The United States is the most successful country in the world? I wonder why that might be. What is unique to the United States that might have made it the most successful country in the world? Maybe it was because it was founded on the Enlightenment and liberalism? Could it be the fact that it embraced limited government, that the writers of the Constitution wrote down the things the government was allowed to do? Could it be that a system of checks and balances was developed in order to help keep the government limited? Could it be because the United States was founded on the natural law and individual rights, the notion that individuals hold inherent inalienable rights, and that "rights" don't come from government dictates?
Other countries have embraced socialism more than the United States. Socialism is a bad word in the United States, not so in the rest of the world. If you consider the United States to be the most successful country in the world (I agree, generally) then shouldn't you look for things that are unique to the United States-- like its embrace of individual rights and limited government?
I can find NO examples of a country that has COMPLETELY privatized healthcare and education and is successful. Now I can find countries like that but they are always failed states. - - - Updated - - - Other countries have embraced limited government and free markets more than us and perhaps you should look at why they have failed so badly
Free public education = doesn't embrace free markets more than the United States, even though they're one of the most economically free societies in the world today?
Do they have a safety net for the poor, retirement programs for the elderly, social welfare programs? What is their health care system? You have shown no evidence
Are you arguing Singapore is not a nation that supports economic freedom? Do some research into it, these are basic facts. Edit: I'm currently busy, but here's this from Cato: http://www.cato.org/blog/singapore-power-economic-freedom I know that's a toxic source for you, but you can find others which corroborate this.
Your article lists Canada in the top three. A country with socialized medicine, free public education and a wide variety of social programs. Why? - - - Updated - - - I will settle for being as free as Canada. Lol
Even today, Canada ranks higher in economic freedom than the United States. If you have a free economy that's creating more wealth, you can loot more of it to pay for a welfare state. Now here's the question. Next time we talk about stopping protectionism, deregulation, and getting rid of wage and price controls, will you join us in support of making our society more economically free or will you clamor that this will harm this or that group or that it will cause a recession?
It depends on the specific programs involved. When we talk about single payer healthcare will you join us in support?
No. At the end of the day, you wanted an example of a free(er) market economy that was succeeding. I pointed to that in Singapore. No, it isn't a perfect laissez-faire libertarian paradise, but it's the closest we've got and we're seeing an explosion in the standard of living there. I think that we're better off if we support even more economic freedom over taxing and spending on a welfare state, but the ideas aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Denmark, for example, has an economically freer society than we do but they also have a larger welfare state than we do. You need economic freedom to pay for your progressive welfare state schemes. On the other hand, advocates of economic freedom have little or no use of welfare states. What you cannot do is tax, regulate, and "protect" an economy to death and then expect to have anything left over to spend on a welfare state.
You also pointed to Canada which meets the same standard of freedom. I like that kind of freedom. You defined the terms not me. Freedom can include socialized medicine,free public education and a vast social welfare net. Works for me
