More Stossel lunacy, seasoned with drivel.

John Stossel’s readers must be either confused or more likely, simply dismally unperceptive.  A recent column discusses the “Freedom index” which is a ranking of nations based a collection of several fairly divergent statistics. Among these are “freedom to trade, amount of regulations and tax, plus personal freedoms such as women’s rights and religious freedom.”  This opener then degenerates into a typical "Stossellian"  rant against all things government and anything not robber baron, free market in nature.

        Remember, this is the same man who said, in an op-ed column of Aug 30, 2017, that $99 dollar a gallon bottled water in Houston in Hurricane Irma’s wake was really just “sound market economics, not price gouging.”  Then, in what is a real head shaker, he chided Bill O’Reilly, a drinker of bottled water, on Faux News, telling him that “You’re being scammed, but you can afford it” while pooh- pooing bottled water (a valid commentary, for once).  

        What is amusing about all this is that many of Stossel’s Readers seem to believe that he’s a conservative “just like them.” And minus critical thinking application, their confusion is understandable. Closer analysis, however reveals something else. Let’s take the “religious and women’s freedom” statistic. Stossel uses these terms as in the absence of interference with personal beliefs or the extension of discrimination to others. US conservatives generally don’t support either,

        In the economic freedom arena, Stossel either has the naivete (or hopes his readers do) to analogize Hong Kong and Switzerland to the US as if their underlying circumstances were even remotely similar in scope, and US “Big Gummint” is the real problem. Along the way he implies that the US is more socialist by far that the others in the top five “free” nations. 

       He lists the bottom five as well, implying that, at some level, Socialism is the culprit, when in fact only one, Venezuela, even claims to be a Socialist state and it is really a dictatorship. The others in the bottom five are four Arab states, all totalitarian semi theocracies, all in the throes of religious sectarian strife, with Syria openly war torn as well.

       So what? To begin with, all five “most free” nations have either universal healthcare (Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong) or, in Switzerland, a nationally mandated requirement for every citizen to buy private, by law non-profit, health insurance. If basic costs exceed a certain percentage of income, the government supplements the cost. You know, precisely like the Affordable Care Act? Additionally, the Swiss have forced military conscription and strict national gun control and registration laws.   So…John what was your point again?