Alright, things are going down the toilet...

[Anonymous]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20043421-281.html

Things are going too far. The United States is close to losing the title of a remotely free nation altogether. Where else is there to go? What's a good economically free nation like how the US used to be?

[1713960350]

1713960350

[1713960350]

1713960350

[dissipate]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20043421-281.html

Things are going too far. The United States is close to losing the title of a remotely free nation altogether. Where else is there to go? What's a good economically free nation like how the US used to be?

There are some countries that are more free economically speaking, but are less free socially speaking.

In any event, pretty much the entire land mass portion of the Earth is controlled by some group of terrorcrats.

[Distribution]

There are some countries that are more free economically speaking, but are less free socially speaking.

That's what I was going to say. China is pretty free economically. Australia and New Zealand are good too. http://www.heritage.org/index/ On the right is the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom. Other than Switzerland, I can't say I'd like to live in any of those other countries, although gun laws are a big thing for me.

However, that announcement is a little late. They've already told the world that they hate the internet: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/211832/courts_shut_down_82_sites_for_alleged_copyright_violations.html

[Anonymous]

Australia is fairly free and wealthy because of the resources boom . 

We have lots of retarded beauracrats and a nanny state. Knife crime is high because we dont have guns.

Oh and they lock illegal immigrants in concentration camps here , censorship is extreme and getting worse and they want to filter the internet just like china.

[FreeMoney]

We've needed to lose the tittle for a looooooong time now.

[caveden]

I suppose you get a good level of freedom (relatively to the rest of the world) on some small nations or in city-states, like Monaco, Liechtenstein, Singapore... they have to be more free than the neighboring large states, at least.

I don't know how easy it is to emigrate to such places though... to go to Monaco, I know you "have" to be rich.
I heard Singapore is quite authoritarian with "behavior" laws, like drugs and prostitution.

[Anonymous]

I suppose you get a good level of freedom (relatively to the rest of the world) on some small nations or in city-states, like Monaco, Liechtenstein, Singapore... they have to be more free than the neighboring large states, at least.

I don't know how easy it is to emigrate to such places though... to go to Monaco, I know you "have" to be rich.
I heard Singapore is quite authoritarian with "behavior" laws, like drugs and prostitution.

yeah you can go to jail there for leaving chewing gum on the footpath.

[mimarob]

Serbia is quite "free" I've heard from a friend just coming back. Everything is under mafia rule, the state is very weak to non-existant.

[genjix]

Serbia is quite "free" I've heard from a friend just coming back. Everything is under mafia rule, the state is very weak to non-existant.

This is rubbish. I used to live there 2 years back and it's anything but.

[Timo Y]

That's what I was going to say. China is pretty free economically. Australia and New Zealand are good too. http://www.heritage.org/index/ On the right is the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom. Other than Switzerland, I can't say I'd like to live in any of those other countries, although gun laws are a big thing for me.

Switzerland has low taxes but regulations can still be complex and pretty draconian, especially when it comes to employing people.

Oh, and forget about owning guns as a foreigner. It will take years until they grant you a permit.  Not that you are likely to need a gun for self defense because violent crime is rare. The Swiss themselves don't really see guns the way Americans do; for them shooting is more of a sport/social activity than an anti-government/personal defense thing.

[Timo Y]

Every country is unfree in different ways.  You need to choose a place that suits your personal needs best.

Russia is very lax on IP enforcement, on the other hand, censorship is pretty bad.

[AllYourBase]

I suppose you get a good level of freedom (relatively to the rest of the world) on some small nations or in city-states, like Monaco, Liechtenstein, Singapore... they have to be more free than the neighboring large states, at least.

I don't know how easy it is to emigrate to such places though... to go to Monaco, I know you "have" to be rich.
I heard Singapore is quite authoritarian with "behavior" laws, like drugs and prostitution.

yeah you can go to jail there for leaving chewing gum on the footpath.

There's a town in Maryland where kisses in public longer than one second are illegal.

[Distribution]

Honestly, I think America is still the greatest hope for freedom. I'm not necessarily saying that we're the freest nation in certain aspects, but that we have the greatest environment for freedom. We just need to keep the internet free, get rid of the income tax, and end our wars (foreign and domestic).

[BitterTea]

Honestly, I think America is still the greatest hope for freedom. I'm not necessarily saying that we're the freest nation in certain aspects, but that we have the greatest environment for freedom. We just need to keep the internet free, get rid of the income tax, and end our wars (foreign and domestic).

Haha, right. Economic freedom. Good joke.

