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Old 10-13-2010, 08:55 PM
 
Location: Dayton OH
5,689 posts, read 11,242,793 times
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Somalia is a shining example of a place that is not a police state. There is no government intrusion at all in anyone's life. In fact, there has been no functioning government or government run law enforcement in Somalia for the last 20 years or so. I'm thinking it must be "dream vacation" spot for all the "anti-government" types who want to see what a wonderful thing it is to live without the horrible rule of law watching over everything we do. And hey, in Somalia, you can buy and own all the assault rifles you want (or need) to carry around everywhere you (dare) go.
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Old 10-13-2010, 09:00 PM
 
Location: Austin, Texas
202 posts, read 566,521 times
Reputation: 210
Quote:
Originally Posted by recycled View Post
Somalia is a shining example of a place that is not a police state. There is no government intrusion at all in anyone's life. In fact, there has been no functioning government or government run law enforcement in Somalia for the last 20 years or so. I'm thinking it must be "dream vacation" spot for all the "anti-government" types who want to see what a wonderful thing it is to live without the horrible rule of law watching over everything we do. And hey, in Somalia, you can buy and own all the assault rifles you want (or need) to carry around everywhere you (dare) go.
And you get to be a pirate, too!

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Old 10-14-2010, 10:18 AM
 
Location: A Nation Possessed
25,344 posts, read 18,496,433 times
Reputation: 22218
Quote:
Originally Posted by recycled View Post
Somalia is a shining example of a place that is not a police state. There is no government intrusion at all in anyone's life. In fact, there has been no functioning government or government run law enforcement in Somalia for the last 20 years or so. I'm thinking it must be "dream vacation" spot for all the "anti-government" types who want to see what a wonderful thing it is to live without the horrible rule of law watching over everything we do. And hey, in Somalia, you can buy and own all the assault rifles you want (or need) to carry around everywhere you (dare) go.
I've seen this same comment on a hundred threads of this topic. What you are saying basically is that people are too stupid and/or barbaric to behave themselves... and thus (as goes your implication) need to be coerced by government to retain any sense of decency, humanity, and order. So government repression = people who don't act like Neanderthals.

Sorry, I don't buy it. I can give you hundreds of examples of over-government-regulated nations/kingdoms that were just as horrifyingly barbaric in nature. The only difference is that it was organized and sanctioned by the government. Government is not synonymous with basic decency or civility by a longshot.

Far more important is the basic social structure of the civilization and the traits that have been ingrained into its society. You have to look at its history. You have to look at its traditions. Most importantly, you have to look at the INDIVIDUAL and his/her propensity to accept responsibility for his/her own deeds and behavior. For every person or group that would live in peace their entire lives you have another person or group that would live by the sword. It's always been that way--government or not. My opinion is that government repression and mandate solves nothing. In fact it makes things worse. Very few people (good or bad) thrive when having every little aspect of their lives managed and every reward for their efforts confiscated. Only the sheep. And to say that, in the absence of a government twisting our arms, you or I or anyone else would be running around with an AK-47 like a moron, blowing people away because we don't like the color of their eyes, is a pretty damned short-sighted, inaccurate, degrading, and insulting attitude.

For thousands of years, our species has been cycling (when not interrupted by a war or invasion) through an infinite loop of growing government repression, popular revolt, reformation, growing government repression, popular revolt, reformation, growing government repression, popular revolt, reformation, ad nauseum. When are we going to realize that repression under a ruling class, no matter what sort of little pink bow and lipstick you put on it, has never been, is not, and never will be the answer?




And as a side note: you, I, and everyone else knows that when we are discussing big/overblown/repressive government, we are not talking about basic criminal law or law enforcement. At least I'm assuming we know; it should be obvious.

Last edited by ChrisC; 10-14-2010 at 10:37 AM..
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Old 10-14-2010, 12:10 PM
 
Location: 30-40°N 90-100°W
13,809 posts, read 26,479,472 times
Reputation: 6783
Ireland, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland are considered pretty free. They may not have all the features you want though.

