30 Years in Hong Kong(webb-site.com)
webb-site.com
30 Years in Hong Kong
https://webb-site.com/articles/30years.asp
24 comments
Saudi Arabia ranked ahead of where I pay taxes (France) on that Heritage list. That’s a surprise but also a reinforcement of the idea that economic freedom does not always strictly align with political freedom.
The heritage foundation is a classic us conservative think thank and they like Saudi Arabia and don’t particular like France.
It is just politics.
Of course, you are much more free in France / the eu, including when it comes to economic matters.
It is just politics.
Of course, you are much more free in France / the eu, including when it comes to economic matters.
I guess it depends on the definition of ‘economically free’. Maybe it is easier/less regulated opening a business in Saudi than in France? Or just faster and less paperwork? Maybe it is far easier to hire/fire people in Saudi?
Having worked there for a while, everything about running a business in Saudi is pretty nightmarish. But importing virtual slave labor from the third world and working them to death (all too often literally) is cheap.
That's the same sort of freedom that the foundation's name refers to, so SA scoring well adds up.
> I guess it depends on the definition of ‘economically free’. Maybe it is easier/less regulated opening a business in Saudi than in France? Or just faster and less paperwork? Maybe it is far easier to hire/fire people in Saudi?
A lot of it is probably partially due to dumb methodology. They have Saudi Arabia's tax burden rated at 99.1%, but that's probably because Heritage is all less taxes == more better and Saudi Arabia's government is basically a state-owned oil company, so they basically don't tax at all.
A lot of it is probably partially due to dumb methodology. They have Saudi Arabia's tax burden rated at 99.1%, but that's probably because Heritage is all less taxes == more better and Saudi Arabia's government is basically a state-owned oil company, so they basically don't tax at all.
Saudi Arabia has a 0% tax rate.
Though, I will second a neighbour comment from Clewza313.
The veil of regulatory liberalism of Gulf countries crumble after your first in person interaction with a local official.
Though, I will second a neighbour comment from Clewza313.
The veil of regulatory liberalism of Gulf countries crumble after your first in person interaction with a local official.
Conservative lost its meaning, now we just say "republican", with a lowercase r.
Edit- Do conservatives make new government walls, tariffs, new taxes/tax structures, new tax credits, new gun regulations? I even heard an interesting idea, why are conservatives destroying the environment, they shouldn't want the environment to change if they are conservative.
Anyway, the 2020s breed of "conservatives" would be seen as liberals in the eyes of 2000s or 1980s "conservatives".
Edit- Do conservatives make new government walls, tariffs, new taxes/tax structures, new tax credits, new gun regulations? I even heard an interesting idea, why are conservatives destroying the environment, they shouldn't want the environment to change if they are conservative.
Anyway, the 2020s breed of "conservatives" would be seen as liberals in the eyes of 2000s or 1980s "conservatives".
Samely, an unpleasant surprise that somehow even India with its "bureaucratic tyranny" managed to outscore a lot of Western countries as of late.
Indeed, there is a low tax burden but also little freedom of expression.
That is why I included RSF's press freedom index also.
Hmm. Perhaps the Heritage index was not relevant.
That is why I included RSF's press freedom index also.
Hmm. Perhaps the Heritage index was not relevant.
Don’t forget the Corruption Perceptions Index:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index
I do not want the kind of 'freedom' that the Heritage Foundation promotes.
So you are going to move to Singapore?
> Freedom is evaporating everywhere. Who will fight?
You will. If an average person can say "I will fight," people will fight, if an average person can't say "I will fight," people wouldn't, and will be subverted by ones who can. That's the only hard truth there.
You people in the West, do not forget. Your freedom did not simply fall upon you from the sky once you reached some development level.
Your freedom was paid in blood, guts, and violence. This is a simple historical fact. What you call the developed West today had the biggest share of revolutions, civil wars, regular wars, and general social strife than the rest of the world combined over the last 200-300 years.
The shackles of slavery are very easy to put on, but extremely pricey to get rid of.
Historically, great injustices almost never quietly resolved on themselves. They were either ended by external influence, or failed catastrophically in a burst of extreme violence, like slave uprisings, serf revolts, revolutions, and such.
Some keep telling that lessons of the French revolution(s) are no longer relevant today, I'd say they are scarily getting more, and more relevant with each passing year.
You will. If an average person can say "I will fight," people will fight, if an average person can't say "I will fight," people wouldn't, and will be subverted by ones who can. That's the only hard truth there.
You people in the West, do not forget. Your freedom did not simply fall upon you from the sky once you reached some development level.
Your freedom was paid in blood, guts, and violence. This is a simple historical fact. What you call the developed West today had the biggest share of revolutions, civil wars, regular wars, and general social strife than the rest of the world combined over the last 200-300 years.
The shackles of slavery are very easy to put on, but extremely pricey to get rid of.
Historically, great injustices almost never quietly resolved on themselves. They were either ended by external influence, or failed catastrophically in a burst of extreme violence, like slave uprisings, serf revolts, revolutions, and such.
Some keep telling that lessons of the French revolution(s) are no longer relevant today, I'd say they are scarily getting more, and more relevant with each passing year.
LeBron James criticized for saying Rockets GM 'misinformed' on Hong Kong
"It's sad to see him join the chorus kowtowing to Community China & putting profits over human rights for #HongKong," Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., tweeted.
Profits first
Profits first
Apple too. Ban pro freedom Apps, hand data over to dictatorships.
Think different.
Think different.
jinguang(1)
Ironically, this sort of quashing of freedom is the only hope the US has of maintaining any sort of global hegemony.
If China had a political process robust enough to elect and then retire a Trump-like figure, the US would simply be the inferior superpower. The only structural advantage I see for the US these days is the superior legal and political framework.
If China had a political process robust enough to elect and then retire a Trump-like figure, the US would simply be the inferior superpower. The only structural advantage I see for the US these days is the superior legal and political framework.
[deleted]
No individual citizen can take on states of as obscene size as never before seen.
What you can do is to stop sponsoring authoritarianism. Vote with your feet (and move). Pay your taxes to some place freer:
https://www.heritage.org/index/heatmap
https://rsf.org/en/ranking