What is the Freest, Most Democratic Nation on Earth Today?

[Yollam]

What is the Freest, Most Democratic Nation on Earth Today?

[mattclearing]

1. You forgot Norway and Australia. n/t

[PhilipShore]

2. New York City

[MADem]

3. How about Canada, or Jamaica, or Ireland or France?

Or Spain...they've got that socialist spirit....! Or Yap, or Tahiti....!!!

[neweurope]

9. Or Iceland?

I cannot vote on this and I very much doubt that others really can judge. One would have to know every country.
So far this poll shows USA 4, Netherlands 9, others listed 0 till 1. Seems crazy. Switzerland 8, USA 0 is how I would see it... No,I cannot do this poll.

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Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Lost-in-FL]

4. You forgot Poland!!

:+ :+ :+ :+ :+

[InsultComicDog]

6. lol

[Gato Moteado]

5. you forgot iraq

nt

[Ezlivin]

7. Dutch treat! But I gotta go - it's 4:20

Too bad there aren't any good cafes around here. In my town all they sell is expensive coffee...

[Che_Nuevara]

8. Iceland, without a doubt.

They are the closest to an actual democracy. They have freakin town meetings, for goodness sakes. They actually use referendums as a method of law passing, not just as a farce. Their politicians are directly answerable to the people.

You asked for DEMOCRATIC. Not one of the nations you listed is a DEMOCRACY.

[Yollam]

10. Your wish is my command.

Added Iceland in place of Switzerland. The Swiss are a bunch of tight-asses anyway. :P

[oscar111]

19. Swiss.. Home of Nestle, baby killer infant formula, and Tamiflu

pills which had to be forced by global outcry to allow others to open generic factories for pills to combat birdflu and ordinary flu.. if IIRC, they really have finally agreed.

Nestle scandal was many years ago.. involved nestle sending fake nurses to african villages to tout infant formula, which needs refiragiration or it spoils, sickening infants. Many infants were said to have died as a result of this. Was a global "cause celeb" many years ago, about nineteen seventy seven. Nestle is still in business. Never heard of any punishment by the Swiss.

[JWS]

16. Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates,

every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.

Federalist #55

Direct Democracy unchecked is a great obstacle to freedom, that is why the U.S. was created as a federal republic.

[tocqueville]

17. so what are they ? theocracies, dictatorships ? nt

[Sanity Claws]

11. What about Ireland?

[oscar111]

12. " bought electi

bought elections {fake democracy},

... as to the poor... they are so vulnerable to retaliation, that they cannot complain safely... consider what happens if they file a city complaint against a landlord for no heat in January.. eviction. THey have no freedom as a practical matter. Everyone near the poor, learns the poor can never afford a lawyer. "pro bono".. free lawyer.. agencies and lawyers, are just "a drop in the bucket" of what the poor need.
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This little list covers why we here are not free. Sure, some lands are much worse. But many are better, and we ought to be better.

plus monopoly newspapers. Plus voting machines

[Peace Patriot]

13. United Arab Emirates, haven't you heard? n/t

[JCMach1]

20. Honestly, I am free to do whatever I like...

but not the freest... no...

[Left Is Write]

14. Not ours.

[Lena inRI]

15. Of course. . .

Luxembourg

:headbang:

[stray cat]

18. Antartica

No government and almost no people but a very democratic group of penguins who seem to do quite well at self government.

[stevietheman]

21. I vote for Switzerland... land of direct democracy n/t

n/t

[oscar111]

22. but see my doubts about their companies.. up this thread

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

[stevietheman]

23. But we're talking about free, democratic *countries*...

I don't want to judge Switzerland by a few bad apple companies any more than I would judge the U.S. by the likes of Enron.

[Odin2005]

24. ICELAND!

People assume democracy was a Greek thing, but a lot of our democratic traditions come from Germanic Thing (pronounced "ding") or tribal councils. These traditions are very evident in Iceland, which also has the world's oldest surviving legislature, the Althing ("Great Council")