Well, that was a real pick me up! heh....I agree with the entirety of the article. I only have one quibble. The number of Jan 6 charged is over 700 and counting. They haven't gotten to the Big Boys yet but keep hope alive.
Some random thoughts generated while reading Steve's article.
For years, I have wondered why it is that the USA, the nation that proclaims to be the bastion of Democracy and the nation in which its citizens claim to be the freest nation on earth, is not ever (since Cato began publishing data in 2015) in the top 10 of Cato's Human Freedom Index (HFI)Rankings. Instead, it is Switzerland, New Zealand, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Canada, Australia, Sweden, and Luxembourg in the top 10 followed by The Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, and the UK. Many of these countries are always ranked in the top 10. (It is not lost on me that the UK is consistently ahead of the US in the HFI. It is a bit ironic, given our nation's history, that the UK precedes us in human freedom measures.) Reviewing previous year Cato HFI publications, the US is coming up in the rankings, having been at 20 in 2015 and 23 in 2016. I don't think our rise in rankings is a result of measures taken that increase freedom as much as we benefit in rankings due to the notable decline in personal freedoms in other nations around the globe. I know that is the case for Hong Kong which fell from No. 1 in 2013-2014 to number 3 in 2017-2018 and 30 in 2018-2019.
I also note that Cato's HFI publications are published a year or two after data is collected i.e the 2019 publication uses data collected years 2016-2017, the 2020 publication uses data collected for years 2017-2018, and the 2021 data uses data collected for years 2018- 2019. So, it is important to note that the data to which Steve is referring is not reflective of 2020 and 2021.( We will see the 2019-2020 data next year and the 2020-2021 data in 2023.
For me, my alarm regarding personal freedoms began in the first decade of this millenium. Every time I fly, I am reminded of the loss of freedoms, the loss of the thrill of greeting family and friends at the gate as they disembark from an airplane or the lingering goodbye at the gate when they depart, the freedom to keep my shoes on going through airport security (a ritual fairly unique to the USA and not replicated in EU nations, Australia, Canada, China, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, and the U.K) the freedom to carry certain items onto a plane, etc.
Well, that was a real pick me up! heh....I agree with the entirety of the article. I only have one quibble. The number of Jan 6 charged is over 700 and counting. They haven't gotten to the Big Boys yet but keep hope alive.
Some random thoughts generated while reading Steve's article.
For years, I have wondered why it is that the USA, the nation that proclaims to be the bastion of Democracy and the nation in which its citizens claim to be the freest nation on earth, is not ever (since Cato began publishing data in 2015) in the top 10 of Cato's Human Freedom Index (HFI)Rankings. Instead, it is Switzerland, New Zealand, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Canada, Australia, Sweden, and Luxembourg in the top 10 followed by The Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, and the UK. Many of these countries are always ranked in the top 10. (It is not lost on me that the UK is consistently ahead of the US in the HFI. It is a bit ironic, given our nation's history, that the UK precedes us in human freedom measures.) Reviewing previous year Cato HFI publications, the US is coming up in the rankings, having been at 20 in 2015 and 23 in 2016. I don't think our rise in rankings is a result of measures taken that increase freedom as much as we benefit in rankings due to the notable decline in personal freedoms in other nations around the globe. I know that is the case for Hong Kong which fell from No. 1 in 2013-2014 to number 3 in 2017-2018 and 30 in 2018-2019.
I also note that Cato's HFI publications are published a year or two after data is collected i.e the 2019 publication uses data collected years 2016-2017, the 2020 publication uses data collected for years 2017-2018, and the 2021 data uses data collected for years 2018- 2019. So, it is important to note that the data to which Steve is referring is not reflective of 2020 and 2021.( We will see the 2019-2020 data next year and the 2020-2021 data in 2023.
For me, my alarm regarding personal freedoms began in the first decade of this millenium. Every time I fly, I am reminded of the loss of freedoms, the loss of the thrill of greeting family and friends at the gate as they disembark from an airplane or the lingering goodbye at the gate when they depart, the freedom to keep my shoes on going through airport security (a ritual fairly unique to the USA and not replicated in EU nations, Australia, Canada, China, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, and the U.K) the freedom to carry certain items onto a plane, etc.