Libertarian Country?

Discussion in 'Politics' started by Rearden Metal, Apr 2, 2004.

Which Nation is currently closest to the Libertarian ideal?

  1. U.S.A.

    9 vote(s)
    13.8%
  2. Canada

    5 vote(s)
    7.7%
  3. Bahamas

    4 vote(s)
    6.2%
  4. Costa Rica

    1 vote(s)
    1.5%
  5. Monaco

    9 vote(s)
    13.8%
  6. Netherlands

    10 vote(s)
    15.4%
  7. Switzerland

    14 vote(s)
    21.5%
  8. Other

    13 vote(s)
    20.0%
  1. Wow!

    I'm a little surprised at the multicultural part though - I would have though it was a basically homogenous society, with aborigines and the predominant non-white ethnic group being S.E Asians.

    Anyhow, sounds great and what about the weather (for a Canadian that is huge!!).
     
    #41     Jan 21, 2007
  2. I dont know if your being facetious tradernick, as far as ethnocentricity goes, the larger cities have their enclaves same as anywhere, and numerically, i suppose its fair south east asians make up the majority, according to officiall statistcs. Theres lots of places, eg, western sydney, where there just arent many shop signs in english, just like "chinatown", there are predominantly lebanese, or arabic speaking suburbs.
    (Yes, i realise they all hate each others guts)

    That being said, the australian capital territory is "different" due to the respective wealth of the public service, who truly are actually culturally diversified, reasonably educated, and so upper middle class as to make Canberrra perhaps the least affordable places to own a house, if judged from the mean.


    As far as weather goes, i can only imagine a canadian would feel right at home here, honestly its pathetic-i lived in outback newsouth wales, and north queensland, stinking hot inhuman environments really.

    From a canadian perspective, cold but not shovelling snow in winter, hot, very hot, but no blackflies in summer-although its middle of summer here, and compared to the outback or queensland (with floridian humidity) its just lame really.

    Put it this way-the kind of seasonal weather in this region, is such that it would make the snowbird migrations in the states totally unnecessary.
     
    #42     Jan 21, 2007
  3. Actually I wasn't. I was under the impression that the big AUS and NZ cities were significantly more homogenous than the average i.e. U.S. city. My idea of 'multicultural' is skewed, of course, because I live in Toronto.

    The heat wouldn't bother me, that's for sure.
     
    #43     Jan 21, 2007

  4. Honestly, i dont know, your probably not far off.
    I havent looked at toronto's demography for some time, i can tell you on school trips to melbourne we used to play "spot the aussie" , where caucasians were counted as one, and if you picked say 5 from fifteen , on any given street, you won.

    Nevermind the fact they were likely serbs, albanians, croats, greeks or whatever, it was an exercise in pure cynicism, rather than racism.

    I honestly couldnt tell you if the big cities are more "homogenous", maybe thats correct in many smaller cities though, where assimilation, such as it is, has worked insofar as no "dominant" ethnic groups exist.
    It always depends where in the city you are though.

    I did mention enclaves, and maybe the australian capital territory is just such an enclave-just for some strange reason, their is diverse ethnicity, (due to public service bureacracy) no huge enclaves of anyone as such, probably because its just not that big a place.


    (Edit-i did mention, no manufacturing, no heavy industry or pollution.......this is unique, the entire city is geared towards servicing public servants &politicians)
     
    #44     Jan 21, 2007
  5. Just getting back to the weather, mean summer temperatures 15 + overnight to 24ish, celcius, daytime up to 38 on rare occasion. Midwinter maybe an average of minus 4, through to 14-24 degrees c during the day, very rough averages.

    Its a good spread, considering.
     
    #45     Jan 21, 2007
  6. canberra & surroundings are OK nice, clean air, nice natural environment but... low tax rate aside - didn't know about that! -, its kinda difficult to fall in love with the place i'd think... jmo...
     
    #46     Jan 22, 2007
  7. Canada is more like a fifedom these days lol

    Alberta with its oil economy, and then Quebec with its "nation status". BC the pot capital.

    It is brutal up here - kids are forced to learn French up until grade 9 or 10. And our 'free' health care system. I've never paid one penny for health care in my life. Brutal I tell ya. We have it rough. :p

    OOHHHHHH what a socialist nightmare state I live in . Please USA, please "liberate" me. I want freedom at the barrel of the USA soldier's gun. I long to live under the heel of the USA military. Why why must I live in this failed state (that has lots of oil, BTW)
     
    #47     Jan 22, 2007
  8. The decriminalised pot laws apply only to ACT (Canberra), South Australia (Adelaide), Western Australia (Perth) and the Northern Territory (Darwin). Elsewhere it is a criminal offense although in most states they have a cautioning system to let off first offenders.

    All the other points I mentioned in my earlier post (Offshore Banking Units etc.) are the same Australia wide.

    acronym and 2cents assessments are spot on.

    Compared to the USA, crime rates are relatively low as it is almost impossible to buy handguns or rifles and the social security system is very good.

    There is a Casino in every state and territory and infact the Crown casino in Melbourne is the largest in the world in terms of "tables" (about 450 if I remember right). High roller rooms with betting limits that put even Vegas to shame.

    Beaches in every coastal city are also excellent as is the general climate.

    Want to live in the worlds tallest residential building?
    http://www.q1.com.au/

    Legal brothel wise, here is a sample of what is available:
    http://www.stiletto.net.au/
    http://www.tiffanysgirls.com.au/
    http://www.gotham-city.com.au/
    http://www.dailyplanet.com.au/
    http://www.pentagongrand.com/

    ....no law enforcement stings busting down the door, no drug using rippoff merchants or dealing with shady characters and usually excellent all inclusive service is standard. Prices are not too high either in US dollar terms (US $250 an hour for girls in the websites listed above). Any girl can legally set herself up as a private independant "working lady", Australia wide and off-course there are anti-pimping laws.

    Another good thing - recent changes to pre-nuptial laws have made those agreements alot more binding and if you get married here and have an agreement - it will be tough for a spouse to oppose it.

    The only hassle is the time zone difference if your trading USA markets. A 9.30 am NY open is (nowadays during summer daylight saving hours) a 1.30 am start in Sydney, although that gets pushed back in winter (Nov-Mar is summer time) by a couple of hours and if your living in Perth its about another couple of hours further back. So you either work nightshifts (not easy sleeping in the day) or you trade either Asian or European markets instead.

    Hope this helps
     
    #48     Jan 23, 2007
  9. johnsam

    johnsam

    Decriminalisation has an added effect of making girls safer (with regards to sex workers). As it is not illegal, there is little reason not to work in a brothel rather than working the streets. Some sites I have seen, such as http://www.sydneybrothelsreview.com.au even work with organisations like the Scarlett Alliance to stamp out sexual slavery.
     
    #49     May 14, 2010
  10. Economically? Hong Kong hands down. Switzerland, Monaco, and Singapore are probably all in the top 5.

    Socially? Canada, Netherlands, etc.

    All factors considered? I'd say Estonia or Lithuania in recent years.

     
    #50     May 14, 2010