Freedom and Communism

Here’s a meme a reader sent me that shows a near-complete misunderstanding of world politics.

First, there are no countries on Earth that even remotely resemble communism, i.e., Karl Marx’s concept of a socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money, and the state.  There are, of course, a huge number of authoritarian regimes, but again, they have no characteristics that are in any way communist.

Further, freedom exists on a gradient scale.  The United States ranks 15th in the world freedom rankings, which are calculated annually, based on freedom of speech, freedom of religion, individual economic choice, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, violence and crimes, freedom of movement, and women’s rights. Currently, the freest countries are New Zealand and Switzerland, and Venezuela and North Korea are at the bottom.