Is the US Really the Freest country in the world?

[MJ]

Is the US Really the Freest country in the world?
7th February 2011 by Xaq Fixx under Uncategorized    

During a recent facebook thread about the displays of Nationalism before the super bowl I saw an attempt at a rebuttal. One poster said “we’re still the most free, most unburdened people in the world.” This is a common claim that is heartfelt and truly believed by the person who says it; after all, they have heard it all their life. I formerly held this belief too, even as an Anarchist, “Things are bad,” I thought “but they are worse everywhere else” Unfortunately, like this unnamed poster I was wrong. According to any measured factor the United States is neither the freest nation in the aggregate or on any single major issue.

By exploring several major freedom indices we see clearly that while a relatively free state overall the United States is not the freest nation in the world. Freedom in the World, an annual report published by the Washington, D.C. based think tank Freedom house, is widely regarded as the “yardstick for the measurement of democracy” (Giannone, Diego (2010), “Political and ideological aspects in the measurement of democracy: the Freedom House case”, Democratization, Volume 17, Issue 1, pages 68 – 97); this report, which measures civil liberties and political rights rates states on a scale of 1 (most free) to 7 (least free) and qualifies each nation as “Free”. “Partly Free,” or “Not Free,” rates the United States a “Free” but does not rank nations. While most indices with rankings focus on one measurement or type of measurement or another The Free Existence’s Freedom Index ranks states on a more broad definition of freedom combining ratings on property rights, freedom from taxes, freedom of _expression_, limited government, gun rights, drug rights, freedom from corruption, freedom from inflation and business freedom. When all values are weighted equally the United States achieves a freedom rating of 72 out of 100, making it the fifth freest nation. Switzerland, Hong Kong (officially a part of China), Australia and Canada all rank as more free than the U.S.A.

Which specific liberties make a person feel most free varies from individual to individual and as such need examined separately than the holistic approach, but here again the US is not the most free. For some, economic liberty is the most important indicator of freedom, for others it is answered by how democratic a nation is, and others still view freedom of the press as a measurement for freedom of a nation. These indicators and several others previously grouped together in the Free Existence report will be more closely examined.

For many economists and propertarians a countries freedom can be measured by its level of economic freedom, some studies even show that higher economic freedom correlates strongly with higher self reported happiness.The Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation annually publish The Index of Economic Freedom ranks nations based on 10 components: Business Freedom, Trade Freedom, Fiscal Freedom, Government Spending, Monetary Freedom, Investment Freedom, Financial Freedom, Property Freedom, Property Rights, Freedom from Corruption and Labor Freedom. In 2010 the United States ranked 10th in the world, with a rating of 77.8. Again, the US was considered less free that Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong this time being joined by Singapore, New Zealand, Ireland and Denmark. When using only economic variables on The Freedom Index, measuring Property Rights, Freedom from Taxes, Limited Government, Freedom from Corruption, Freedom from Inflation and Business Freedom the United States does even more poorly, scoring 75 out of 100 and falling to 14th most free.

To someone with a more egalitarians or progressive view economic freedom is a less important measurement of freedom than how democratic a nation is. Here America creeps even further from the top. The Economist’s Intelligence Unit, a group associated with the news-magazine The Economist rates and ranks the state of democracy in 167 countries each year for their Index of Democracy. This index measures 60 indicators from 5 categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and political culture. Each nation is give a rating and index as well as being ranked. While rated a full democracy with an index of 8.18 the United States proves to be only the 17th most democratic nation. All the Scandinavian states, much of Western Europe, as well as Australia and New Zealand outperform the US.

As the recent events in Egypt have shown the power of the press in fighting a corrupt state cannot be over-estimated because of this some equate freedom of the press as a reflection of the overall freedom of a nation. Whatever truth this comparison holds it does not bode well for the myth of America as the freest country. Reporters Without Borders compiles and publishes the Press Freedom Index each year which ranks and assigns an index to 179 countries with an index rank from 0.00, which is ideal, to over 115. The United States, with an index of 6.75 is ranked 20th, even further down the list. As with other indices measured so far Switzerland, Ireland, New Zealand and Denmark register as more free.

Finally, there are the smaller individual freedoms measured by The Freedom Index where the US achieves both its best and worst rankings. Each category is scored up to 100 and ranks 195 countries. While not the United States’ highest rated category where it achieves its highest rank is in gun freedom, it is rated 80 and ranked 2nd, surpassed only by Yemen, rated at 90, and followed by Bolivia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania which are all rated at 70. America shines with a perfect score in freedom of _expression_ but as it shares this with 42 other countries it cannot be claimed to be the freest. While not making the top ten the US rating of 91 brings a decent 13th most free for business. The US is ranked 19th in property rights, tied with the united Kingdom and Chile with a rating of 85 while New Zealand and Sweden top the list at 95. Following closely behind is its ranking of 20th in freedom of corruption with a lower rating of 73, where it ties with Belgium and Japan. Just sneaking in the top with a rank of 39 and rating of 78 this nation does tolerably at freedom from inflation. The United States rhetoric of limited government is shown to be hollow and meaningless with an abysmal rating of 58 and associated 122nd most free rank. Several Middle East countries top the tax freedom list as they are untaxed due to state ownership of oil revenue; this earns them a perfect score. America’s rating of 67 brings its rank to a staggering 140th most free, making it one of the least free countries in the world. However, that is not where it performs the most poorly, that honor lies with drug freedom. A rating of a whopping 15 ties this country with several Theocratic states and dictatorships and brings in a ranking of 153rd from the top.

Whether you take a holistic approach to freedom or analyze any number of specific categories the United States of America consistently is proven not to be the freest country. Countries in Scandinavia, Western Europe the English Speaking Far East do much better comparatively when examined either way but often still prove far from ideal. Americans can and should see the assaults on their freedoms as an opportunity to improve and live up to the legend we all grew up believing. The goal of being the freest country is not enough for me, I strive to live in the freest place on earth and think that the only way to achieve that is by removing the state.

http://bit.ly/iacKeI

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