The truth about freedom in The New Amerika

According to The State of World Liberty Project, The New Amerika is only the 8th freest country in the world. From the 2006 Index:

“Still Land of the Free?
“The United States of America came in at #8 - surprisingly low, considering that the American government model was driven by classical liberalism and limited government, and it has been the model for other countries pursuing free markets and individual liberties to follow. Unfortunately, recent government crackdowns on free press, increased restrictions on individual freedom, high personal and corporate income taxes, refusal to grant military prisoners a criminal trial and the rapid expansion of government all contributed to the US's downward spiral away from being the ideal model of freedom.”

The 2006 State of World Liberty Index is based on statistics collected in 2005. I reckon that The New Amerika would have fared even more poorly if the statistics used had been more recent.

The Index uses three criteria for its evaluation and rankings. They are:
1) individual freedom,
2) economic freedom, and
3) government size and taxation.

For the purposes of comparison, I am going to use three of the countries where I have lived + Canadia + France (a representative socialist country) + the first and last countries in the 2006 rankings.

(Blogger won’t take my word table so please bear with me.)

Overall Rank (final weighted average)
Estonia 1 (85.25)
Canadia 3 (82.34)
UK 7 (81.96)
The Amerika 8 (81.96)
Czech 23 (76.34)
France 48 (69.11)
North Korea 159 (6.80)

Economic Freedom Rank
Estonia 8
Canadia 9
UK 5
The Amerika 6
Czech 23
France 35
North Korea 126

Government and Taxation Rank
Estonia 6
Canadia 15
UK 22
The Amerika 20
Czech 53
France 135
North Korea 156

Individual Freedom Rank
Estonia 5
Canadia 9
UK 11
The Amerika 19
Czech 4
France 14
North Korea 139

I think it is absolutely pathetic that The New Amerika does not come in at #1 in every category. The Old America would have.

But I am pleased to see that the country where I have chosen to live has outranked even Estonia in individual freedom. Now you will understand that I am not talking out of my arse when I say I feel more free over here than I do when in The Amerika.

You can find all the rankings as well as information about sources and methodology on the website.