[AnotherUnixGeek]

csh? Not since bash was invented. 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? It seems to me that people in a free society can and do exert pressures on their governments to impose restrictions on foreign-owned and multinational businesses, such as requiring some percentage of domestic content, that are hardly to the benefit of foreign investors.

For an excellent economics education read the book "Socialism" by Ludwig von Mises. He comprehensively debunks the notion of a planned economy and its sustainability.

Thanks, but Socialist nations have already done a much better of job of debunking any such notions.

[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.