“O say does that star spangled-banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” The American flag still waves today, but does it wave over the land of the free?
Our nation, any nation, claiming Democracy must work to increase freedom for its citizens. That’s a word we all throw around quite loosely. We all have our own concept of what it means. The Not For Profit, Freedom House, does an evaluation on which countries are actually free. “Freedom House is founded on the core conviction that freedom flourishes in democratic nations where governments are accountable to their people.” An analysis using various criteria is utilized for each country’s evaluation.
Would it surprise you to learn Estonia, one of the three Baltic countries, has a rating of 95 out of 100? Their evaluation determined that Estonia’s democratic institutions are generally strong, and both political rights and civil liberties are widely respected. However, about 5 percent of the population remains stateless and cannot participate in national elections. Corruption is a persistent challenge, as is discrimination against ethnic Russians, Roma, and some other groups. Far-right and Eurosceptic forces have become increasingly vocal in Estonian politics in recent years. An actual report is provided which includes a review of the political rights, civil rights, including personal autonomy and individual rights. This is a detailed report and is available on each rated country. Continuing this review we find Brazil with a rating of 72. Russia has a score of 13 down from 16 last year. The US of A must be up around 100? Not exactly the US has a score of 83 the same as last year. Here’s the overview Freedom House provided for the 83 rationale.
“The United States is a federal republic whose people benefit from a vibrant political system, a strong rule-of-law tradition, robust freedoms of expression and religious belief, and a wide array of other civil liberties. However, in recent years its democratic institutions have suffered erosion, as reflected in rising political polarization and extremism, partisan pressure on the electoral process, mistreatment and dysfunction in the criminal justice and immigration systems, and growing disparities in wealth, economic opportunity, and political influence.”
Knowing this we should ask ourselves is the score accurate? Do either of our current Presidential candidates offer any reason to see that score rising if either is elected? The Freedom House rationale used is evident in our daily news reports. We constantly read how divided we are. My concern is our division isn’t based on two common starting points where our separation is based on acknowledging the issues but differing in the solutions. Is that where we are? I fear our beginning points are vastly separated. One side has a more traditional starting point and the other is more extreme.
Perhaps understanding freedom can help us to know how to raise our score. Freedom is often thought of in terms of freedom from something, freedom from fear, or suppression. The song stating “freedom’s just another for nothing left to lose” offers a different view. That is an unacceptable definition to me. Freedom is what we can become unrestrained by the political nonsense we call polarization. If we understand which candidates seek a more common ground with a emphasize on Democracy, then our decision should be simplified.
Phil's Personal Perspectives 