Oddbean

Re: Tucker gushing about Russia When you see how badly the US behaves it is natural to think "if we are the bad guys, maybe the other side are the good guys." But nope. Russia is not the "good guys". China is not the "good guys". The sad truth is that there are no "good guys". The best, most free countries are still in the West. The USA does NOT top that list anymore, but is surely surpasses Russia and China in terms of democracy and freedom. I think the most free countries are places like Switzerland, New Zealand (which is why I chose this country: free + English speaking), Denmark, Ireland and Sweden. nostr:nevent1qqsrpx2f8tyywpr5x0frvmn9vaa7sm46uzpm6xp9qv66348thcu7kucprpmhxue69uhkzapwdehhxarjwahhy6mn9e3k7mf0qy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uq3zamnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3wwa5kuef0udle2t

I don't know though... I think Australia would be a prime target for Chinese aggression. Australia does whatever the US tells it to do, so the country would likely be sacrificed in the name of "spreading democracy" if it meant helping break down the CCP in the Asia Pacific region 😱

The China/Australia tensions are pretty high. Though I agree, India certainly appears to be less accepting of orders from the US these days and are becoming an industrial powerhouse, in similar fashion to what made China become a superpower.

I think often about this line (paraphrased) from Ben Stiller in The Zero Effect: “There aren’t good guys! You know that, right? There aren’t evil guys, and innocent guys … it’s just a bunch of guys.” https://youtu.be/hteOlmejW1s?si=vo3tlPKcPWcFkpPE

New Zealand is certainly not free. It's ruled by moronic authoritarians, anyone remember that wonderful woman Jacinda??? Oh how quickly the COVID scam and the breaches of individual liberties have been forgotten.

nostr:nevent1qqsz4grkn8sl9eh79yqmtxvg6p9kyctllysmtul9cjyh4cj009z2mpspzpmhxue69uhkztnwdaejumr0dshszxrhwden5te0v96zumn0wd68yam0wf4hxtnrdakj7qfqwaehxw309a3ksmmjw4ejumtfddjkg6tvvajhytnrdakn5dp5xshsj3j3sk And by the way, I'm free to distill liquor. I don't have to get permission from the government. Totally legal, no licence, no permit nothing. Can you do that, oh homebrewer?

New Zealand is a socialist state that locked its people down harder than anywhere in the world and had one of the most restrictive vax mandates around. Semi automatic weapons were banned. Not sure how you’ve reached that conclusion. And anywhere with hate speech laws is immediately off the list. I’m genuinely curious why you think these places are more free than the US. And yes, the U.S. is not free either. But compared to the places you listed, I’m scratching my head.

New Zealand is far from socialist. It is fully capitalist and has been for... forever I think. I don't know where people get these ideas from. New Zealand has no hate speech laws. Again, where did you get that? You mention some real problems in New Zealand. I don't disagree. There is no libertarian mecca, every place has problems. But the vax lockdown mandate thing is over now, and there was a *huge* public backlash that is still making tons of noise about it so that it never happens again. And Jacinda was so hounded about it she quit. She just quit. People hated her and so she stepped down. Now we have a right-wing government. But I contend that the USA has FAR more problems than New Zealand, or maybe you haven't noticed how all the institutions work for the deep state now instead of for the people. Since you are "genuinely curious": https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freest-countries

39% income tax on anyone making over $110k USD and tons of public benefits. The U.S. has the same issue here, I recognize that, except it has better tax rates for those making under $500k. No utopia either place. The hate speech laws were in reference to the European places you listed. I would place my bets on NZ going along with the state next time around over the U.S., but it was nice to see she was finally chased out. Those lockdowns and vax restrictions were just so totalitarian, I don’t think I’ll ever look at NZ the same again. Same here, as well, however. We have more problems for a whole host of reasons, which are way too long for a chat on Nostr, but we still have a frontier individualist streak in us that I have yet to see anywhere else in the world. I have faith that we will reclaim our founding principles from the cretins in the deep state that you mentioned. It’s sad that the rest of the world resents us, rightfully so, because of those evil people. The tide is turning. Either way, appreciate the discussion.

For what it’s worth, I did a little more digging on NZ speech rights and you guys do have a hate speech law. You are not allowed to “incite racial disharmony”. So, add that to the list too. As noted before, I appreciate the discussion.

Oh right I forgot about that one. There was a big push to add new hate speech legislation that failed. We also aren't allowed to discriminate on the basis of political view. Which violates free speech rights, but prevents cancel culture.

nostr:nevent1qqsz4grkn8sl9eh79yqmtxvg6p9kyctllysmtul9cjyh4cj009z2mpspzpmhxue69uhkztnwdaejumr0dshszxrhwden5te0v96zumn0wd68yam0wf4hxtnrdakj7qfqwaehxw309a3ksmmjw4ejumtfddjkg6tvvajhytnrdakn5dp5xshsj3j3sk

the diference: Putin's dreamworld may be bad and authoritarian, but it always *appears* that they want a strong Russia (even if at the expense of others) on their dreamworld It contrasts too much with the subordination to WEF/globalists/whatever-you-may-call-them interests we see in the west. Putin is not a family-values-champion, but even lip service contrasts with the bent knees to wokeness worship we are used to see in the west. it is hard for ppl to separate issues, or to see in degrees instead of black and white.

Our data usually stem from organizations that have their own agendas. So difficult to say if a country is free, or made to look free, to promote certain politics. Denmark, for example, has the highest tax pressure in the world at around 75% and therefore lead the way in keeping the population poor and hence dependent on the state.

There are places in countries where laws are interpreted and enforced differently than other places in the same country. How free a country is depends on how you want to live your life. Some places you are freer to live quietly, others you are freer to pursue bhag. It’s actually very nuanced, but nowhere is there a libertarian Wild West.