Less freedom? In what way, and as compared to whom?
Remember that warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention and constant surveillance are not exclusive to America. Furthermore, and I hate to burst your bubble here, these things all existed in America a long time prior to 9/11. All the Patriot Act did was codify practices already utilized in the War on Drugs and repurpose them to combat terrorism.
The perception that you are now "less free" is a result of opposition to those practices, largely politically driven and (as Obama's practices have shown) insincere, arising in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election.
In short, them good old pre-9/11 days you are pining for never existed. I agree that there is injustice in that, and certainly ways for us to improve in this regard, but so it goes with the rest of the world. We are tied with some, but vastly superior to many thanks to the controls and accountability that we do have in place.
However, our nearly absolute freedom of speech is unique in the world, where either personal speech (hate speech) or political speech is often restricted. These rights continue to expand, as campaign finance laws that restrict speech continue to be knocked down.
Likewise, our right to personal defense continues to expand. In the last 25 years, the right to carry a firearm for your own personal protection has gone from novel and rare to nearly universal in this country. Even prior to this, we were and are one of the few nations that allows it's citizenry to own many types of firearms, and to employ lethal force in defense of one's body and property.
Finally, in regards to our economic freedom ranking, we are largely (almost exclusively) hampered by our excessive corporate tax rate. I agree that this is an issue. However, on a personal level, the picture looks much better. Personal tax rates, and our rock bottom tax rate on capital gains (one of the main reasons ER is so easy in America) speak in our favor. Remember also that investing in tax deferred accounts is severely limited in many parts of the world- to the point where many force you to buy annuities or some other such shit. Here are freedom to invest in equities and reap the benefits of that investment are unparalleled.
Yup, we spend RIDICULOUS amounts on our military. MORE THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD COMBINED! That, my friend, is insane. Who the Hell are we so afraid of?
I'm surprised you have to even ask that question. Here goes:
- China attacking Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and eventually threatening Australia.
- North Korea attacking South Korea, triggering a counterattack that causes the above to start occurring much sooner.
- Russia attempting to annex Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia and eventually Poland, the last forcing the EU to declare war.
- War between Israel and Iran.
Those are just the four big ones. That isn't even counting the little things like the Philippines melting down, allowing communist extremists to take power in the north and Islamic extremists to take power in the south.
None of them are presently likely, precisely because our military is present or implied to respond to each situation.
WWIII is a very real possibility. It can happen. It doesn't happen because half the world is scared of us, and the other half is allied with us (and uses our heavy defense spending to cut their own- see: Canada.)
The downside? ITS EXPENSIVE! Our military is a HUGE DRAIN on the USA. It's a huge part of our government debt. It hurts our economy. Yes, we still have the largest economy (though not on a per capita basis). Keep blowing Trillions on the military, and that won't be the case for a whole lot longer.
Yes, it's quite expensive to keep the world from killing it's self. WWIII is not an acceptable alternative... and I fail to see how any of this takes away from the idea that we are the best. The fact that we have assumed this burden, voluntarily, is to our credit imo.
Remember that warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention and constant surveillance are not exclusive to America. Furthermore, and I hate to burst your bubble here, these things all existed in America a long time prior to 9/11. All the Patriot Act did was codify practices already utilized in the War on Drugs and repurpose them to combat terrorism.
They weren't "non existent" before 9-11, but 9-11 was used as an excuse to take them to obscene levels. I never said the USA was truly free before 9-11, it surely wasn't. The USA is, in many ways, far more repressive than many other nations in a variety of ways, and was even before 9-11.
The insane, failed "War on Drugs" being a great example of ineffective police state activity in the USA before 9-11, resulting in the USA having the highest incarceration rate in the civilized world, much of it for victimless "crimes" like smoking marijuana or hiring a hooker, "crimes" which are non-existent in much of the civilized world.