Setting everything to "crucial" at a site called "Free Existence" I get Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Australia as the freest.

Freedom Index : Find Freedom!

I think there are parts of Western Australia that have a good deal of open spaces where you can maybe avoid things. Although going that route you could maybe find a platform in international waters.
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Old 10-14-2010, 02:34 PM
 
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
5,921 posts, read 13,802,690 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by teachertype View Post
the major philosophical question of our time....briefs, or boxers?
Depends ...
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Old 10-14-2010, 03:19 PM
 
Location: Austin, Texas
202 posts, read 566,521 times
Reputation: 210
@ChrisC: dude, we were joking...
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Old 10-14-2010, 09:11 PM
 
Location: Murika
2,526 posts, read 2,996,781 times
Reputation: 1929
Quote:
Originally Posted by elcoyoteloco View Post
What about Costa Rica? They don't even have a military, which is incredible when you consider that they're in the same neighborhood as Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Panama. They were my top choice until I decided to move to central Europe.
Well, yes. I lived in rural Costa Rica for about a decade. I always joked that I could ride my motorcycle through town, completely naked, against the flow of traffic, with a bottle of scotch in one hand while shooting a gun into the air with the other - all the police in my town would do is wave hello at the crazy gringo.

Naturally, it's a cash society and banking there is a big old insecure mess with government requiring banks to register their customers, etc. Not a whole lot of fun in that respect.

I think you will find this type of freedom in many developing nations. However, you should be aware that it ALWAYS comes at a cost: Since the police won't do anything about the things I do, they also won't do anything if somebody does something to me!

Also, the comment regarding corruption is spot on!

Alas, there is no surveillance since funds for such simply do not exist. People don't snitch - we all know who the drug dealers in town are and nobody would ever say anything (not that the police would act, mind you). Databases and Costa Rica cannot be mentioned in the same sentence - think old-fashioned typewriters, not computers in much of the country. I have never been searched - but you do get scanned for weapons when entering banks and courts. Government occasionally does confiscate property if the property is built on illegally, sits in a National Park, etc. There is a bit of licensing and regulating but, as I said before, corruption is rampant and enforcement is mostly non-existent - I could tell you many, many stories... Finally, I don't think there is a climate of fear, although most Costa Ricans are quite aware of the increase in crime the country has seen in the past decade (and no, that increase was not due to my presence).
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Old 10-16-2010, 07:14 PM
 
4 posts, read 7,770 times
Reputation: 12
eh I can only speak to the places I have lived and as they say your millage may vary.. Having lived in Germany, Spain, UK, and currently in the US.. I have had the least GENERAL govt interferance in the US now thats not to say its perfect eg outdated marijuana laws but in general I never interact with police where in the previous countries I had been stopped for being in a certain area late at night.. It depends what you are looking for and not all states in the US are the same... I am in Virginia which is one of the states with very little govt bullcrap and low taxes. I hope this helps
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Old 10-21-2010, 06:29 PM
 
Location: MO->MI->CA->TX->MA
7,022 posts, read 14,425,394 times
Reputation: 5569
Try the Netherlands.. at least they're very liberal when it comes to personal freedoms..
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Old 10-22-2010, 02:15 PM
 
Location: Duluth, Minnesota, USA
7,641 posts, read 18,066,243 times
Reputation: 6913
Quote:
Originally Posted by ragnarkar View Post
Try the Netherlands.. at least they're very liberal when it comes to personal freedoms..
If you want to engage in anal sex in a public park or watch hardcore pornography aimed at teens on public television, then sure, it's your place, but many of the personal freedoms Americans enjoy are not to be found in the Netherlands. For example, there are countless obstructions to building your own house on YOUR land (so many as to make it impossible to build anything other than a modern-style house), gun rights are virtually non-existent in comparison with the U.S, and the government forfeits about half of your income. Really "free"...
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