Ma ha ma wu mmmm m MA WOUHAA HAAAAARRRR HA HA HARRRRR ! oh WOUHA HA HHA HA HA oh damn that was funny not including the USA wa HAHA HAAAAAAAAAAR HA HA HA HA ! oh MFGROFLMFARO Man people from the USA have got a lot to learn about what a liberal country is you gotta get out of texas or wherever and go to somewhere like Sweden, Holland , Finland, Denmark - those scandinavian countries are really nice places to live they are really human there - not at all like Britain and the USA - we are a buncha fuckin animals compared to them I think if you didnt include the USA on your list of Liberal countries - not many would have noticed even if they had a list with it written on - you gotta be fuckin kidding us !!! I'm still.. wouha ha ha ha h MA WOUHA HA HA HAAAAAAR - oh jez I'm off again - oh fuck my sides are hurting i gotta stop The USA woulda been so far down it was in the small print In my experience the Spanish people are becoming a lot more liberalised - I think they are shaking off the bondage that is catholicism and that will take some time but the people are really excellent at being civillised they really have excellent attitudes toward people. Their government and its history is rife with fascism tho
People keep mentioning scandinavia and in some respects yes, they can be liberal but in sweden etc you have police running into clubs, stopping the music and going around shining a torch in the eyes of everyone present. If you're stoned they'll arrest you even if you have no drugs on you. That's not very liberal as far as I'm concerned. Holland socially is pretty liberal as it goes but if you look at the makeup of the government/house whatever it's fairly right wing. Britain's not as bad as some folk make out, yeah it's getting worse all the time with more and more fkd up laws coming in but this is cos of people's fear of big bad scary muslims lurking everywhere. There are still some fundamental differences than here and say the USA, but I'm sure this is because our culture here is a lot more cynical towards the country/government no matter who's in power (generalisation I know, don't bite my head off). But yeah, spain is pretty laid back, portugal's even better. A lot of places in western europe you can do whatever you want as long as you don't shout about it from the rooftops even police etc can be chill...
i have been looking for info on this same subject. the friest countries are probably sweden, danmark, netherlands and finland. with that said though, you should be warned that there is a big right wing movement going on in europe. there was an election a couple of a weeks ago, and the right wing have dominated the stage. the same way that obama wooped mcains but in the 08 elections, the right wing have wooped the centre and left wing parties in europe. there is also an increase in far right representatives. it is basically a worldwide movement. however, at the moment, europe is still has more civil liberties than anywhere in north america. also you should think about this. one of the things the right wing are doing and have been doing is changing the immigration laws. so if you think you can just move to europe, you should think again. europe is not what it was in the 1980s. there is growing xenophobia and the economy is much weaker than the usa. this means that people are very threatened about others stealing their jobs. if you think americans complain about mexicans, you should check out the european arena. europeans do all kinds of things to keep foreigners out, such as making laws that require employers to first hire europeans before outsiders, and they would have to prove that they couldnt find any europeans to fill the job. here are some countries in europe that have voted in right wing leaders- sweden, danmark, netherlands, france, germany, italy, belgium, switzerland, greece.
Hmmm, no laws infringing on your freedom... well if you go to any of the European summer holiday destinations aimed at young people, they are the most liberal places I have personally ever experienced. You can get drugs and sex in these places very easily, and any strange or bad behaviour on your part will go unnoticed among all the other crazy people. On the streets of places like Malia, Crete or around the clubs in Ibiza it just feels like "anything goes" It's probably the same in the places where the U.S. kids go, but I wouldn't know since I haven't been there.
