[cinives]

Is a free society defined as one in which government can't legislate to some degree how private businesses conduct their affairs? Is the US then a free society?

Yes. Once a government starts telling people how to conduct their business, where do you draw the line ? You cannot, you've lost the argument, because the first restriction negates the principle. So no, the US is not a free society, strictly speaking, but we are freer than most. There are a lot of us who'd like to improve that percentage of freedom.

If you read "Socialism" you wouldn't have to ask these questions. And no, unfortunately, socialist nations can appear to prosper for a long time before they collapse from their internal contradictions. Why do you think the liberal part of the US population think that Europeans have a better living standard than we do ?

I lived in Norway for a year some years ago, and those who were socialists/communists always said, well, that society didn't implement socialism correctly, but the next socialist experiment will be much better. The problem is, there's no end to this type of utopian statement.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

So no, the US is not a free society, strictly speaking, but we are freer than most.

So apparently no such "free society" (as defined by the book you refer to) actually exists? I don't pretend to any academic knowledge about the topic, I was just pointing out that in the comparison between China and India, there are real reasons for foreign investors to prefer the dictatorship over the democracy. Indian democracy and populist pressures drove Coca-Cola out of India in the '70s, to name one example.

Why do you think the liberal part of the US population think that Europeans have a better living standard than we do ?

Beats me. I spend a couple of months a year in Germany for work. I know there is a large permanently unemployed sector with generous benefits, a large number of early retirees and a large number of vacations and holidays for the workers who fund the others. It doesn't appear to be sustainable in a world with more willing workforces.