Posted on 01/30/2018 7:20:25 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Do you think you live in a free country? How do you define “free”? To help answer these questions, the new “Human Freedom Index” (HFI) has just been released. The report is published by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute and the Liberales Institut at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and authored by Ian Vasquez and Tanja Porcnik. It is the most globally comprehensive set of third-party data for 159 countries, and uses 79 data streams from a multitude of sources in order to reflect a broad perspective.
The five freest countries are: Switzerland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Ireland and Australia. The U.S. ranks number 17. In addition to economic freedoms, the authors have also included measures of safety and security, religion, expression and information, association and assembly, the rule of law and others. Countries or locales with high crime rates where the law abiding are afraid to walk the streets after dark clearly reduce freedom. Prohibitions on peaceful assembly and limitations on what may be communicated over the internet or published also rob people of their freedom.
The authors use the classic definition of freedom as expressed by the father of modern political philosophy, John Locke, that freedom implies that an individual not “be subject to the Will of another, but freely follow his own.” In other words, freedom implies that individuals have the right to lead their lives as they wish as long as they respect the equal rights of others.
Some argue that freedom should also include freedom from hunger, or the right to “adequate” housing, or free medical care, etc. The problem with this “social justice” definition of freedom is that it requires others to give up some of their freedoms to provide for the desires of others — partial enslavement.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
America is 50 different countries within an overarching federal government, sorta like the EU.
Some states are a lot more free than others. There is a reason I moved from Seattle to rural Kentucky. My freedom increased markedly and in a tangible way.
The US should be ashamed. We ought to be #1.
Hong Kong is a part of China now. I know it’s some sort of special administrative region within China. However, as part of a totalitarian nation, how can they have more freedoms than America? Is this study really accurate?
RE: America is 50 different countries within an overarching federal government, sorta like the EU.
Well, Switzerland ( the #1 on the list ) has 26 autonomous Cantons, Sorta like the USA.
Really, you think those countries are more free?
Go buy a gun in one of those countries.
Go say something about Islam in one of those countries.
Homeschool your kids in one of those countries.
Go ahead, but keep a friend with a video camera focused on you so we can all share in the fun.
I'm sure the people who calculate the Human Freedom Index would have put us at #1 if Hillary had won.
There may be more economic freedom in these countries, or, in the case of Ireland and Switzerland, lower taxes. However, economic freedom is only part of the overall picture.
You have good points. I apologize for posting without thinking,something I don’t usually do. But still,the US isn’t as free as it used to be,as it ought to be. I hope its not too late to reverse things.
RE: And if a country does have free speech, it is not free.
You might want to edit that.
It is amazing how much time and money countries can spend on bettering themselves when another country pays for their nuclear umbrella.
A country that lets globalist corporations dump product duty free and at the same time charges their citizens an income tax can never be free. We need to repeal the 16th amendment and raise tariffs dramatically and Make it in the USA again.
Australia is technically a continent and Hong Kong is part of China. Switzerland is deservedly number 1 if only for its requirement that all males are armed and trained.
LOL, what a crock....
Most of these countries outlaws gun ownership, freedom of speech doesn’t exist, have thought crimes, hate speech crimes... Gimme a f’n break.
I was thinking the same thing when I saw that the UK is ranked ahead of the U.S. Really?
Switzerland and NZ aren’t terrible on firearm rights, but good luck buying a gun in Ireland or Hong Kong or any of the other countries ranked higher than the US. This most likely defines freedom as access to tax-funded birth control and abortion. Not worth anything.
This, I'm sure, brought a tear to 0bama's eye. He thought he would have us way down in the triple digits by the end of his reign...
Try to deposit $10,000 of your own cash in a US bank account and see what happens.
America stands for freedom
but if you think you’re free
try walking into a deli - and urinating on the cheese
Anarchy Burger (Hold The Government) - The Vandals
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