New Zealanders have the most freedom in the world

[Spang]

Canada ranks fourth overall for its level of personal freedoms, tied with Ireland and Australia, while New Zealanders have the most freedom in the world, according to the most complete index of human freedom yet available, released today by the Fraser Institute, Canada’s leading public policy think-tank, and Germany’s Liberales Institut.

The index is contained in a new book, Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom, which examines the characteristics of “freedom” and how it can best be measured and compared between different nations.

“Our intention is to measure the degree to which people are free to enjoy classic civil liberties—freedom of speech, religion, individual economic choice, and association and assembly—in each country surveyed. We also look at indicators of crime and violence, freedom of movement, legal discrimination against homosexuals, and women’s freedoms,” said Fred McMahon, Dr. Michael A. Walker Research Chair in Economic Freedom (Fraser Institute) and editor of Towards a Worldwide Index of Human Freedom.

[...]

Source

 

[Freesia]

Well that is nice. Kind of confusing though, I am not really sure why we are first. It is a pretty liberal country (though the conservative government is in at the moment). It is a country where politics is a big thing and it is important to people. It is not all rainbows and ponies here though.

 

[yally]

Ireland is fourth? Seriously? I guess the Irish are free to hop on a ferry to the UK if they need an abortion...

Also children don't legally exist there or something.

 

[Moll Flanders]

Hmm, Ireland.

ETA, saw Yally thought the same as me!

 

[Envy]

Ireland is fourth? Seriously? I guess the Irish are free to hop on a ferry to the UK if they need an abortion...

Also children don't legally exist there or something.

And they still manage to best the UK by 12 places or so.

Not to mention my own country.

 

[ledboots]

The Cato Institute in the US was an omitted third sponsor with Fraser and Liberales Institut in that press release.

 

[Freesia]

Ireland is fourth? Seriously? I guess the Irish are free to hop on a ferry to the UK if they need an abortion...

Also children don't legally exist there or something.

I find that totally weird myself, having lived there for a year. It is a very very religious place.

 

[Freesia]

I would have thought that somewhere like Sweden would be up there, personally, ahead of New Zealand even.

Still thinking of how New Zealand came first, and marvelling at the irony.

Anyway it could be that places like New Zealand and Australia are colonies which were primarily emmigrated to to look for a better life (and some convicts in the case of Australia, rugged gold miners here).

Both countries would have a large amount of people who were of an adventurous nature, and in New Zealand the class system from Britain pretty much dissolved when people arrived here. Even today we have a rich class but everyone makes fun of them, it doesnt get you respect here, and they are not thought of as better than the average person, in fact quite the opposite.

New Zealand women had a suffrage movement in the 1890s and secured the vote for themselves in 1893, the first women in the world to have a vote.

The Electoral Bill granting women the franchise was given Royal Assent by Governor Lord Glasgow on 19 September 1893, and women voted for the first time in the election held on 28 November 1893 (elections for the Māori electorates were held on 20 December). In 1893, Elizabeth Yates also became Mayor of Onehunga, the first time such a post had been held by a female anywhere in the British Empire.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_suffrage_in_New_Zealand

There isnt gay marriage here, instead civil unions, which carry all the legal entitlements of marriage but take place in a town hall. I think those have been available for about 8 years, but now gay marriage is being considered.

It is often called an "egalitarian society" as is Australia, it basically means a society with a looser class system. So people from Australia and New Zealand tend to be straightforward and unpretentious, though I have met some exceptions .)

But as I said, there are definite disadvantages to living here. It is not a good place to be single for example. If I had the means and didnt have pets I would leave, and not because of the legal freedoms, but because I have never really fit in here.

 

[Second Summer]

Fraser "Institute" is a Canadian think tank and has been described as politically conservative and right-libertarian.
Liberales Institut is, contrary to what the article says, a Swiss (not German) classical liberal think tank. ("Classical liberal" here referring to Classical liberalism, which according to Wikipedia "is a political ideology, a branch of liberalism which advocates civil liberties and political freedom with limited government under the rule of law and generally promotes a laissez-faire economic policy". Cato Institute, which co-sponsors the Human Freedom project with Fraser and Liberales, is according to Wikipedia "an American libertarian think tank", and its stated mission is "to increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace".

I think I see a pattern here. Just saying.

 

[Freesia]

So the libertarians all want to move here? I dont think they would like it at all personally. It is not libertarian here at all, but liberal. They would be best moving to Antarctica or something.

 

[das_nut]

New Zealand women had a suffrage movement in the 1890s and secured the vote for themselves in 1893, the first women in the world to have a vote.

Women in Wyoming might disagree with that. The territory had woman's suffrage 30 years before that.