Political Theory

Re: Liberty score ranking countries?

liberty student — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:43:59 GMT

Did you see Werner Herzog's "Encounters at the End of the World?"

Because I thought about Antarctica as well...

Re: Liberty score ranking countries?

Justin Spahr-Summers — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:12:52 GMT

I'm visiting Antarctica as part of a leisure trip next month. I've been seriously pondering moving there (or rather, finding a way to move there and survive) for a while now... it'll basically come down to how much I value my liberty versus how much I value my standard of living.

Re: Liberty score ranking countries?

Billie Liberty — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:06:58 GMT

This is an old post to respond to but I just found this site and became a member. I am just completing a book on individual freedom called 'The Path of the Pure Creature'. I hadn't thought of it but actually there is a way of ranking countries inherit in the conceptual framework of my book. I will soon make the first 12 chapters of the book available as a free download from www.torkers.com. I also have the domain www.libertyscore.com where I intend to post the ranking for Canada, USA and European countries.

Re: Liberty score ranking countries?

Praetyre — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:59:12 GMT

I find it hilarious they list the US as having guaranteed property rights. Someone better tell that to the Supreme Court.

Re: Liberty score ranking countries?

Sphairon — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:59:52 GMT

Well, there is of course the Index of Economic Freedom of the Heritage Foundation. As the name says, they are measuring countries according to their economic freedom, and only that. Keep in mind, though, that the Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank and interprets (according to my knowledge) stuff like strict enforcement of IP laws as economic freedom.

Plus, this is just one side of the coin. Singapore, for example, may be pretty laissez-faire economy-wise, but don't expect any "Bill of Rights"-style personal freedom there. I understand that the same is true for many other Asian nations. If you live in Hong Kong, how (or when) will the Chinese firewall affect you? Many questions left unaswered.

The best thing you can do is extensive traveling, but in the wake of a major recession not everyone has time and/or funds to do so.

Liberty score ranking countries?

Bess Lobel — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:15:06 GMT

Meditating on recent events moving my homeland, the (formerly plural "United States of America are ...", and now more often singular "United States of America is ...") toward even more concentration of power in the hands of the central government, my wife and I had discussed where we might go, if anywhere. I wondered aloud if there were some sort of ranking or scoring system for countries on the scale of liberty (or other related scales).

Is there?

If not, and I'm not sure how to go about it but I'd love to give it a go: how might one approach such a question and the research needful to create and maintain the results?