cdymek's Blog!

Japan announced last week that the country’s birth rate had fallen to an all-time low of 1.25 births per woman.

With its falling birth rate, Japan is hardly alone among advanced countries. South Korea’s fertility rate fell to a record low of 1.08 in 2005, well below the global average of 2.6 children and the average in developed countries of 1.6.

As the article states, a birth rate of 2.1 is needed to maintain a stable population. For the anti-Americans who are against immigration, Japan provides an excellent peak in to our own future as our internal birth rate falls below 2.1.

Singapore went to the polls last week amid questions about how big a showing the opposition parties would make as they fielded candidates in more districts than many years prior. While the ultimate showing (82 of 84 seats returned to the party in power) was on par with the previous election, excitement did seem to be increasing for a change in government, especially among the younger generations.

Tym, a 32 year old Singaporean, spent the past week attending some political rallys and commenting in general on her experiences as the electioneering process continued.

• My Very First Political Rally
• Another Night, Another Rally
• Election Rally Survival Tip #3212
• On the ground
• It’ll do

While our own elections here are often on the dry side, with gerrymandering, entrenched incumbents, and political parties that seem out of touch, it’s so easy to forget that in some places with elections you don’t really have a choice. Add to that the sense of being watched and recorded when attempting to assemble to hear divergent views, and it’s a strong reminder that we really do have certain freedoms here we so easily and often take for granted (and don’t take advantage of!).

I stumbled on a BBC article from 2002 while reading something else forgettable this morning. When I read this, though, I thought to myself how much less jaded people would be overall if we adopted a similar structure here in the US.

Anssi Vanjoki, 44, has been ordered to pay a fine of 116,000 euros ($103,600) after being caught breaking the speed limit on his Harley Davidson motorbike in the capital, Helsinki, in October last year.

Harley Davidson motorbike
Mr Vanjoki is a Harley Davidson enthusiast
Police say he was driving at 75 km/h (47 mph) in a 50km/h (31 mph) zone.

In Finland, traffic fines are proportionate to the latest available data on an offender’s income.

I could likely count the number of people who don’t take our current traffic violation system as a giant revenue generator for local governments on one hand. If we had this kind of system, two things would happen. First, violations would likely drop because the punishment is actually significant. And second, people might begin to feel the system is less corrupt overall.

But here in the heart of capitalism, this would never fly, so we don’t have to worry.

I’ve heard this line a lot. That Saddam Hussein was “one of the worse tyrants of the twentieth century”. I’m just curious, for anyone out there with a knowledge of modern world history. Who would you rank as the top 10 tyrants of the 20th century?