'Liberal' in America often means something quite different from the rest of the world (particularly the non-English speaking one). There is a big difference in Europe for example between liberal social attitudes and 'liberal' government. While most of the civilized world is more socially progressive than the United States, I would argue that they are much more 'conservative' when it comes to state control. Sure Scandinavian countries are more socially progressive in general in terms of their attitudes and laws for women, gays, the role of religion in society, etc. But as someone previously mentioned they are fairly draconian when it comes to drug consumption. Even 'Christiania' in Copenhagen has been sanitized in the last 10 years. There are many more surveillance cameras in Europe than in the US. I think Great Britain has the most of any country in the world per capita. And in terms of I.D. cards, mate, every single European country requires its citizens to have them by law. Many have chips or are biometric these days, too. There was recently a report that the Danish security services were storing every single SMS (mobile phone text messages) sent in the country so that they were swamped with too much information. Now the parliament is going to vote to scrap this system apparently, but there is just as much if not more close monitoring as in the States. And there are lots of areas which Americans would see as intolerable government interference. For example, Denmark has a law banning anyone under 23 from marrying a foreigner to try and prevent forced marriages. Belgium and France have passed laws banning the use of the burkha (full veil) in public spaces and there's a bill in the Danish parliament to do the same. in the US you can give your child any name you want. American hippies love to name their children all sort of strange names (i.e. 'River Phoenix'). In many if not most European countries, and particularly in Scandinavia there is a government approved list of names for children. You can apply for an exception, for example, if you are of foreign origin. Several years ago, again in Denmark, a woman wanted to name her child 'Christophpher', i.e. with two 'ph'-s and it was rejected. She refused to provide a new name, and was thus receiving monthly fines. The idea behind it of course is to protect the child from unnecessary bullying in school later on, but Americans like the idea of being able to do whatever they want with their children. Hitting your children (including spanking) is illegal in most Scandinavian countries as well. Are you getting the picture? That said, if you want to escape deep social conservative fanaticism and religiosity, brutal laissez-faire capitalism, Fox News, and gun-toting neo-Nazi hicks, most of Western Europe is a good bet. Avoid Slavic countries though, with the possible exception of Slovenia!
You wish to find the most Liberal country, where there were no laws infringing upon your freedom? What definition of Liberal are you using? If you're looking for the greatest freedom, I would be looking for the least amount of government intrusion upon life, and in that case you won't find such defined as a country, but only as an area within a few countries that still exist today. For how much longer such areas will exist is another question, and I always keep a plan 'B' handy in case of need. So far I've lived over 13 years in one location, and will keep it a secret as the government would likely make changes if it knew it existed. I'll only say that the country is Communist and not so free for most of its inhabitants.
New Zealand is one of my favorites! I've lived all over the world and find NZ to be one of the most progressive countries despite their British influence.
And I forgot to include Australia where you can walk down the street with a joint and a cop won't even look at you. Why don't we all go in on an island somewhere in the South Pacific and start our own country!
Which "country" is the most liberal? What happens when you run out of liberal property? Washington, D.C., NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco are quite liberal.
I've heard that The Philippines is a pretty fair trade off. English is spoken throughout the country. Laws are similar. Though expensive one can own firearms there. The cost of living is less. Pleasant weather and warm temperatures for most of the year. Sounds like a nice place to retire.:sunny:
Don't be fucking ridiculous. We banned shrooms not so long ago (2006 I think it was). And the Catholic church still has a lot of influence (compared to the rest of Europe at least). And don't forget we're not so long out of a fucking war. Really liberal.
sorry ta disappoint ya kid,but the wars not over yet.as for the rest.be wise an do one! now dont ya just love liberals! ha! ha! slan.
I think if you didnt include the USA on your list of Liberal countries - not many would have noticed even if they had a list with it written on - you gotta be fuckin kidding us !!! I'm still.. wouha ha ha ha h MA WOUHA HA HA HAAAAAAR - oh jez I'm off again - oh fuck my sides are hurting i gotta stop
Strange that you associate these things with liberalism, when actually they are connected to extreme right-wing ideas. Do you even know what liberal means?
Hippyman if you are looking for a country that is tolerant to drugs and its leisure uses then you needto read the drug reports under www.state.gov. These reports are available every year. I read them with pleasure. Lucky2
People shouldn't be listing Sweden when it comes to privacy. Their newish Internet snooping makes the US look like a privacy haven. Netherlands for sure.