Happy (cough) Independence Day, USA ranks 49th on World Freedom Index

[FlyingHunter]

https://index.rsf.org/#!/

Botswana is ranked better than us at #42, but hey - we're still a few notches better than Haiti (ranks #53).

Detailed yet still partial list from 2013:

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/americans-have-lost-virtually-all-of-our-constitutional-rights.html

[Honu]

thats a freedom of press ranking though :)
not saying we have not lost but its not about freedom in general but about freedom of press but look at our press its a freaking joke anymore and they are to blame

[Moose-Knuckle]

Well you can't even air a television show featuring a classic muscle car with a depiction of a Civil War era flag painted on it in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave . . .

Just say'n . . .

[ralph]

Not too far off topic, but I saw on the news this morning that the owner of the General Lee is having the roof repainted,and the Confederate flag covered up with a American flag..The reason given for caving in, was.. "I don't want to offend anybody"...

[MegademiC]

Not too far off topic, but I saw on the news this morning that the owner of the General Lee is having the roof repainted,and the Confederate flag covered up with a American flag..The reason given for caving in, was.. "I don't want to offend anybody"...

That offends me. Now what?

[cinco]

The founding fathers were very smart, well read philosophers. They understood the nature of man and how ALL government systems eventually devolve into self-serving corruption.

In particular Jefferson understood this very well. He understood the philosophy of the Social Contract - where government cannot exist without the permission of the people. If you are born into a "system" and suddenly subject to it's rules without your consent - you are not free, you are a subject to tyranny. Thus, he envisioned a new Social Contract (i.e. Constitution) would need to be ratified for each new generation.

Just something to think about...


Every constitution, then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of nineteen years. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force, and not of right. It may be said, that the succeeding generation exercising, in fact, the power of repeal, this leaves them as free as if the constitution or law had been expressly limited to nineteen years only. In the first place, this objection admits the right, in proposing an equivalent. But the power of repeal is not an equivalent. It might be, indeed, if every form of government were so perfectly contrived, that the will of the majority could always be obtained, fairly and without impediment. But this is true of no form. The people cannot assemble themselves; their representation is unequal and vicious. Various checks are opposed to every legislative proposition. Factions get possession of the public councils, bribery corrupts them, personal interests lead them astray from the general interests of their constituents; and other impediments arise, so as to prove to every practical man, that a law of limited duration is much more manageable than one which needs a repeal." --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789. ME 7:459, Papers 15:396

[Koshinn]

Breaking news (http://www.clickhole.com/article/embarrassing-us-ranked-182nd-world-alphabetically-1855). A new study has found that the United States of America ranks 182nd in the world...

"As Americans, we are lucky to live in a first-world country. We have an abundance of wealth and one of the highest standards of living anywhere in the world. That’s why it’s utterly stunning that the United States of America consistently ranks 182nd in the world alphabetically.

Simply put, it’s embarrassing. On a list of 195 countries, the United States is only ahead of 13, and we should be ashamed about that."

[Abraham]

Who conducted the study and how did they go about it?

Studies are often complete B.S.

[SteyrAUG]

Is this one of those studies that uses criteria like socialized medicine?

That list is laughable. The UK is ranked at 35, biggest nanny state in the world.

[WillBrink]

https://index.rsf.org/#!/

Botswana is ranked better than us at #42, but hey - we're still a few notches better than Haiti (ranks #53).

Detailed yet still partial list from 2013:

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/americans-have-lost-virtually-all-of-our-constitutional-rights.html

Anyone believes that BS, I invite them to move to Botswana. I question the metrics used for such a study. We aint perfect by any means, and some countries so some things better than we do, but on the balance, one would be hard pressed to find
a place to live that exceeds the US in the big picture.

[MistWolf]

http://cdn.buzzpo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Screen-Shot-2015-07-03-at-1.01.26-PM.png

[ralph]

That offends me. Now what?

Well, you'll have to take it up with the car's owner..I'm just passing info along.

[BoringGuy45]

Despite the dirty tricks that the Obama administration has tried to use and the media's assault on free speech, the fact remains that no nation in the world has the guaranteed freedom we have. Pretty much every nation in the world, including our closest allies, have no guarantees of freedom. Freedom of speech, assembly, etc. are honored mostly out of principle, but can be ignored at any time. There's pretty much no protection against unlimited search and seizure even in France and England. There's no right to bear arms anywhere in the world like in the U.S., with maybe the exception of Switzerland. Let's face it, there's not a single country in the world you could move to where you would be gaining any rights not recognized in the U.S.