Why do you love Bhutan?

[Platypus]

I love it because the government judges it sucess not on Gross Domestic Product or army size, but on Gross National Happiness

[Bono]

it's top income tax rate is 7%.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's a kooky dictatorship

[Bono]

It's a kooky dictatorship

it's a monarchy.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's a kooky dictatorship

it's a monarchy.

Same difference. An absolute monarchy is a dictatorship.

[DanielX]

They use a non-standard flag shape.

[Bono]

They use a non-standard flag shape.

That's Nepal.

[Keystone Phil]

The country has banned TVs. Great place to live. 

[phk]

It needs a communist revolution, thats for sure.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

yep, it could benefit from the same thing Nepal's having now.

[opebo]

Hot girls, at least the few rich Bhutanese girls I've met who're going to college in Thailand. 

[WMS]

It's a kooky dictatorship

Freedom House agrees:
Political Rights 6
Civil Liberties 5
Not Free

Also committed ethnic cleansing against Nepalese in the 1990s.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

it was actually a 7,7 then. I was wondering why, didn't strike me as on the level of North Korea. Of course it was a 4,4 back in 1972.

Nepal was Free back awhile too, but now it's a 4,4 and I suspect it'll be Not Free on the next update thanks to the recent actions of the asshole king.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

it's also the only country in the world that's outlawed tobacco.

I don't favor that, but it would be damn nice not having that disgusting smelling crap all around me when I'm at bars. At least starting in April smoking will be banned in Minneapolis bars.

[WMS]

it was actually a 7,7 then. I was wondering why, didn't strike me as on the level of North Korea. Of course it was a 4,4 back in 1972.

Nepal was Free back awhile too, but now it's a 4,4 and I suspect it'll be Not Free on the next update thanks to the recent actions of the asshole king.

It got pretty bad in Bhutan during the height of the ethnic cleansing. And I'd take the 1970's scores with a grain or two of salt - they're generally OK, but there are some you wonder about. Freedom House is much better now!

Actually, the latest Nepal score was 5 5*, which means the political side went down following the dissolution of Parliament  (two years ago - about 2003) and then the civil side went down last year. So it's actually gone down. One more decline and it probably will be Not Free. Sadly, the rebels are pretty repressive themselves, so Nepal could get rather nasty...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

And I'd take the 1970's scores with a grain or two of salt - they're generally OK, but there are some you wonder about.

I'll grant you that, for example the military regime in Argentina which enjoyed throwing political dissidents out of planes over the Atlantic Ocean gets a 5 for Civil Liberities.

and the Philippines gets a 5 in Political Liberties when Marcos was winning reelection with 90+% of the vote while potential opponents were being murdered.

[DanielX]

They use a non-standard flag shape.

That's Nepal.

Bhutan's isn't as weird as Nepal, but it isn't your standard rectangle.

[David S]

It needs a communist revolution, thats for sure.

Maybe you should go there and start one.

[Hatman 🍁]

it's also the only country in the world that's outlawed tobacco.

I don't favor that, but it would be damn nice not having that disgusting smelling crap all around me when I'm at bars. At least starting in April smoking will be banned in Minneapolis bars.

Hear hear!

[Joe Republic]

I'm sure I *would* love Bhutan, if it wasn't for it's eye-wateringly disgusting flag:



Do these people know ANYTHING about which colors clash?

[WMS]

And I'd take the 1970's scores with a grain or two of salt - they're generally OK, but there are some you wonder about.

I'll grant you that, for example the military regime in Argentina which enjoyed throwing political dissidents out of planes over the Atlantic Ocean gets a 5 for Civil Liberities.

and the Philippines gets a 5 in Political Liberties when Marcos was winning reelection with 90+% of the vote while potential opponents were being murdered.

Look at Guatemala and El Salvador. And Nicaragua. Seriously...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

yes, for some reason they seemed to be not too harsh on right wing genocidal regimes in Latin America.

Guatemala is "Partly Free" for a fair amount of time even though the government there was carrying out the biggest genocide in the Western Hemisphere in the 20th century against Mayan peasants? What the hell?

[WMS]

yes, for some reason they seemed to be not too harsh on right wing genocidal regimes in Latin America.

Guatemala is "Partly Free" for a fair amount of time even though the government there was carrying out the biggest genocide in the Western Hemisphere in the 20th century against Mayan peasants? What the hell?

Remember, in Guatemala it was Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia's regime (1978-1982) which was the worst one. Effrain Rios Montt (1982-1983; overthrew Lucas Garcia by coup) tends to attract more press, because he was a Protestant and there are those who would put all the blame on him because of that. But - and this comes from a class I took in college, taught by a liberal no less - Montt at least gave the peasants a choice: if they would join his self-defense organizations and keep the commies out, he would pretty much leave them alone. Lucas Garcia just butchered them, without giving the Mayans a chance to avoid it. Mind you, the leftist rebels did themselves no favors by running and not trying to protect their supporters (unlike the FMLN in El Salvador, which took their supporters with them). The Mayans are still ticked about that.

This explains, by the way, why Montt's party (the Frente Republicano Guatemalteco) does so well in the countryside - they remember that Montt gave them a way out. And that also explains why the leftist parties do so poorly - the Mayans haven't forgiven them yet.

Depressing country...

[David S]

I love it because the government judges it sucess not on Gross Domestic Product or army size, but on Gross National Happiness

Well I guess if your GDP per capita is only $622 you better find something else to talk about. http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/infopays/rank/PIBH1.html

BTW how do they measure that, smiles per capita?

[KEmperor]

HAHAHA!!!

The title of that page combined with the picture made me just crack up.