I've lived overseas, and traveled extensively. If you think the USA is "more free" than most of the western world, you are delusional or uninformed. I'm not saying any other country is perfect, either, but it's insane to claim that the USA is the "freest country in the world."
Finally, in regards to our economic freedom ranking, we are largely (almost exclusively) hampered by our excessive corporate tax rate. I agree that this is an issue. However, on a personal level, the picture looks much better. Personal tax rates, and our rock bottom tax rate on capital gains (one of the main reasons ER is so easy in America) speak in our favor. Remember also that investing in tax deferred accounts is severely limited in many parts of the world- to the point where many force you to buy annuities or some other such shit. Here are freedom to invest in equities and reap the benefits of that investment are unparalleled.
There is a WHOLE LOT more to "economic freedom" than just tax rates. Ridiculous and burdensome REGULATION hugely impinges on economic freedom. And the USA is big on ridiculous and burdensome regulation. Not the worst, but nowhere near the best, either.
- China attacking Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and eventually threatening Australia.
- North Korea attacking South Korea, triggering a counterattack that causes the above to start occurring much sooner.
- Russia attempting to annex Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia and eventually Poland, the last forcing the EU to declare war.
- War between Israel and Iran.
Those are just the four big ones. That isn't even counting the little things like the Philippines melting down, allowing communist extremists to take power in the north and Islamic extremists to take power in the south.
None of them are presently likely, precisely because our military is present or implied to respond to each situation.
WWIII is a very real possibility. It can happen. It doesn't happen because half the world is scared of us, and the other half is allied with us (and uses our heavy defense spending to cut their own- see: Canada.)
Wow, you really buy into the scare tactics used to keep the military industrial complex humming along. My Boeing stock thanks you for not questioning the BS.
After the Cold War ended, the military industrial complex really, really, really needed a Boogeyman to replace the Soviet Union. They haven't really found one, but by "throwing enough shit against the wall" they've managed to convince enough Americans like yourself to "live in fear" of a whole bunch of bad (though highly unlikely) scenarios all occurring at once to keep the "defense (yeah, right)" dollars flowing.
BTW, I would point out that most of those "scare" scenarios you listed are HIGHLY UNLIKELY, and even less likely to occur AT THE SAME TIME. And, frankly, some of them are none of our damned business/not our problem.
South Korea is twice the size of North Korea, and vastly more wealthy. It ain't our damned job to defend South Korea from it's smaller, impoverished neighbor.
If Israel and Iran start something, why would that require the USA to have 10 carrier battle groups, and millions of soldiers? Not our problem.
I'm particularly fond of the way those that benefit from the military industrial complex have tried to turn China into the big, bad, aggressor. You know how many wars China has engaged outside it's borders in the past 150 years? Three. Vietnam (a two week scuffle in 1980), Korea and Tibet.
Guess how many the USA has been involved in? Dozens, large and small, including an invasion of China, BTW.
Just since 1898, we've fought the Spanish, Philippines (twice, not including the Spanish American War), China (Boxer rebellion, I won't count the time we bombed their embassy in the '90s), Mexico (1915), invasions and occupations of Haiti (multiple times)- Dominican Republic (multiple times)- Nicaragua, World War I, Russian Civil War (another one which most Americans are blissfully unaware of), World War 2, Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Lebanon (multiple times), Grenada, Panama, Gulf War, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, and now Iraq/Syria against ISIL.
Good God, man, we shouldn't be worried about China, China and the rest of the world should be worried about us, because we have been involved in more wars, by far, than any other nation in the past 120 years.
We would be just fine, even in your (highly unlikely) "scary" scenarios, with a standing military half the size of what we currently have.
In conclusion, I'd like to see a USA with more personal freedom (there are PLENTY of nations with as much, or more, than we have), less government regulation and more economic freedom (we aren't the worst, but we sure aren't the best), and a less war like stance (costly as Hell- let South Korea, Japan, Germany, etc provide their own defense, they ain't poor- as long as the American taxpayer agrees to foot the bill, they will NEVER take care of themselves).