I think that to many westerners associate freedom with democracy is a big problem. Democracy isn't a synonym for "freedom" as less monarchy is a synonym for serfdome. In pre WW1 Austria people had way more economical and social freedoms than today. But as soon democracy and the need for people to believe that government can be good became a state religion, its easier to take freedom away as long everyone believes its to protect the higher cause of mambo jambo. A good example is the mentioning of "female rights" in this strange Index. What rights do a woman more have than a man? What are "rights"? We have a conceptual confusion already with those things. People think a right is a entitlement to stuff. I have a right to my life and a right to my liberty. Lilteraly this means i have the right to be left alone and not be burded with taxes and laws what to eat, what to drink, what to take and what to do. Europeans think, that a right is a entitlement like the right to housing and healthcare. The UNO listens these demands as basic human rights, which might be sound good for a adult child but infact eliminates the basic right to liberty. Someone has to pay for every demand someone gets, violating his rights. And let me say something about this "female rights" stuff just because it realy pushes buttons on me. As soon women were able to vote, government became from a institution of the defence of its citizens freedom against forgein aggression to a institution that should solve daily life problems. Our society is dominated by women, controlled by women and the results you see in this change. Men vote for less taxation and less government so that they could carry on with their own lifes without the need to spend more working time to feed government services and officials. Women vote for more benifites, welfare, socialism and mostly emotional stuff. Why? Because women look out for someone handle their problems. They are women, they don't get their hands dirty themself. And they are very usefull to those who wanna extend government powers. And as more they get they more they complain and blame man. Women spending is totaly over 20 Trillion USD Worldwide, thats 70% of the Worlds consum spending. They live longer and they retire earlier and don't get drafted except for israel. Doesn't sound oppressed to me. They don't even get less money, they get more according to the statistics and pointed out by Thomas Sowell already in the 1970's. They don't get less they just spend more for useless junk and than blame everyone else for it. And then they dare, they DARE to name their suffering in one line with the victims of racism and slavery. Women get more entitlements to government money while what men wanna do gets restricted more and more. Building regulations, hunting regulations, driving licenses, weapon owning and carring restrictions, No one seams to give a damn about when men lose their rights which are very basic of our civilisation.