Hacker News Reader

Singapore already solved this problem: Execute all drug dealers.

Remarkably effective but at a tremendous cost to personal liberty.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_prevale...

Wait, Singapore has the death penalty? I thought it was such an exemplary modern country?

"Exemplary" - it's effectively a very authoritarian one-party state, organized over racial lines, that profits parasitically from their neighbours (refining Indonesian oil, dodging Chinese taxes, etc etc). It works, for sure, which is a sad indictment of humanity in the third millennium, but personally I wouldn't want to follow that "example".

Sometimes it ranks highly in "freedom lists" - for example economic freedom. It is cited for being well run and achieving a successful diverse society. At other times they write how rigid their system is.

> Remarkably effective but at a tremendous cost to personal liberty

Presuming Singapore correctly identifies the dealers, how is this a violation of liberty? You typically don't have the ability to harm others and drugs cause clear harm. It's not like laws against theft cost me personal liberty.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com