I’ve just returned from a two-week road trip across America with my kids—a journey that rekindled my deep love for this country… and also stirred a quiet ache I couldn’t ignore.
We didn’t stick to the usual tourist spots. Sure, we saw the Statue of Liberty and wandered through New York and Boston.
But we also went deep into the heartland—driving across South Dakota, visiting the cowboy town of Cody, WY, camping under the stars in Yellowstone, standing beneath Mount Rushmore, watching small-town rodeos, and even learning to shoot guns.
It was beautiful. Awe-inspiring. A window into the raw soul of this nation.
One morning, I was about to post a photo of my kids and me standing under the American flag—captioned “The Land of the Free.”
But my thumb hovered. Because something inside me whispered, That’s not entirely true anymore.
And that’s what today’s email is about.
It’s about freedom—what it really means, why it’s vanishing, and why we should all be concerned. Not just Americans, but all of us.
Where does America actually rank in freedom?
I was shocked to learn that America no longer ranks in the top 10 freest countries in the world.
In fact, not even the top 15.
According to the 2024 Human Freedom Index, America ranks #17—and it’s still falling.
Recent events, growing surveillance, media consolidation, and the erosion of civil rights are accelerating the decline.
Many experts now warn: the U.S. is on the brink of autocracy.
Why do Northern European and select Asian countries consistently outrank America in freedom?
Because they have:
- Strong protections for civil liberties
- Public education systems that teach critical thinking
- Universal healthcare that actually works
- Transparent governance
- Independent media (not owned by six conglomerates)
- Smart regulation that keeps corporate influence in check
Meanwhile, America continues to erode its democratic foundations.
Let’s break it down—with four global indexes that reveal the full picture.
#1: Human Freedom Index
Measured by the Cato Institute and Fraser Institute.
This combines personal freedom (speech, religion, and movement) with economic freedom (property rights and regulatory fairness).
Top countries: Switzerland, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, Estonia
America? Ranked #17—tied with the UK.
Why?
Because of increasing political polarization, declining rule of law, and growing restrictions on bodily autonomy and protest rights.
#2: Press Freedom Index
Measured by Reporters Without Borders.
Evaluates media independence, transparency, and journalist safety.
Top countries: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands
America? Ranked #57.
Why?
Because six corporations own 90% of U.S. media.
Because cable networks profit from division.
Because journalists are threatened and discredited.
Because truth is no longer profitable.
#3: Democracy Index
Published by The Economist Intelligence Unit.
Measures the electoral process, civil liberties, political culture, and government function.
Top countries: Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland
America? Labeled a “flawed ”democracy”—currently around #28.
The country that once exported democracy… now struggles to protect its own.
#4 Internet Freedom
Measured by Freedom House.
Assesses censorship, surveillance, and digital expression.
Top countries: Iceland, Estonia, Canada
America? Not even in the top 10—and declining.
Why?
Policies like requiring visa applicants to hand over social media accounts are undermining digital privacy — and global trust in U.S. tech.
Each index tells the same story:
America is falling behind.
So what does this tell us?
The idea that America is the freest nation on Earth does not hold up against the four global freedom indices.
It’s a myth—one we must lovingly but urgently dismantle if we are to build something better.
What real freedom actually looks like
Real freedom isn’t fireworks and an anthem.
It’s not red, white, and blue—it’s truth, agency, and dignity.
Here’s what real freedom looks like in a modern, awakened society:
Real freedom means…
Freedom from fear
You can walk down the street without fearing bullets, badges, or bills.
Freedom to learn truthfully
Your education isn’t censored by political agendas or banned books.
Freedom to heal
You can access affordable, evidence-based healthcare—without bankrupting your family.
Freedom to vote—and have it count
Your voice isn’t silenced by gerrymandering, voter suppression, or money in politics.
Freedom of thought
Algorithms don’t control your beliefs. You think for yourself—not how the algorithm trained you to.
Freedom to be who you are
Regardless of your race, gender, sexuality, faith, or background—you’re treated with dignity, not suspicion.
Freedom online
The internet is a tool for empowerment, not surveillance, manipulation, or corporate censorship.
