理他們，你隻能安撫和監督少數人，因為人數會非常多。”
3... 不要試圖在一個從未有過民主的國家建立民主。 “我不相信你可以將陌生且與他們的過去完全脫節的標準強加給其他國家。 因此要求中國成為民主國家，在其 5000 年有記載的曆史中從未數過人頭； 所有的統治者都以天子的權利來統治，如果你不同意，你就砍頭，不數頭。”
4... 歡迎世界上最好的東西。 “縱觀曆史，所有成功的帝國都接納並接納了其他種族、語言、宗教和文化的人民。”
5... 這是關於結果，而不是承諾。 “當你擁有一個大眾民主國家時，為了贏得發言權，你必須付出越來越多的努力。 為了在下次選舉中擊敗對手，你必須承諾付出更多。 因此，這是一個永無止境的拍賣過程——以及成本，即由下一代支付的債務。 如果總統給他們的人民下了猛藥，他們就不會連任。 因此，存在拖延、推遲不受歡迎的政策以贏得選舉的趨勢。 因此，預算赤字、債務和高失業率等問題已從一屆政府轉移到下一屆政府。”
6... 政府不應該有一個簡單的出路。 “美國和歐洲政府相信他們總是有能力支持窮人和有需要的人：寡婦、孤兒、老人和無家可歸者、弱勢少數群體、未婚母親。 他們的社會學家闡述了這樣一種理論，即困難和失敗不是由於個人的性格，而是由於經濟製度的缺陷。 因此，慈善成為“權利”，靠慈善生活的恥辱感消失了。 不幸的是，福利成本的增長速度超過了政府提高稅收來支付的能力。 增稅的政治成本很高。 政府通過借款為當代選民提供更高的福利，並將成本轉嫁給尚未成為選民的後代，從而采取了簡單的出路。 這導致了持續的政府預算赤字和高額公共債務。”
7... 什麽影響生活水平？ “一個人的生活水平取決於許多基本因素：首先，與人口相關的資源。 . .; 二是技術水平和產業發展水平； 三是教育培訓標準；
8... 國家競爭力的最重要因素……“一個國家的人力資源質量是決定國家競爭力的最重要因素。 正是人們的創新精神、企業家精神、團隊合作精神和職業道德賦予他們銳利的競爭優勢。 三個屬性在這場競爭中至關重要——尋找新機會和承擔有計劃風險的企業家精神。 原地踏步必將走向滅亡。 . . . 第二個屬性，創新，是創造新產品和增加價值的過程。 . . . 第三個因素是良好的管理。 為了發展，公司管理層必須開拓新市場並創建新的分銷渠道。 經濟是由企業家推向市場的新知識、新科學技術發現和創新驅動的。 因此，雖然學者仍然是經濟進步的最大因素，但他隻有動動腦筋才能做到這一點——不是學習名著、經典和詩歌，而是捕捉和發現新知識，致力於研究和實踐。 開發、管理和營銷、銀行和金融，以及無數需要掌握的新學科。”
9... 在曆史上贏得自己的位置……“一個國家的偉大不僅僅在於它的大小。 人民的意誌、凝聚力、毅力、紀律和領導者的素質確保了它在曆史上的光榮地位。”
10... 軟弱的領導人依賴於民意調查。 “我從來沒有過分關注或沉迷於民意調查或民意調查。 我認為領導者是軟弱的領導者。 如果您擔心自己的評級會上升還是下降，那麽您就不是領導者。 你隻是在捉風……你會去風吹的地方。 . . . 在被愛和被恐懼之間，我一直相信馬基雅維利是對的。 如果沒有人害怕我，我就毫無意義。 當我說些什麽時……我必須非常認真地對待。”
11.... 我們從根本上具有競爭力。 “人類並非生而平等。 他們非常有競爭力。 像蘇聯和中國共產主義這樣的製度都失敗了，因為它們試圖平衡利益。 然後沒有人工作足夠努力，但每個人都想得到和其他人一樣多的東西，如果不是更多的話。”
12... 曆史的價值：“如果你不了解曆史，你就會想短期的。 如果你了解曆史，你就會考慮中長期。”
12 Things Lee Kuan Yew Taught Me About the World
https://fs.blog/lee-kuan-yew/
“It’s no accident that Singapore has a much better record, given where it started, than the United States. There, power was concentrated in one enormously talented person, Lee Kuan Yew, who was the Warren Buffett of Singapore.”
— Charlie Munger
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Singapore seemed destined for failure or subservience to a more powerful neighbor. The country is by far the smallest in Southeast Asia and was not gifted with many natural resources. Lee Kuan Yew thought otherwise. “His vision,” wrote Henry Kissinger, “was of a state that would not simply survive, but prevail by excelling. Superior intelligence, discipline, and ingenuity would substitute for resources.”
