# News & Current Events > Individual Rights Violations: Case Studies >  What are the freest countries in the world?

## tangent4ronpaul

it's certainly no longer us.

it's also not anything in the European union.

Just seems like there are a lot of countries that don't regulate what you put in your body, or micromanage how you run your business.  where you can buy any firearm with no background check, that don't care how old you are if you want a beer, or have tons of laws on what you can and can't do.  places where you can buy any medicine over the counter.

We are clearly no longer a free country, who else is out there that is better?

-t

----------


## Flash

I'm pretty sure Switzerland is one that's pretty free. No chance of it entering the EU since it has to ask the people directly, and they voted no last time @ 70%. And they have strong gun rights. 

But if you want freedom in America, consider moving to New Hampshire and helping out with the Free State Project. That's the biggest chance we have at getting our own Libertarian state in America.

----------


## cindy25

Switzerland has conscription, and no longer has bank secrecy

----------


## tangent4ronpaul

> Switzerland has conscription, and no longer has bank secrecy


Switzerland's conscription isn't that objectionable, as the entire country is the militia.  It's more like an extension of high school, for I believe 8 months.  You also get to choose what service, there is a health care and disaster service, as well as the military.  Most importantly, you will never be deployed to fight in another country and no one dares attack them because the entire country is armed!

As to bank secrecy,

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=205653

"It is worth noting that Switzerland is refusing to allow UBS to provide the names of potential U.S. tax cheats, while at the same time attempting to claim it is not a tax haven and it is not a secrecy jurisdiction. It is also worth noting that top Swiss government officials have now formed a “strategic delegation” charged with defending Swiss bank secrecy against efforts by the United States, European Union, and other countries to change Swiss practices."

They are, however, starting down the slippery path of gun control.  No where near as bad as ours, but first steps.

-t

----------


## tangent4ronpaul

> I'm pretty sure Switzerland is one that's pretty free. No chance of it entering the EU since it has to ask the people directly, and they voted no last time @ 70%. And they have strong gun rights. 
> 
> But if you want freedom in America, consider moving to New Hampshire and helping out with the Free State Project. That's the biggest chance we have at getting our own Libertarian state in America.


Yeah - Swiss elections are DIFFERENT!  I remember reading about them a while back...

Who do you want for president?
Who do you want for dog catcher?
Should this law be enacted? (things that Congress decides here)
Do you support building a playground at this location?

Things like that.

From what I understand, the founders greatly admired the Swiss and borrowed the tradition of town hall meetings as well as the militia concept from them. 

-t

----------


## FreeTraveler

Somalia doesn't even have a government, last time I checked.

----------


## Bradley in DC

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=16

http://www.heritage.org/Index/

----------


## Jeremy

In terms of economic freedom: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...onomic_freedom

----------


## Bradley in DC

> In terms of economic freedom: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...onomic_freedom


You do realize you just copied the same list I had posted, right?  The difference is that mine is from the original source.

----------


## rpfan2008

Canada imo.

----------


## Conza88

And to think.. what a country would really be like if it were economically free.

----------


## Pod

Some of the very corrupt states are fairly free. Free as in they will leave you alone for a small fee. So not free, but affordable.

----------


## tangent4ronpaul

Guns:
http://www.mibazaar.com/gunownership.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics

Drugs:
http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/dll/worldlaws.htm

Min age to buy/drink alcohol:
http://www.geocities.jp/m_kato_clini...hol-eng-1.html

Age of Consent:
http://www.ageofconsent.com/ageofconsent.htm

Body Modification Laws:
http://www.bmeworld.com/kabalist/Library/Law/legal.html

Internet Censorship:
http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/Censor/cens3.html

Porn and obscenity laws:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_by_region
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/2269/?200916

marriage laws:
http://marriage.about.com/od/interna...ernational.htm

International tax rates:
http://www.worldwide-tax.com/

Property tax:
http://www.ptireturns.com/en/taxrates.php

-t

----------


## tangent4ronpaul

Area Studies
http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/
http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/default.aspx
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/index.htm

-t

----------


## Natalie

I always thought we were the freest country, until I told that to foreigners and they basically laughed in my face, lol.  My uncle lives in China, and I asked him once, why the heck would you want to live in China, aren't they a bunch of commies?  He said no, they are only Communist in name, they aren't really that different from the US.  Also, the other day, my stepbrother who is visiting from Russia said something along the lines of, "People in the US think they are the freest country, when really they are more communist than the rest."  His english isn't very good, so maybe he meant fascist...   We are closer to fascism than communism, IMO.

----------


## Pod

In a truly free country you can fish with a hand grenade. That is my freedom index.

----------


## raystone

> In a truly free country you can fish with a hand grenade. That is my freedom index.



