"It is one of the freest democracies in the world". Grant said the U.S. people were "the most progressive, freest and richest people on earth". Kuwait is among the Middle East's freest countries in civil liberties and political rights. In 2017, Freedom House named Israel one of the freest countries. It ranked as the 61st freest economy, and 14th (of 29) in the Americas. From a creative standpoint, it was the freest I had ever been in my life. The index rates countries on a scale from 10 (freest) to 0 (least free). With Red [Auerbach] and Walter Brown, I was the freest athlete on the planet. Some that left the freest lungs and therefore with more capacity. It has been suggested that "the artist has possibly the freest voice in Vietnam".