Freedom to roam
You can travel, work, and live across borders without bureaucratic chains—as a citizen of the Earth.
Freedom to rise—together
Economic mobility is real. Success isn’t reserved for the zip code you were born into.
Freedom from war
You don’t have to fund invasions while schools crumble and families go hungry.
That’s what freedom looks like.
Not something you claim.
Something you create.
But here’s what Americans still aren’t free from…
Freedom from poisoned food
Michelle Obama planted vegetables. Conservatives shouted, “You’re taking away our freedom!”
Now RFK Jr. echoes the same message—and it’s patriotic.
The hypocrisy is wild.
But at least now both sides agree: America’s food system is broken.
Americans now die five years younger than their European counterparts.
Freedom from gun terror
You want a handgun? Fine. A hunting rifle? Cool.
But why the hell are AR-15s on the streets?
Kids are doing active shooter drills in kindergarten.
That’s not freedom. That’s national PTSD.
Freedom from mass incarceration
America is 4% of the world’s population, but holds 20% of the world’s prisoners.
Over 1% of Americans are behind bars.
Private prisons profit. Minorities suffer.
Land of the free… unless you’re poor, Black, or unlucky.
Freedom for your vote to actually count
Wyoming: 580,000 people. California: 39 million.
Same number of senators. That’s not democracy—that’s dilution.
And Puerto Rico?
3 million American citizens.
No vote in Congress. No vote for president.
How? Puerto Ricans are American citizens. They just don’t get to vote.
Make it make sense.
So what if we flipped the script?
Young Americans chant: Free Gaza. Free Palestine. Free Cuba. Free Iran.
But what if we said: Free America.
- Free America from propaganda disguised as news.
- Free America from the grip of Rupert Murdoch.
- Free America from billionaires who can buy elections.
- Free America from a system where corporations are people, but people are disposable.
- Free America from mass shootings—and the 25+ million assault rifles still circulating.
- Free America from the impact of foreign lobbies, like the Israel lobby, which spends over $100 million/year influencing U.S. politicians.
- Free America from racism disguised as patriotism.
- Free America from cruel policies that tear undocumented families apart.
But mostly…
Free America from the illusion of freedom.
Because here’s the truth:
When America is free… Gaza will be free. So will the world.
When America sneezes, the world catches a cold. And we, the rest of the world, are sick of suffering the consequences.
This isn’t about red vs. blue
It’s about truth vs. illusion.
It’s about reclaiming what “freedom” really means—beyond slogans, beyond partisanship, beyond the BS.
And it starts with us—speaking up, seeing clearly, and refusing to settle for myth over meaning.
In love, the American spirit of rebellion, and deep respect for what this amazing country could still become,
— Vishen
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below—tell me what freedom means to you, what you’re standing for, or what this stirred in you.
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294 Responses
You started out strong, but reading it in the newsletter in my email you lost me when I clicked on your family pictures to enlarge them and you chose to put marketing there instead. And after that good initial summary you started drifting with a personal agenda and lack of understanding of the way the country really works. While I agree that the Senate is undemocratic, it is there by design, and it used to serve a purpose. It’s a problem now, but the bigger problem is citizens United and unlimited money without responsibility in politics in general. I could go on but if you don’t know you can check with ChatGPT 😀. Good start, TERRIBLE and cheesy marketing attempt, and some ignorance showing as the argument progresses. It’s easy to look up things like Puerto Rico etc., that doesn’t make it logical or even fair, nor democratic for that matter, but you can’t actually wonder “how” it is that way? Afraid that I unsubscribed based primarily on the cheesy marketing dude. But nice try. And America is definitely NOT the freest country in the world and it hasn’t been for a long time. Watch the opening three minutes of the TV show “the newsroom” for a fantastic summation of why we are also no longer the greatest country in the world… Good luck!
Vishen, you clearly need to work through some personal victimhood issues and resentments you have for the United States of America. Also, stop consuming the same left-wing media you criticize while embodying the exact emotional biases they spread.
