For those who value their freedom of expression as much as health, wealth, and prosperity, then Finland is the place to be, with an index ranking the Nordic nation the best in the world.
The 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index, published on Tuesday and compiled by the Legatum Institute, an independent policy, advocacy and advisory organization, ranked 104 countries which are home to 90 percent of the world's population.
The index is based on a definition of prosperity that combines economic growth with the level of personal freedoms and democracy in a country as well as measures of happiness and quality of life. With the exception of Switzerland, which came in at number 2, Nordic countries dominated the top 5 slots, with Sweden in third place followed by Denmark and Norway.
Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity really ought to check this out. Of course, I remember an interview on the O'Reilly Factor years ago where Bill was discussing life with the Swedish Minister of Tourism. O'Reilly said, "OK, give me one good reason why I should move to Sweden."
The Swede responded, "Well, hopefully you won't."
Booyah!!!!!
5 comments:
I'm sure you'd be happier if people like Hannity and O'Reilly didn't exist to challenge those of you on the left.
Not at all. I'm thrilled when people like George Will or Charles Krauthammer or Bill Kristol or even Pat Buchanan challenge "the left."
Hannity and OReilly, on the other hand, are far too incendiary and jaded to generate rational discussion from their challenges.
We need the challenges, and have always had them. But the Fox commentators are not making the world a better place. Their worldview is depressing.
Just saying.
You're a teacher?
God, help us all.
Just because you, personally, find another person's world view to be "depressing" is reason enough for you to ask them to shut up or to discount their opinions as worthless?
I find Obama quite depressing and would love to hear more silence from him, especially with regards to economic and private sector matters in which he clearly has no experience upon which to base his pronouncements. But, I'm sure you'd take some issue with that, would you not?
I'm glad people like Hannity and Limbaugh and O'Reilly and "Banned in Britain" Michael Savage and "Banned in Britain" Geert Wilders and a thousand others have the right to be "depressing" (really just outspoken) in their outlook. There's a lot to be "depressed" about given the multi-generational debt we've just been plunged into (and to which we are about to add $11 trillion more). The leftist media has been licking the hands that feed them for so long they wouldn't know a balanced opinion from their collective bottle of prozac.
Perhaps if the socialist-loving leftists would practice a little more freedom of thought, we'd be higher on the Legatum Institute's dubious list. Who are these people anyways? I've never heard of them. I go to their web site and all I see is amorphous platitudes that tell me nothing. All sound and fury signifying nothing. What do they really stand for? Every organization has an agenda, no matter how unbiased they present themselves.
Logic will win out in the end. You know, just the simple stuff. Like "don't spend more than you earn" and "don't ever apologize for being the greatest and most free nation ever to exist on earth or you're going to play right into the hands of people who want freedom to disappear from the planet".
Just sayin'. Glad I still have a right to.
(Colorado...bet you're from Boulder. If not, maybe Boulder, that San Francisco of the Intermountain West, has succeeded in blighting that whole great state.)
Rob,
Yes, I'm an exceptional teacher. Your point is?
As an AP English teacher at one of the top high schools in Colorado, I have a 93% pass rate on the AP Language. If you don't know, this is a class heavily focused on argumentation, which emphasizes a student's ability to see and understand both sides of an issue while effectively arguing a position.
My averages on standardized test for my non-honor students, as well as their college acceptance rates, are high above average, and I write upwards of thirty letters of recommendation for all levels of students and colleges. Clearly, my students benefit.
Incidentally, I reside not in Boulder, but in one of the most conservative districts and cities in Colorado, and I vote conservative and Republican as often as I don't. When I don't vote GOP, I'm as likely to vote Libertarian. So, your naive and ignorant accusations about my ideology as well as abilities as a teacher are completely unfounded, not to mention rather sad.
The posting is simply a presentation of an idea that many haven't considered, including you. It's an observation I found amusing - and that's why I posted it. And it doesn't mean anything more than that. However, you have no ability to see past your biases. But thanks for checking in, as it's my pleasure, as a teacher, to help people see beyond their narrow little worlds.
Rob, no matter how much freedom of thought school isnt free it would have to be in order for everyone to practice your freedom of thought. Its easy to say everyone do this or that but in reality there is nothing else to advance to so stop your childish advancing!
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