I'd be willing to bet that the dollar tanks and the government starts going Libya on our asses before any of that happens.

[Anonymous]

http://freestateproject.org/
http://seasteading.org/
http://worldfreemansociety.org/Welcome+Page
http://www.cveitch.org/
http://www.tpuc.org/
http://www.lawfulrebellion.org/



Ill just leave this here.

[snedie]

I wasn't aware that America was classed as a free nation. I think that most people think of America as a communist style nation in many ways:

 -Capital Punishment
 -Ridiculous laws and regulations that pretty much shape every part of your life
 -You break a law, you get raped by the justice system
 -Even if you don't break a law, they will soon make a federal law to get you
 -Your own government has wiped out all of your rights, and can simply say the word "Terrorist" or "Islam" and send your ass to a concentration camp
 

Pretty much all of the characteristics of a communist state, with exception for the poverty and civil wars.

[Distribution]

I wasn't aware that America was classed as a free nation. I think that most people think of America as a communist style nation in many ways:

 -Capital Punishment
 -Ridiculous laws and regulations that pretty much shape every part of your life
 -You break a law, you get raped by the justice system
 -Even if you don't break a law, they will soon make a federal law to get you
 -Your own government has wiped out all of your rights, and can simply say the word "Terrorist" or "Islam" and send your ass to a concentration camp
 

Pretty much all of the characteristics of a communist state, with exception for the poverty and civil wars.

Unfortunately, many people have just adjusted what freedom means in their mind. Bastiat said, "When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law." Needless to say, the general attitude in America is immense respect for the law. Instead of people saying, "prohibition is stupid," people say, "well, you knew the law and did it anyway, so you get what you deserved." Do I have hope that it can be turned back? Yes. Is it likely? No. Will I do everything in my power to make it so? Absolutely.

[snedie]

I wasn't aware that America was classed as a free nation. I think that most people think of America as a communist style nation in many ways:

 -Capital Punishment
 -Ridiculous laws and regulations that pretty much shape every part of your life
 -You break a law, you get raped by the justice system
 -Even if you don't break a law, they will soon make a federal law to get you
 -Your own government has wiped out all of your rights, and can simply say the word "Terrorist" or "Islam" and send your ass to a concentration camp
 

Pretty much all of the characteristics of a communist state, with exception for the poverty and civil wars.

Unfortunately, many people have just adjusted what freedom means in their mind. Bastiat said, "When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law." Needless to say, the general attitude in America is immense respect for the law. Instead of people saying, "prohibition is stupid," people say, "well, you knew the law and did it anyway, so you get what you deserved." Do I have hope that it can be turned back? Yes. Is it likely? No. Will I do everything in my power to make it so? Absolutely.

Which is the exact reason why the US government runs up trillions of dollars in debt whilst at the same time spending 1 trillion a year on their military budget. Still, the US citizens do not know what poverty is yet. But give them time, say about 50 years. Once Oil/Gas reserves in the middle east begin to fall below demand for the USA, the next largest supplier is Russia. And well, I'm certain you will already know what the Russian's answer will be. It's not as if the USA is going to be able to secure crude through force either: An entire hemisphere will now look to one single nation for all off their natural fuels, making for some pretty interesting changes in military alliances.

Anyway back to the point: US citizens barely understand the technology they use every day, many don't even understand the internet at its most basic of levels. It's in situations like this that a government can propose a bill to "Listen in" on communications simply by saying "This bill will stop terrorists from blowing up your dogs water bowl in his kennel in your back yard in your middle of nowhere town. The thing is, even with these "Bill's" it's fairly simple for any person to remain completely secure from tapping. It doesn't even have to cost anything. But most people (world wide) just simply remain "stupid" about how things work.

I work in IT, and we did a survey across 3000 members of staff. It was a diagram of a Screen, a Tower, a Keyboard, a Mouse and a Router/Modem. All we asked was for people to try identify as many items as possible and give in a few words what it did. The result was that less than 30% of people knew that the tower actually does, and less than 16% knew what the router/modem was even called (Of those who did, less than 1/4 knew what it's purpose was (Yes we used very nice pictures)).

My point is, is that many people just ignore reality and choose to remain oblivious to what is been done by their government simply because they don't know what it is they are doing. For instance, when the FBI wire-taps a phone, it is rarely done at the junction box on the street. Rather, it is done at the Telco premises. It is here that the call is received digitally, where it can be copied to any location in the world. However, most people do not realise this.

Hmm....that's all just a quick brain dump and I may edit it tomorrow after I sleep some so please excuse my ramblings and incoherency.