Is America statistically the least free of all the world's countries? ?

Question

America has 5% of the world's population, yet it has 25% of the world's incarcerated population. America leads the world in incarcerating it's own citizens. (China is second, but has over 3x the population). Dictionary.com defines freedom as - the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.

So, by that definition, based on the numbers would you say that America is the least free of all the nations? (* This question is just for thought and discussion, it's not meant to bash America or it's justice system)

Answer 1

I think it means America's justice system is the strictest. Which, to me, is not necessarily a bad thing. Statistically? Yes. In reality? No.

Answer 2

For the first time in history, more than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison...Using updated state-by-state data, the report said 2,319,258 adults were held in U.S. prisons or jails at the start of 2008 — one out of every 99.1 adults, and more than any other country in the world.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/politics-...

So...yes, we have a large number of individuals being confined by our criminal justice system....yet, in a sense it is that same system that allows us to enjoy the freedom that we DO have.  

Our justice system is FAR from perfect (rampant racial discrimination), but I think the one reason our numbers are so high in comparison is because we ARE actually incarcerating people.  Of the world's population....how many of those places do not have institutional means of housing prisoners?  How many places "deal" with their offenders in a 'less-than' official manner?  I think these facts are why the data is skewed in this situation.  

The United States has massive room for improvement...but overall...the freedom that we experience as a country is a wonderful thing.  

Answer 3

noo it's the free'st

Answer 4

When you have 30,000 people a year dying from gunshot wounds, and half of those are homicides that is a big part of the problem. There are more guns than people in the U.S. When you add in all the other major violent crimes, that would explain a lot of it. There are major sociological problems that are being ignored in the U.S.