Teitur commented on…
The freest countries in the world
.. — 2 years ago
Ok.. we’ve got a long way to go towards freedom, and it is debatable how valid each of these countries claim to democracy is.. still.. I wanted to make this list for myself at least.
Here’s the comparative map which came with the wikipedia article
Comments
I was wondering why you think that none of the countries above are true democracies?
Demos
“Democracy” refers to “the rule of the people”.
Do you feel that your and your fellows’ influence on the government of your country constitutes your rule over it?
Note also that most likely you read the word “government” above as referring to a body of people separate from you and not to the act of governing..
Democracy is normally defined as the rule of the people either exercised directly or indirectly through elected representatives but I take your point.
I think its laughable that the so called “freest and greatest country in the world” comes in 16th – a fantastic example of non-democracy in action.
Normality
yeah well..
A normative definition doesn’t really say a lot about anything except for the current norm.. does it..?
Personally; I find it quite hard to think of someone as having power who constantly “gives it up” to a “representative” (who in fact shares only marginal interests with the person, if any) on the sole grounds that this is what you traditionally do…
And in a system in which there are only two marginally different gangs to chose from as a voter…..well…
In fact I think we have all the tools to device a system of government which is much more just and democratic..
Teitur