organization help: Another Free Country

Khalivarsha²

Another Free Country

Hey help.com. I’m sorry that this isn’t par for the course, with stories of how upset I am with my girlfriend/family/whatever. I’m hoping some of you are international and know a thing or two about this, though. I’m living in America, but I’m looking to move to another country. Perhaps you can help me do some research. I’m looking for this kind of country -

> Freedom of Press, to the point where there is no major, government-run news organization.
> Freedom of Religion, to the point where religious values aren’t a common discussion in politics.
> Regulated campaign finance laws, so that no political candidate is running for years on millions of contribution dollars.
> No contracts with the International Monetary Fund, or any other international bank that has a history of buying and selling countries.
> Strong enough middle class, just to the point that the average person is not in debt.

Not necessary, but preferable:
> High literacy rate
> High multi-lingual rate
> Notably lower incarceration rate than U.S./China
> Low history of initiating military conflict

I don’t really care about weather, what language they speak, a big consumer economy, or anything like that.

Any ideas?

This open post was written 2 years ago | V/U/S: 623, 3, 3 | Edit Post | Leave a reply | Report Post

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Since writing this post Khalivarsha² may have helped people, but has not within the last 4 days. Khalivarsha² is a verified member, has been around for 5 years, 4 months and has 16 posts and 735 replies to their name.

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International Monetary Fund, Consumer economy, Religious values, Campaign finance, Another Country, international, Incarceration, strong enough, organization, middle class (How Tags Affect Reciprocity)

Replies (3)

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Anonymous #
2 years ago (52 minutes after post)

I don’t know. But I can apply you list to my own country, the Netherlands:

> Freedom of Press, to the point where there is no major, government-run news organization.
- Is that possible..? Here you have public and commercial tv channels, public means with government funding. Don’t know if the news on there is run by the government though. I wouldn’t think so.

> Freedom of Religion, to the point where religious values aren’t a common discussion in politics.
- Hm.. There are a couple of Christian political parties and we have Geert Wilders who wants to ban the Qur’an. Wilders likes to engage in pointless discussion. So yeah, religion is a hot topic.

> Regulated campaign finance laws, so that no political candidate is running for years on millions of contribution dollars.
- No. I don’t think that happens here. We have parties who can get funding if they comply to several rules. They run as parties, not as single persons. When one party wins they produce a candidate who becomes the minister-president.

> No contracts with the International Monetary Fund, or any other international bank that has a history of buying and selling countries.
- Know nothing about this.

> Strong enough middle class, just to the point that the average person is not in debt.
- No debts here. I think. At least I don’t know people who are in debt.. People who buy houses maybe. But you can’t get a loan of millions of euros. You pay your stuff not with a credit card (you can, but you don’t have to) but with a master card.
Also, university is relatively cheap, especially compared to the US. About 1700€ a year for BA and €8000 a year for MA. And the level is really good. Of course, in Sweden and Scotland it’s cheaper: free.

Not necessary, but preferable:
> High literacy rate
- Ahuh. Everybody has to go to school..

> High multi-lingual rate
- Well, anyone who is smart enough *has* to study a second language for some time in secondary school. Most people speak English (except maybe the older generation). We have subtitled movies/tv-programs (only children’s programs are dubbed), so people generally hear foreign languages when they turn on the tv.

> Notably lower incarceration rate than U.S./China
- Don’t know about this. But there’s no death penalty and only a handful of lifers.

> Low history of initiating military conflict
- The country tried to stay neutral in WWI and WWII. But we had a minister-president who liked Bush so there’s quite some troops left in Afghanistan. They’re leaving soon apparently. And also, centuries ago we traded slaves :( But didn’t Americans do that as well?

I don't know. But I can apply you list to my own country, the Netherlands:

> Freedom of Press, to the point where there is no major, government-run news organization.
 - Is that possible..? Here you have public and commercial tv channels, public means with government funding. Don't know if the news on there is run by the government though. I wouldn't think so.

> Freedom of Religion, to the point where religious values aren’t a common discussion in politics.
- Hm.. There are a couple of Christian political parties and we have Geert Wilders who wants to ban the Qur'an. Wilders likes to engage in pointless discussion. So yeah, religion is a hot topic.

> Regulated campaign finance laws, so that no political candidate is running for years on millions of contribution dollars.
- No. I don't think that happens here. We have parties who can get funding if they comply to several rules. They run as parties, not as single persons. When one party wins they produce a candidate who becomes the minister-president.

> No contracts with the International Monetary Fund, or any other international bank that has a history of buying and selling countries.
- Know nothing about this.

> Strong enough middle class, just to the point that the average person is not in debt.
- No debts here. I think. At least I don't know people who are in debt.. People who buy houses maybe. But you can't get a loan of millions of euros. You pay your stuff not with a credit card (you can, but you don't have to) but with a master card.
Also, university is relatively cheap, especially compared to the US. About 1700€ a year for BA and €8000 a year for MA. And the level is really good. Of course, in Sweden and Scotland it's cheaper: free.

Not necessary, but preferable:
 > High literacy rate
- Ahuh. Everybody has to go to school..

> High multi-lingual rate
- Well, anyone who is smart enough *has* to study a second language for some time in secondary school. Most people speak English (except maybe the older generation). We have subtitled movies/tv-programs (only children's programs are dubbed), so people generally hear foreign languages when they turn on the tv.

> Notably lower incarceration rate than U.S./China
- Don't know about this. But there's no death penalty and only a handful of lifers.

> Low history of initiating military conflict
- The country tried to stay neutral in WWI and WWII. But we had a minister-president who liked Bush so there's quite some troops left in Afghanistan. They're leaving soon apparently. And also, centuries ago we traded slaves :( But didn't Americans do that as well?