Your AI is just mirroring the unresolved victim narrative you keep feeding it. Just because you had some travel friction doesn’t mean something is wrong with America.
—> If your outer world keeps reflecting struggle or mistreatment, maybe it’s time to look inward to see why you are attracting that into your life.
For someone running a personal growth company built on empowerment and creating extraordinary lives, this post does the opposite.
It is not truth. It’s your personal projection dressed up as “consciousness.”
You sell transformation, but this post sells victimhood.
You brand yourself as a leader in human potential, yet you sound like someone waiting for the world to fix itself so you can feel free.
If this is what “awakening” looks like under your leadership, no wonder your AI is regurgitating disempowerment in your voice. It has been trained to spit out blog posts oozing with your victimhood-laced worldview.
You don’t need to free America. You need to free yourself.
You don’t free a country (or anyone) by preaching helplessness and blaming Rupert Murdoch or billionaires for everything wrong with the world.
You single him out like he is the puppet master while conveniently ignoring the 60 to 70 percent of U.S. media controlled by left-leaning corporations pushing victimhood, fear, and blame around the clock.
That is called selective outrage.
You are not exposing bias. You are perpetuating it, dressed up in spiritual branding.
—> You free yourself first by REJECTING the illusion that “external enemies” or circumstances are the reason you are not empowered or can’t have the life you desire.
The real myth is that we are not free because of whatever laundry list of grievances you’ve come up with, backed by those false “perception polls” and biased survey data.
Mankind can manifest freedom or not freedom anywhere in the world as a co-creator of either. You choose.
That should be the core of every blog post you publish. But this post shows you might need to take a few of the courses you sell that actually teach you that.
Your post shows that you are not an unbiased independent thinker. You have clearly chosen a side and a narrative.
It reads like just another voice in the sheepish crowd, echoing emotional mass media narratives while claiming to lead and blaming the USA for the world’s problems. This is weakness, not power.
It is time for you to quit blaming the USA and start taking personal responsibility and your power back for what has occurred in your life and the experiences you have manifested for yourself. And teach others how to do the same.
It starts with you. Living what you teach. Seeing through your own projections. Refusing to package disempowerment as wisdom.
I say all of this in truth, in the spirit of actual empowerment, and with deep respect for what YOU could still become, if you chose to lead from integration instead of ideology.
Lead yourself first. Then maybe we will listen. Otherwise you’re just helping to create more disempowered victims and dependencies, and the world will only reflect more of the same.
So well said! America is going down hill. I have lived in California for over 30 years and I have seen it become crime infested and greed driven. It’s disgusting actually. We need to get back to values, personal responsibility and ethics, then we can start talking about becoming a free country again.
Thank you for this. You told the truth, but you also told the truth that there is HOPE. We each can take a stand, every day, to work towards peace, to eliminate racism and hatred from our own hearts, and work to reform broken-down systems. We can be people who choose to act with love, compassion, courage and who are engaged in an unflinching search for truth.
The world has always moved forward by everyday people deciding to do what’s right. As our world leaders fail us, WE don’t have to fail us. I have great hope for the future but it will take recognizing our collective humanity, taking our own inventory, and changing what needs changing within us and within our society, in a peaceful, loving way.
Choosing love isn’t choosing to be weak–real love is courageous, radical, and in this time of trouble, dangerous. But it’s the only way we will create a world that is based on mutual respect, human dignity, and harmony with the environment.
Vishen, Thank you for the message “The Myth of American Freedom.” I was surprised you would say this.
I’ve been preoccupied with this very matter ever since I was an activist in my twenties, when I came to understand how far my country had veered out of control. So far that I had to take unwanted risk on my own, such as my decision to denounce the popular war of that era (one of far too many wars) by not accepting the coercion to join my nation’s war machine. (I got lucky. Jimmy Carter, by means of an unexpected amnesty, saved me from years in prison just as my spiritual beliefs saved me from the hell so many of my peers suffered in the jungles of Asia.)
But the patient failed to recover. America became even sicker. Our food became more poisonous and more profitable. Our wars became more vile and more arbitrary. The illness returned home in the form of children shooting children.
