Human Develpment & Freedom
Here's the world as depicted by the Human Development Index (published by the United Nations). Green is high development, yellow is medium and red is low.
Here's the world as depicted by degree of freedom (determined by Freedom House). Green is free, pink is somewhat free, red is not free.
Notice any trends?
posted by Matt at 11:34 AM
4 Comments:
Interesting for discussion purposes, but Matt, if you are going to cite a source, also mention criticisms of said source.
[edit] Criticism and commentary
Freedom House has faced accusations from critics over the years, some of whom have described the organization as being a "right-wing"[11] "anticommunist propaganda institution"[12].
Specific ratings that have been attacked include Cuba's rating of 7-7 as well as Cuba's inclusion in Freedom House's list of the world's 'worst' (most repressive) regimes. Frank Calzón who has served as director of the Cuban Program of Freedom House has been described by the Washington Times as an "anti-Castro activist".
An article from 1990 argues that the organization was neoconservative, for example arguing that several prominent members at this time were neoconservatives.[2] More recent critics have also used expressions like "neo-conservative think tank".[3]
However, Freedom House reports also mention criticisms of both the US and Israel.[13] It has been highly critical of some traditional US allies, such as Saudi Arabia and Chile under Pinochet, classifying them as "Not Free". It was also strongly critical of apartheid South Africa and military dictatorships in Latin America. Its ratings are, despite some differences, highly correlated with several other ratings of democracy and widely used political science research.[14] The organisation states that its board of trustees contains Democrats, Republicans and Independents who are a mix of business and labor leaders, former senior government officials, scholars and journalists.[15]
Freedom House's work has also aroused criticism from those who favour the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, or who worry that, for instance, entitling a report "Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques" study [16] falls short of the ideal of neutral assessment of freedom. Others would retort that Saudi Arabia is a nation which routinely executes homosexuals, refuses to allow women the right to drive or go in public with their heads exposed or even to travel without their husbands' permission, and which outlaws even the possession of non-Muslim religious works by its citizens, and that there can be no possible measure of freedom that makes any sense which treats Saudi Arabia in a "neutral" fashion.
Other problems with the methodology have been alleged:[citation needed] Some democracies qualify various rights.
The right to freedom of speech may have de facto exclusion of certain groups, views, or types of speech.
For example: In some European nations it is illegal to deny the Holocaust.
The right to travel freely. For example U.S. Citizens will be prosecuted for travelling to Cuba (without government authorization).[17]
November 24, 2006 2:47 PM
The above criticism is copied and pasted directly from the Wikipedia page I linked to. Easily accessible to anyone wishing to view criticism of Freedom House.
In response to the critics cited on Wikipedia I'd say the following:
i) If "right-wing" refers to endorsing free market economics and prviate property ownership then I imagine Freedom House is proudly right-wing.
ii) Promoting freedom and criticizing communism pretty much go hand in hand. I'll leave it for the individual to decide who's propagandizing more - Freedom House or Communist Governments.
iii) No country is totally free. And I'm in agreement with the view that every country including the US, Canada and those in Western Europe should be more free. However, freedom is a relative term and on a relative scale those are free countries.
November 24, 2006 4:18 PM
I also like the Economic Freedom Network's freedom ratings.
November 27, 2006 4:52 PM
The EFN map was inside the latest Fraser Forum. Kinda like a centrefold for libertarians.
November 27, 2006 4:55 PM
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