How important is freedom?

There are many different forms of governments out there: dictatorships, monarchies, democratic republics, aristocracies, etc. The United States of America, for example, is described by the Central Intelligence Agency’s website as a “constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition.”

So what makes one system of government better than the next? Is it how well the various ethnic groups or religions are represented in the governing body? Or perhaps, it is how much personal freedom each individual has that determines which government is better. Many of us may say it depends on the average income of the citizens.

The “World Happiness Report” (which can be found here) lists Denmark as the 2016 world’s happiest country. Index Mundi, which lists statistics on many different counties, however, lists Denmark at as having the 32^nd highest GDP in the world. Qatar, by the same reports, is listed at number 1 in regards to GDP, and number 36 in happiness. Clearly, money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does help.

I say it the one true way to judge a government is by the types of lives its people live. Truly, if the citizens of a nation are truly happy, what else matters?

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Take a citizen living in a dictatorship in the New Floridian Order. She is told to wear certain clothes, work a certain job, and live in a certain place. She also doesn’t earn any money. How could she possibly be happy? Surely, the Northern Virginia Democracy should step in, remove the dictator, and free this citizen and all her peers from oppression.

But what if she’s truly happy? The government told her to wear comfortable yoga pants and a variety of colorful tee-shirts. She works a job that’s mentally exhausting, but she has short hours and plenty of time to spend doing her hobbies. She lives in a government-owned 3500 square foot home, where she goes to a local government cafeteria and enjoys a choice of many delicious foods for every meal. Her government also has eliminated currency, and provides the citizens with everything they need.

Now, that doesn’t sound too bad does it?! For having been told our entire lives how terrible a dictatorship is, that almost seems like a dream come true. While I grant you, it is indeed a fabrication, the point is: a government is not benevolent or malevolent based on the system it uses. It is the people that corrupt it.

Let’s look inward at the United States. Some Americans believe the US is the pinnacle of freedom. To quote the great Miley Cyrus, “It's our party we can do what we want. It's our party we can say what we want. It's our party we can love who we want. We can kiss who we want. We can sing what we want.”

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If we have so much freedom, how are we not the happiest nation on Earth? We are 13th on the list. Not bad, granted, and yet Israel, a nation constantly at war and in danger of being wiped off the face of the map, is number 11.

A dictatorship in the wrong hands usually ends up going awry. Look at North Korea for example. Yet, with the right person in charge, it doesn't have to be that way!

The point is, look beyond a system of government to what that government actually does to its people. The right people in the right positions can make all the difference in the world. People should be happy, not just “free.”

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