It would be easy, in 2025, to say the problem is a single corrupt demagogue, a product of evil mentoring and organized crime. But that would ignore our vast infection, long ready to support that corruption when it arrives. For decades our Foreign Policy has been little more than an extension of self-serving Domestic Policy. Now its most vulnerable victims are those escaping even greater evil in other places, often infected in turn by our own national illness.
It’s imperative the patient recover; the survival of our world depends on it. As I now approach eighty, I understand this even better than before. All is too interconnected now; the disease spreads rapidly whether it manifests as wildfire or neocolonialism or drought. (That’s not exactly correct. Our planet will survive just fine. It will, however, survive *without* humanity and all the other species we will have taken down with us. The planet itself will simply grow them anew, better perhaps.)
When I said “surprised you would say this,” I spoke not to your soul but rather to your job title. You are a powerful and successful man. In America there are many powerful CEOs who may think these things but would not allow themselves to say publicly what you say here. That may come from fear of reprisal or from a sense of responsibility to the many people who work for them. Recently, one can look to Columbia University or CBS Media or certain major law firms for examples of this behavior. Again, thank you for bringing this up. It is a needed conversation.
Moving from illusion into reality is the first step to become free.
Thank you for the truth spoken.
I can feel your mission.
Wise words! Many people are becoming aware how brittle their political structure is. The Bill of Rights is being ignored, and there is no apparent mechanism to enforce them. The hard part is that the mechanics of restoring the US to the top of the list of free countries is not evident. The weakness of a two-party system is that it breeds ‘Them or Us’ thinking. Adding more political parties would allow for a ‘We’ style of thought where minorities are able to influence policy.
It’s scary watching how easy it is to turn the system over with outrageous lies and behaviour. Freedom of the Press is rapidly disappearing. The real service of an independent press is to point out falsity and misrepresentation. Without it the country becomes really vulnerable to manipulation. The country needs to start making moves now or your predicted autocracy will become the result.
I salute you Vishen for exposing the truth about what used to be the leader of the Western world. Now a bancrupt tinpot dictatorship trying to outdo similar regimes under in Russia and North Korea?
This prophetic quote is rather relevant:
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” — H. L. Mencken, 1920
Vishen,
Your recent observations about America prompted me to share some factual insights that might provide additional context to the freedom discussion.
**Why America Remains the Global Destination of Choice**
The numbers tell a compelling story about revealed preferences versus survey rankings. While freedom indices place Nordic countries at the top, actual migration patterns show something different:
– The U.S. processes over 1 million new permanent residents annually – more than the next 10 countries combined
– America receives 4-5 million immigration applications yearly, compared to Norway’s approximately 30,000
– Net migration to the U.S. exceeds 1 million people annually, while Norway sees roughly 25,000
– The U.S. hosts 51 million foreign-born residents – nearly 10 times Norway’s entire population
**Economic Opportunity at Scale**
The data on economic mobility and opportunity explains much of this preference:
– U.S. median household income: $70,784 vs Norway’s $51,489 (adjusted for purchasing power)
– America creates approximately 6 million new jobs annually
– The U.S. hosts 735 of the world’s 2,000+ unicorn companies; Norway hosts 8
– American workers in equivalent positions earn 20-40% more than European counterparts after taxes
**Innovation and Entrepreneurship**
The entrepreneurial ecosystem remains unmatched:
– 73% of global venture capital flows through U.S. markets
– America produces 4x more patents per capita than the EU average
– 8 of the world’s top 10 universities are American
– The U.S. attracts 35% of global international students despite being 4% of world population
**Personal Observations from Experience**
My family’s journey mirrors millions of others – my parents escaped Romania for Canada, and I moved from Canada to America specifically for the expanded opportunities. Even with California’s current challenges, the fundamental advantages remain: unparalleled economic mobility, innovation culture, and individual agency.
**On the Firearm Discussion**
Regarding your point about AR-15s, you raise an important technical distinction that often gets overlooked in policy discussions. The AR-15 platform does indeed share fundamental operating principles with many hunting rifles – both are semi-automatic and frequently use identical .223 ammunition. As you noted, the functional differences are often minimal, with distinctions lying primarily in aesthetics and modularity rather than core firing mechanisms or capabilities.
