If America values freedom so much then how do you explain this?

Question

The following are country rankings in Reporters Without Borders' press freedom index. The higher a country is the freer its press is.

8th - Slovakia
9th - Czech Republic, Slovenia
11th - Estonia
12th - Hungary
16th - Latvia
21st - Lithuania
25th - Benin, Namibia
28th - El Salvador
33rd - Bosnia and Herzegovina
43rd - Macedonia
44th - UNITED STATES
45th - Bolivia
46th - Uruguay
47th - Israel
48th - Mozambique
50th - Chile

As you can see 6 former Soviet countries and 3 former Yugoslavian countries actually rank above the USA, as well as a number of African countries.

All but one (Poland) of the 25 EU countries rank above the USA. Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan and New Zealand also rank above the USA. In other words every major democratic country except Russia (and is Russia even democratic?) ranks above the USA. For a country that values its freedoms so highly, this is a very poor record. The question is, are the American people aware of this?

http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554

Answer 1

The US has freedom in most areas. Besides, today the only reason a person can be brainwashed is if he is lazy to seek different perspectives on issues, which is abound on the internet.

The real culprits in the media are in my opinion the corporations, AIPAC, and the religious zealots along with the republican party.

Sinces media is being paid for by the corporations, guess who's gonna control it. Religious zealots are a major force in politics cause they vote, and corporations want their money and attention. AIPAC, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, is a powerhouse of resources and financial support to politicians. Somehow they've convinced or are convincing the American public that it is an American "responsibility" to support Israel. The media never tries to explain why this is forced on the public, because, doh if u don't get ure so stupid!!! Of special importance is the fact that politicians are willing to side with AIPAC even on issues which run counter to US National Interests.

Answer 2

I've never seen these stats before,but it really doesn't surprise me. I do have questions about the credibility of this list. Like some of these commie countries with high ranking, if the reporter doesn't say what their govt's want to hear,they might be in for a bad day. And we Americans are too busy trying to earn a living,and caught up in sports and sex shows to really care about whats going on around us. But that's how the powers that be planned it.

Answer 3

Richie: Remember you're in America. We're like the hypocritical Dad who tells you not to smoke or drink, and then is a perpetual alcoholic and chain smokes. Thankfully the rampant disease of censorship is soon to be slain by the untouched freedom of the Internet.

LOL...nice answer Richie. I just got my laugh for the night thanks to you. =)

Practice what you preach is my motto, and so far I haven't seen any government official doing this. They run their mouth off more than we do, and often say just the wrong thing. If anyone got a really close look at what runs our government, they'd probably run away screaming. I think it was Jeff Foxworthy that said about George W. 'Goober's got the keys to the big house'. This is about sooo much more than censorship and freedoms of speech. It's about how we got to this point in the first place.

Answer 4

Some of Us do but we're attached by our teachers and authority figures by them saying we don't understand what our 1st amendment or second amendment right were really saying r that Jefferson and our other founding fathers didn't know that firearms would become so powerful. ( which it was written in so in case our government became to tyrannic)Our gov. has been ebbing away our rigths for years they start with reasonable things like oh get a permit to assemble. register your guns when every day our government takes our rights away and the general sheep our all to willing to give it up. Oh it's for national security that we need the patriot act. all of these things are against our constitutional rights but no one seems to notice.

Answer 5

The fact that you can even ask this question shows this country values freedom. That is an interesting poll though, i wonder who ranked the most free.

Answer 6

Remember you're in America. We're like the hypocritical Dad who tells you not to smoke or drink, and then is a perpetual alcoholic and chain smokes. Thankfully the rampant disease of censorship is soon to be slain by the untouched freedom of the Internet.

Answer 7

where did you get this list from ?
america seems to think that you have freedom of speech and whatever else that you have, but you don't... everything is hidden from you... the media has you eating out of their hands... like with 9/11 and the pentagon, considering the media told the us that a plane crashed into it... but it would of brought the whole place down just like with the wtc in new york... you are being Brainwashed by the media !

Answer 8

The article says that the U.S. lost points for imprisoning Judith Miller for refusing to give up her source for the Valerie Plame deal. (She didn't even write an article on it.) And also lost points for moving to restrict journalists' sources. The Bush administration doesn't want its people protected when they talk to the press so we won't find out what's really going on in government. People voted in this guy, they shouldn't be surprised at how anti-Constitution he is.

Answer 9

Maybe Other Countrys Value It More

Answer 10

ZZzzzz... Evidently you don't use that thing in your head that much. People of the U.S. try to be respectful of many things, especially freedom of religion. The only way I see that the U.S. may not seem so free is that the tv culture is stricter than it is...not enough freedom for you? Too bad.... Some people care what their children see on the telly...hehe