I remember sitting at a conference in which he said, " A country gets the amount of freedom it can afford."

I have run this over in my mind many times, trying to explain it away. Was he saying that freedom is shunted aside when it gets in the way of economic well being?

Or perhaps, only the rich can afford freedom? Poor nations lack freedom because they are poor? In this case curing poverty would be the cure and ensure freedom for all.

Maybe he meant, freedom is costly and it requires surplus captial to put up with the inefficiencies of democratic government?

No matter the analysis, there is an element in our society that will always associate money with everything. According to them it is the cause, it is the cure.

Son of a gun. That's what Karl Marx said, he called it "Economic Determinism!"

Wow, apparently we have a lot of closet Marxists on these boards!

Publius