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To put this conversation on a slightly firmer foundation, here are some indexes (indices if you prefer) of freedom. I'm most familiar with the one from the Fraser Institute but will try to look through each to get a sense of their pros and cons. </div>
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Some of these may have changed significantly since last updated. For instance, I would expect Australia to fall down quite a bit due to their overbearing (and failing) response to Covid.
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<div>https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/human-freedom-index-2020</div>
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<div>https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking</div>
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<div>https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores</div>
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<div>https://thenewamerican.com/freedom-index/#/</div>
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<div>https://www.heritage.org/index/</div>
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<div>https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freedom-index-by-country</div>
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<div>In case that's not enough: </div>
<div>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_freedom_indices</div>
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<span>--Max</span><br>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size:11pt" color="#000000"><b>From:</b> extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org> on behalf of Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, August 30, 2021 11:23 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Ben Zaiboc <ben@zaiboc.net><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] Arrogance</font>
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<div class="PlainText">On 30/08/2021 17:04, bill w wrote:<br>
> OK Ben, I will challenge you on those: responsibility, freedom, power <br>
> - where are you getting your data about those losses? bill w<br>
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Well, Stuart suggested that there is a 'Great Experiment' underway, to <br>
determine how much freedom, power, and responsibility a society can <br>
entrust to its individuals.<br>
<br>
I don't see that that is the case.<br>
<br>
Individual freedom, power and responsibility don't seem to be <br>
increasing, but rather decreasing.<br>
<br>
There is ever-increasing surveillance and tracking, making the kind of <br>
control you see in China possible, and the slow but steady erosion of <br>
cash (preventing the use of cash, which seems to be the end-point of <br>
this trend, is a great way to control people)<br>
<br>
Corporate lobbying is leading to more and more laws that benefit the <br>
corporations at the expense of the people. There are a few attempts to <br>
counter this (Freedom to Tinker movement, EFF, etc.), but not nearly <br>
enough, and hardly effective on the whole.<br>
<br>
The spread of ultra-PC memes in society is leading to 'chilling <br>
effects', suppression of individuality and free speech, for fear of <br>
ostracism, not to mention the corrosive effect on education and mental <br>
health.<br>
<br>
The continual efforts to extend the concept of 'software as a service' <br>
to digital goods leads in the direction of it being impossible to own <br>
(and thus do whatever you like with) things like books, music, films, etc.<br>
<br>
Would you say there's more, or less bureaucracy now, compared with say <br>
100 years ago?<br>
<br>
Remember the threat of your Clown President, just a few years ago? To <br>
remove the very thing that was mentioned here as being one of the best <br>
things about America? (the freedom to criticise, if you don't know what <br>
I mean). Hardly a sign of increasing freedom, even if it was never going <br>
to fly.<br>
<br>
What evidence would you present in favour of this 'Great Experiment' idea?<br>
<br>
Ben<br>
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