Is America the freest country on Earth? The answer is subjective I suspect. I recently moved from the U.S. to Canada. It has been a real eye opener as to just how different the USA and Canada are. Did you know in Canada a woman has the right to go topless anywhere a man can? For example I was watching the nightly news a while back, they were reporting on a topless protest of a Grand Prix race in Montreal. The live and taped segments did not blur or use camera angles to hide the boobs on display. In America the FCC would go nuts over boobs on the prime time nightly news. By in large the media and arts can be a little more risqué than in the USA. Dress codes many times do not favor one sex over another... for example Postal Employees. Gay marriage is legal here. Now does the USA have freedoms that Canadians do not. Yes. Canadians are allowed to own firearms but have many more restrictions on what can be owned, magazine size, how a weapon is used, licenses... etc. Also Canadian liquor laws are much more intrusive. This really sucks as beer selection here is severely limited and prices are sky high. You can buy a Canadian made beer cheaper in Idaho than in British Columbia! Now that is just a crime. Canadians have precious little choice in Health Care and Auto Insurance... both Government controlled... here in BC anyway. Laws can vary from Providence to Providence just like it can from State to State in the U.S. In the end I am leaning towards the USA and Canada each having areas of greater freedom over the other but all in all I think it evens out and each Country enjoys many freedoms they many other Countries do not.
Well there are plenty of blokes on beaches with saggy tits. Why shouldn't the sheilas be allowed to have a go?
The country in which the tits for show and society considers it as a freedom, reminds me of the level of teen having similar interests. Monkeys also go naked and f u c k in public. Is this also a freedom? Do you like living like monkeys?
IMHO, there is no "freest" country. It's only a matter of what freedoms you value most as to what country suits you best.
The best area of freedom the US has is freedom of speech we tend to be much more inclined to protect it than other countries as most countries like Canada still have hate speech laws which I am completely against. I don't think there is a prime example of a truly free country though we and other countries are getting there and have been progressing over the course of history.
That's a fair point. But I can tell you from an Australian point of view the ability of the press/media to report on cases which would be considered sub judice in other countries is a bit eyebrow-raising. As for hate laws, they're not restrictions on speech.
While it is true that America isn't very good at protecting the rights of the accused from media scrutiny, hate speech laws most certainly are an abridgement of free speech. It makes a lot more sense to limit prosecution to only threats of violence or things like slander or libel.
That's exactly what they are you are restricting someone's speech based upon someone getting their feelings hurt, you don't have a right to not be offended. I could link to many cases around the globe of people being put in jail for being racist on a social forum like twitter. Or people in many countries not allowed to speak their stupid but legally allowed opinions in the united states at least of holocaust denial. This is abridging someone's right to free speech.
Personally I think Switzerland is the freest country on Earth in terms of actual outcomes. However, the people of the United States have the greatest love of freedom, and the longest history of it.
In Idaho I was paying 40$ a month for liability. In British Columbia I am paying 110$ a month for the same. People who use their car to drive to work and have full coverage pay closer to 300$ a month depending on value and age of the car. I have talked to people who use their old used cars to go to work and have full coverage, and they still pay over 200$ a month. My Canadian wife said that ICBC (Government Insurance Agency) was formed to bring down the overall price of auto insurance. Frankly, I would rather have lots of choices as competition can lower prices. I took a friend down to the ICBC office a couple weeks ago so he could submit a claim. He was told by the ICBC agent that there was nothing that they could do for him. So now he gets a lawyer and fights for compensation. I see no real difference between ICBC and State Farm Insurance that I had in the USA... except that State Farm was way cheaper.
As has been previously stated, "freedom" is relative to what you value. There is also some difference between states. I don't think that being forced to pay part of your income to support a war machine is "freedom", neither is being constantly threatened by your own government when you speak out against it.
Hard to say. With a wife and two kids and a mortgage and school loan payments and a job.... I doubt I would feel all that free in any country.