It might be freedom, but it's not liberty.

----------


## Pod

You`re right. Liberty has always been cop-out word.

----------


## Thrashertm

I hear good things about Costa Rica. I visited there last year and everyone seems relatively care-free. They have no military!

----------


## BenIsForRon

Political freedom comes first, otherwise all other freedoms are in jeopardy.

----------


## kenroar

Most studies show the top three as follows in various order: New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong (As long as China lets it alone. The danger is that they decide to take over).

----------


## Tim Calhoun



----------


## PierzStyx

> Canada imo.



Why do people think that one of the largest Socialist governments in North America is FREE? The level of government interference into everyday life is even worse than it is here. Just because they don't leap to war with every nation they dislike doesn't mean they're free-er.

----------


## NidStyles

A Nation where the Government leaves me alone, and doesn't tax me into oblivion and tell me that I owe all of this debt that was created before I was even born. You know a place where I can walk the streets and see people running a business on their front lawn or whatever, and no police walking around arresting people for having a plant on them. 

No such nation exists though, so in my mind there is no measurement of Freedom or Liberty. You are either Free and live in Liberty, or you do not. At that point it comes down to whether you want to live in an outright Police State, Socialist Delusion, or a country that likes to start war's every few years.

----------


## The Northbreather

A better question might be which country with warm beaches is the most free

----------


## tttppp

> I always thought we were the freest country, until I told that to foreigners and they basically laughed in my face, lol.  My uncle lives in China, and I asked him once, why the heck would you want to live in China, aren't they a bunch of commies?  He said no, they are only Communist in name, they aren't really that different from the US.  Also, the other day, my stepbrother who is visiting from Russia said something along the lines of, "People in the US think they are the freest country, when really they are more communist than the rest."  His english isn't very good, so maybe he meant fascist...   We are closer to fascism than communism, IMO.


Fascism and communism are pretty similar. I've been saying for a while that we are basically a communist state. You're free to do business here as long as you run your business exactly how the government wants you to. You're step brother is right, the so called communist countries actually have more economic freedom that we do here. Communist countries like China have been steadily converting from communism to capitalism, while the U.S. has steadily converted from capitalism to communism.

----------


## Tudo

It all depends on exactly what you think you are referring to when you talk about "free" . It's not as simple as saying we're better then them etc etc as we're all pretty much the same or pretty soon will be with small variations but again it depends on where you are, what you are referring to etc etc etc etc etc.

When I lived in what is known as communist Vietnam, I was able to engineer the first, or what I think is the very first "free trade" agreement between an American individual and a government entity in Vietnam .  http://www.vietventures.com/Vietnam/..._Agreement.asp  Clinton of course got the ball rolling in 95, but it wasn't signed until the bush admin in either late 2001 or early 2002 I don't remember who got there first ( in reality meaning in practice , on the streets, etc ) me or them. The financial end of the agreement was extremely favorable to me ( as were all other aspects of the agreement ), and I'm sure if anyone anywhere in the world was privvy to the in writing in viet and english and all stamped legal legal agreement would fall over as it really is bordering on the unreal considering my "business empire" was me and 3 emplyees. Imagine the deals a big corp can maneuver?

If you're not familiar with Harry Browne, a very worthwhile endevor would be to become familiar and one of those ways is to search for one of his books called How I found freedom in an unfree world.

Oh, once upon a time I feel certain that you could actually answer the question with an affirmative to the US.

----------


## iGGz

\/\/O\/\/

----------


## joyee

I am pretty sure that you wanna talk about the Switzerland. I really love to this country this sees to be like paradise...
Nice conversation dude...

----------


## thoughtomator

I have been thinking on this issue for some time, and I've come to the conclusion that it's most important to have a weak government. Doesn't matter what the laws are if the government doesn't have the power to enforce them.

----------


## KMX

Singapore

----------


## eduardo89

> Yeah - Swiss elections are DIFFERENT!  I remember reading about them a while back...
> 
> *Who do you want for president?*
> Who do you want for dog catcher?
> Should this law be enacted? (things that Congress decides here)
> Do you support building a playground at this location?
> 
> Things like that.
> 
> ...


Switzerland doesn't have a president. It has a council of 7.

----------


## Icymudpuppy

> Some of the very corrupt states are fairly free. Free as in they will leave you alone for a small fee. So not free, but affordable.


Thailand, and the Philippines fall into this category.  Too bad their weather is intolerably hot and humid.  Several south american banana republics also qualify.

For the poster who wanted warm beaches... There you go.  You may also consider French Polynesia and Micronesia.

----------


## DerailingDaTrain

> 


Sweet! Can I get more than just one or is it just a promotional deal?

----------

