Mark Humphrys (politics)

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Politics - The World - The unfree world


 


 

  "Not Free" states "Partly Free" states Islamic states







The unfree world

Freedom House ranks countries' political freedoms and civil liberties as "Free", "Partly Free" and "Not Free".

Some of their rankings I am not sure about, but I broadly agree with the big picture. "The free world" was a valid term during the Cold War. And it is still a valid term today to describe the countries where human rights are respected, and government is changed by peaceful argument, debate and voting, rather than by force.

"The unfree world" consists mainly of communist states, Islamic states and African dictators.

I have moved Islamic states to a separate page.




2012: Worst of the Worst 2012: The World's Most Repressive Societies by Freedom House.
Ones allied with US: Saudi Arabia.
Ones with veto at UN: China.
Ones supported by the western left: Cuba, North Korea, Syria.



Milton Friedman, 1977:
"The normal condition of mankind is tyranny and misery."




"Not Free" states






Russia






China







North Korea






Cuba





Vietnam





Cambodia





 



Other communist and ex-communist states





Zimbabwe



Rwanda



Ethiopia



The modern Marxist famine - Tony Allwright, Jan 2004, points out some shocking facts about modern Ethiopia.




Other African states





"Partly Free" states






Burma

  


Thailand




Venezuela




Bolivia


 







"I went to Zwolle. ... There was a policeman in uniform, and I felt a sudden fear when I saw him, but he told me politely, "Our center is full, we're not taking any more refugees, but you can go to Zeewolde." He gave me a bus card and a train ticket and instructions for the journey. ... Police to me were oppressors, demanders of bribes. They were never helpful. I asked him "Why are you helping me?" and he smiled and said, "Those are the rules." I asked, "And is every policeman this kind?" and he replied, "I sure hope so." After this, anything was possible. To me, government was bad. It was crooked and duplicitous and it oppressed you. And here all these people were busy helping you and this for foreigners. How on earth did they treat their own clans?"
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali, in her book Infidel, describes life in the unfree world, so alien to us, where the idea that the government and police might help you is utterly alien.


"Colonel Gaddafi must understand that our country is not a doormat on which a leader, terrorist or not, can come and wipe the blood of his crimes off his feet. France should not receive this kiss of death."
- Rama Yade, French minister for human rights, shows delicious disrespect for the vile dictator Gaddafi on his visit to France in Dec 2007.
Sarkozy may have been angry with her in 2007 for attacking the visit, but she was proved right when Sarkozy himself started bombing Libya in March 2011!


"Let's get rid of them all"
- Tony Blair on the regimes of the unfree world.
He is responding to the "anti-war" argument on Iraq: "Why attack Iraq when there are so many other tyrannies?" Blair brilliantly calls their bluff: Yes. I agree. Let's do them all. Of course this is the last thing the "anti-war" people want! They want all tyrannies to be left alone. The left wants to leave tyrannies alone. I want all tyrannies destroyed, everywhere. This is why I am not a leftist.




 




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Banned in Iran: This site is banned in Iran.

Blocked on Twitter by the regressive left and Islamists: I love debate. I love ideas. But the Western left and their friends the Islamic right do not return the favour. Their response to opposing ideas, whether expressed politely or robustly, is often to block. See Who blocks me on Twitter.

I like debate. But I do have rules. See Who I block on Twitter.

Twitter is broken, 2016 to 2022: I am on Twitter at markhumphrys. Twitter was a great place for debate before 2016. You could meet everyone in the world, and argue about ideas. Starting in 2016, Twitter became increasingly broken. It became full of reporting and bans and censorship. In 2019, Twitter even started shadowbanning me for no reason that was ever explained, or could be appealed. By 2022, everyone was looking for a better place to debate.

Twitter is saved, 2022: In 2022 Elon Musk bought Twitter and started to end the censorship. It looks great so far. Twitter seems to be saved.

Campaigns to silence me: I now have no less than two entries on the Banned List at Academics for Academic Freedom. This is a list of "individuals who were banned from speaking at universities in the UK and Ireland, or faced campaigns to silence them, or sack them for their views." The two campaigns to silence me were the BLM protests (unsuccessful) and the Israel debate (partially successful, in that it drove the debate off campus).