To give you an idea of the magnitude of success that Lee Kuan Yew achieved, when he took over, per capita income was about $400 and now, in only about two generations, it exceeds $50,000.
Here are 12 things I learned from Lee Kuan Yew about the world and the source of many of our present ills reading Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World.
1.You need a free exchange of ideas. “China will inevitably catch up to the U.S. in absolute GDP. But its creativity may never match America's, because its culture does not permit a free exchange and contest of ideas.”
2.Technology will change how governance operates. “Technology is going to make (China’s) system of governance obsolete. By 2030, 70% or maybe 75% of their people will be in cities, small towns, big towns, mega big towns. They are going to have cell phones, Internet, satellite TV. They are going to be well-informed; they can organize themselves. You cannot govern them the way you are governing them now, where you just placate and monitor a few people, because the numbers will be so large.”
3. Don’t try to install a democracy in a country that has never had one. “I do not believe you can impose on other countries standards which are alien and totally disconnected with their past. So to ask China to become a democracy, when in its 5,000 years of recorded history it never counted heads; all rulers ruled by right of being the emperor, and if you disagree, you chop off heads, not count heads.”
4. Welcome the best the world has to offer. “Throughout history, all empires that succeeded have embraced and included in their midst people of other races, languages, religions, and cultures.”
5. It’s about results, not promises. “When you have a popular democracy, to win voices you have to give more and more. And to beat your opponent in the next election, you have to promise to give more away. So it is a never-ending process of auctions—and the cost, the debt being paid for by the next generation. Presidents do not get reelected if they give a hard dose of medicine to their people. So, there is a tendency to procrastinate, to postpone unpopular policies in order to win elections. So problems such as budget deficits, debt, and high unmployment have been carried forward from one administration to the next.”
6. Governments shouldn’t have an easy way out. “American and European governments believed that they could always afford to support the poor and the needy: widows, orphans, the old and homeless, disadvantaged minorities, unwed mothers. Their sociologists expounded the theory that hardship and failure were due not to the individual person’s character, but to flaws in the economic system. So charity became “entitlement,” and the stigma of living on charity disappeared. Unfortunately, welfare costs grew faster than the government’s ability to raise taxes to pay for it. The political cost of tax increases is high. Governments took the easy way out by borrowing to give higher benefits to the current generation of voters and passing the costs on to the future generations who were not yet voters. This resulted in persistent government budget deficits and high public debt.”
7. What goes into a standard of living? “A people’s standard of living depends on a number of basic factors: first, the resources it has in relation to its population . . .; second, its level of technological competence and standards of industrial development; third, its educational and training standards; and fourth, the culture, the discipline and drive in the workforce.”
8. The single most important factor to national competitiveness … “The quality of a nation’s manpower resources is the single most important factor determining national competitiveness. It is a people’s innovativeness, entrepreneurship, team work, and their work ethic that give them the sharp keen edge in competitiveness. Three attributes are vital in this competition—entrepreneurship to seek out new opportunities and to take calculated risks. Standing still is a sure way to extinction. . . . The second attribute, innovation, is what creates new products and processes that add value. . . . The third factor is good management. To grow, company managements have to open up new markets and create new distribution channels. The economy is driven by the new knowledge, new discoveries in science and technology, innovations that are taken to the market by entrepreneurs. So while the scholar is still the greatest factor in economic progress, he will be so only if he uses his brains—not in studying the great books, classical texts, and poetry, but in capturing and discovering new knowledge, applying himself in research and development, management and marketing, banking and finance, and the myriad of new subjects that need to be mastered.”
9. Earning your place in history … “A nation is great not by its size alone. It is the will, the cohesion, the stamina, the discipline of its people, and the quality of their leaders which ensure it an honorable place in history.”
10. Weak leaders rely on opinion polls. “I have never been overconcerned or obsessed with opinion polls or popularity polls. I think a leader who is, is a weak leader. If you are concerned with whether your rating will go up or down, then you are not a leader. You are just catching the wind … you will go where the wind is blowing. . . . Between being loved and feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I am meaningless. When I say something … I have to be taken very seriously.”
11. We are fundamentally competitive. “Human beings are not born equal. They are highly competitive. Systems like Soviet and Chinese communism have failed, because they tried to equalize benefits. Then nobody works hard enough, but everyone wants to get as much as, if not more than, the other person.”
12. The value of history: “If you do not know history, you think short term. If you know history, you think medium and long term.”
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Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World offers Yew’s timeless wisdom.
