Comparison - Individual Freedom in certain Western Democracies

[DaVinci]

As the theme of individualism, personal liberties, is always a focus of many threads, let's compare them, for a collection of certain states (random list from ca. north to south, geographically).

A. Europe

1) Norwegen

2) Sweden

3) Denmark

4) UK (British Isles)

6) Ireland

7) Germany

8) Netherlands

9) Belgium

10) Poland

11) France

12) Spain

13) Portugal

14) Italy

15) Swiss

16) Austria

17) Tchechien

B. America

1) Canada

2) USA

Put into account the free development of the individual within the professional life and the usual daily life as citizen - chances and restrictions.

Of course, as this might be a lot of stuff, pick up a certain land or a few, where you are informed enough.

At the end of your "judgement", give the land a "score" from 0 - 100 points. The higher, the more individualism/personal liberty is possible, along your personal observation - perhaps, after a month of posts, i'll provide the addition of the "score" judgement, in the list above.

Edit: To get this kind of score-result as a kind of representation (as quasi statistic), you shall give every land of A. and B. your score points (even if it is mere a guess than knowledge/observation), so at best copy the list into your post.

[Vanoi]

You can't really compare how free a country is compared to another.

Take for example Germany and the USA. Germany has some of the freest press in the world. In fact Reporters Without Borders ranked them pretty high in freedom of the press. The US has free press, but not as much as Germany.

However when you talk about general freedom of speech and expression, the USA will beat Germany in this. Germany has things like the Volksverhetzung and Holocaust denial laws. I can only think of a few things in the USA which are not protected by freedom of speech and that can land you in jail. Other than that certain speech in the US is not protected by the First Amendment, but its not a crime.

[Fred Putz]

In my opinion You could just score a nation in which You lived for many years - or You really have to have a great overall knowlegde of that country including laws and the real life there. In the end it would be just a score which says how free You feel in that nation anyway - and that will differ from person to person. We have so many laws and restrictions in Germany that one person can´t know them all - and most of them You will just know in a particular situation.
Nonetheless i feel more or less free - i can do most things i want to do. But for scoring i don´t want to forget that almost every good thing has a downside too e.g. all that social security and workers rights are a good thing for those who have work - but it´s hard to get a new job if one is unemployed because the bosses think twice before they offer a contract. So in case of personal freedom it´s perhaps not a good point - or perhaps yes because You can´t fall that deep. Take the typical 3 years training for workers - a good thing because they all (should) know what they´re doing and will find a job more easily, but it´s hard to get another job years later even if You could do it better, because You don´t have a certification or the one You have is outdated because You had another occupation for some time. Those were just two very basical points... Could be an long list really - and the longer one lives in Germany the longer the list. A good thing because it never gets boring(!), but You really see how many restrictions there are and how stupid bureaucracy can be.
That´s the hard point in this topic too - one could write so much that it would go beyond the scope of it. Perhaps - as suggestion - it´s better to "judge" just those nations which one thinks (s)he has enough knowledge of - i guess the same thought You had before the edit. As it is like i said just a felt freedom perhaps few examples would be enough too. When i read "chances and restrictions" i have a feeling that one post can´t handle the number of characters written and i need a diploma in law, politics and social sciences. Perhaps intended as it would be more objectivly scored, but i guess no one (alone) could compare two nations in that question comprehensively enough. I mean sometimes there is a law but no one cares about it - so even if it is a restriction in theory it doesn´t hurt Your freedom. On the opposite there are unwritten laws - things which could harm Your freedom. Perhaps more answers with a "real" - not that guessed - judgement are better for the statistic which would be the comparision of the personal freedom of TWC Users in certain western democracies (cwd). Would be even more interesting not to limit it to cwd.

To get it started - at least somehow: Felt freedom in Germany: 55/100 (Of course i think at the many, many laws there are atm - usually You won´t be faced with most of them and perhaps don´t even know about them. Next thing: What is 100/100? Is it You can do everything You want to do or is it everyone can do s(he) wants to do? I guessed the second - with the knowledge that there have to be rules, because some, not to say most, people need them) Probably i messed it up... just a feeling too.

[DaVinci]

The (my) tread fails. Fred, you did a start, with your text description with the trial to get close to the score-task, but else, in result it should be an overview, which is then easy to read for everybody, just not necessarily a wall of text, but your personal impression.
The thread shall not be a scientific approach, it's mere a trial to watch what twc members think and guess about the matter, as you would be interviewed on the street, and must do ie. crosses or numbers for items.

When i have time and lust enough, i'll add aspects of life/society (where each apect will be 10/100, thus means 10 aspects, per country), which are relevant for a "score" of individual freedom of citizens, which may help to get an idea for what i aimed here.