**State-Level Competition**
Your point about governance quality is illustrated perfectly by interstate migration. Florida gained 365,000 new residents in 2023 alone, largely due to policies that attract investment and reduce regulatory burden. This internal mobility – the ability to “vote with your feet” between different governance models within one country – is a unique American advantage.
**The Nordic Model Reality**
While Nordic countries score well on freedom indices, they face significant structural challenges:
– Norway’s effective tax rate reaches 47% for middle-class earners
– Denmark has a 180% tax on car purchases
– Sweden’s wealth tax drove out entrepreneurs like IKEA’s founder
– These countries’ small, homogeneous populations (Norway: 5.4 million) make direct comparisons with America’s diverse 335 million challenging
The freedom indices you mentioned, while valuable, often weight factors like income equality and social services heavily, which may not reflect individual liberty and opportunity as many define it.
**Bottom Line**
The world continues to vote with its feet, and those feet are walking toward America. While we certainly have challenges to address, the combination of economic opportunity, individual liberty, innovation culture, and sheer scale of possibility remains unmatched globally.
Best regards,
Ray
*P.S. – Having traveled extensively through Europe and Asia myself, I appreciate what other countries offer, but haven’t found anywhere that combines America’s opportunity, freedom, and potential for individual achievement. The data suggests millions of others reach the same conclusion annually
I Appreciate this piece a lot. I would only add that freedom also necessarily means bodily autonomy.
At last! Someone is telling our American friends what they need to hear.
I would add that their current energy policy is an attack on the entire world—climate change knows no borders.
Furthermore…
I’m afraid the US is now the most dysfunctional wealthy country on earth.
Health system? Broken if you don’t have much money. What a pity; otherwise, it would be the best.
Education system? Same story—and now the higher education system, which was the best in the world (if we don’t consider its cost to students), is under attack, unprepared for such an assault, and vulnerable.
Political system? Sorry, but it’s laughable: obsolete, obviously unfair, and exposed to all kinds of manipulation.
Justice system? Rigged to favor the wealthy and white people. Vishen has already pointed out the staggering number of prisoners—and what can we say about the Supreme Court, whose majority has become nothing more than supreme courtiers?
Infrastructure? In sharp decline until the Biden administration responded, but what will remain of their efforts?
Safety? Well, this is perhaps something that isn’t changing much… unfortunately!
Environment? Suffering for a long time, and now it’s “drill, baby, drill”—let’s saw off the branch we’re sitting on!
Science? Still very strong because it reached such a high level, but it’s under attack and in sharp decline.
Freedom? Vishen has said it all.
This is a painful observation to make because there are so many wonderful people in America! And it’s such a beautiful country! How can one not love it?
I imagine most of your readers feel the same way—that America is crumbling and has been for a while. I doubt you’ll get much variety in the comments beyond, “Yup, I agree.”
Now post those same thoughts on X, and watch how wildly the responses vary. See how angry and irrational the discourse becomes. It’s terrifying to have an opinion or to point out a flaw in logic.
As an older white man born and raised in America, even I don’t feel free. I can only imagine the almost unbearable level of anxiety non-white individuals must face every day.
Thank you! Beautifully expressed.
Took my thoughts out of my head and the words out of my mouth.
Erosion and corrosion are both slow processes. We need people like you to measure the impact and warn us.
As a newly minted citizen I depend on the intelligence and compassion of the caring Americans to make this country the world leader again.
Great article. Some local observations. As a Canadian, I am very concerned about Canadian Freedoms. In the index you quoted it lists Canada with high internet freedom. Unfortunately in the last 10 years Canada has changed significantly. Several bills have passed in the house of parliament that restrict Canadian access to internet information. C11, C18 and the potential C69. All these bills have been proposed or passed to “protect” Canadians. However, if you investigate even slightly, you will see that our access to information is being controlled / restricted. Another deeply concerning series of events if the control of the media through funding. The most obvious example is the $1.6 billion CBC receives every year. In addition $100s of millions of dollars collected from companies like Google are redistributed through a board to “approved” journalistic organizations. Journalists that challenge the board view of approved views do not get funding. For true freedom, there must be room for differing points of view even if we do not like these points of view. Increasingly it is harder in Canada to access non standard views around everything from vaccination, food, or world events. Vishen you use AI extensively. If you examine Chat’s fact checking hierarchy it lists Source Weighting as a criteria of fact checking. This hierarchy is biased towards traditional news outlets (in Canada – heavily government funded), peer reviewed research (most research is now funded by drug companies and issue based non profits so can be very biased). Thanks to the AI Mastery w/e I have created my own GPT to fact check that looks deeper than these biases. I look forward to the AI Mastery Course. Many thanks for your great work
Vishen, I want to salute you for the courage, clarity and truthfulness with which you speak out. You run an organisation based in the United States, where these days you can come under attack in many different ways (funding removed from universities, degrees removed from graduates, health care removed from the sick, liberty removed from people without due process in law) if you stand up against the current government – or are just weak compared with the billionaire class whom the USA is making richer on the backs of the poor. Robin Hood in reverse. But so many people stay silent in the face of all this – lawyers, judges, newspaper editors, Columbia University – hence my salute to you for not being afraid to speak the truth. Thank you. As a Briton, I have spent my life admiring and respecting America for the wonderful things it has gifted to the world. Now people in droves around the world, especially in Europe, are being forced by events into changing their minds. It is so sad. Thank you for being a champion for truth.
Slow clap. Refreshing to see a man of your professional stature speak out. I so appreciate that you are saying something.
Thank you, Vishen, for sharing this powerful and necessary reflection. Your words stir something deep and familiar in me — the ache of loving this country not blindly, but fiercely and truthfully.
Like you, I’ve traveled these backroads, stood under flags, and felt both awe and unease. I’ve felt the sacred pulse of this land — not just in the symbols or institutions, but in the wild places, the generous strangers, the artists, the organizers, the visionaries quietly tending the soul of our nation. And I’ve also grieved the widening cracks: the illusion of freedom sold to us in glitter and slogans, while dignity and truth slip quietly through the cracks.
As a spiritual teacher and writer, I believe the dream of America still lives — but it’s evolving. She is shedding an outdated skin. The story we were given was bold, but incomplete. And now, it asks to be reimagined — not through nostalgia or denial, but through collective awakening.
Freedom, as you so beautifully named it, is not a possession. It’s a sacred responsibility. A practice. A shared song we sing when we refuse to look away — and instead, choose to build something more whole, more honest, more alive.
I echo your call: Let’s Free America.
Free her from fear, falsehoods, and corporate puppetry.
Free her from violence masquerading as rights.
Free her into something luminous, liberated, and rooted in love.
Thank you for using your platform to name the truth and point toward possibility. These conversations matter. And I’m honored to be walking this awakening path alongside others who dare to love this country enough to help it transform.
With respect and reverence,
Morningsong
sacredescapades.com
Wonderful to read this fearless article saying it like it is. Proud of you for taking a stand, Vishen 🙏🏻 Hope you are thinking about taking an active role in politics! 🙌🏻
Hello Vishen, thank you for this post (and the newsletter that has linked to your blog)!
As a Global Citizen, Humanitarian, Egalitarian, and Civilitarian, I completely agree with your thoughts on the Myth of American Freedom in this post!!! As you state “When America sneezes, the world catches a cold. And we, the rest of the world, are sick of suffering the consequences.”, I cannot agree more!
I look forward to continuing to read and learning from you and Mindvalley!
Thank you for this article Vishnen. What you share is true. I like your thoughts and vision and it is my passion to help bring in a new earth/higher consciousness which is a great starting point. We are at a great time of transition and i see great potential and possibility as all the masks fall on systems and people. The work begins within, we must first become free within to truly bring freedom without and there are a great many people including yourself doing that. We the people need to learn to self govern in order for any government to reflect that level of true democratic governance. Thank you again for your role is this dialog and world.