The Beer Run Used to End at the Border

Back in the day of Prohibition America, a lot of people found themselves suffering under a perishing thirst.

And even after 1933’s Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed the nationwide restrictions on alcohol, and allowed individual states to choose whether to engage in prohibition, the practice didn’t disappear overnight. If you were one of the people in a state which slowly phased it out (Mississippi remained a dry state until 1966!) you still had a problem to deal with.

Fortunately for them, though, the solution required all the ingenuity of a Saturday-night beer run: hop in the car, cross the county line to where alcohol was perfectly legal, load up the trunk, and drive home. Prohibition, circumvented with a tank of gas and a few spare hours.

Fast forward to 2026, and Americans face a scaled-up version of that problem, but the solution, however, has disappeared… at least in much of the US.

Increasingly, US states adopt very different laws on things like marijuana, abortion, and other hot-button issues. What’s legal in one state may not be legal in another. But technology has made the old cross-border “beer run” increasingly risky.

For example, you might’ve seen this recent controversy in the news, local police used Flock Cameras—a private for-profit network of cameras tracking license plates—to track a man who crossed the border into Michigan to buy marijuana, where it was legal, arresting him on his return to Wisconsin, where it is not.

That got me thinking. Where does the US stand on global rankings of personal privacy and the rule of law? The answer surprised me… and will probably surprise you.

The World Justice Project (WJP) ranks countries according to their respect for the rule of law. When it comes to personal privacy—defined as “freedom from arbitrary interference by government”—the top five countries are Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, and Canada.

The US ranks 35th.

Under the broadest WJP definition of the rule of law, which includes constraints on government power, corruption, regulatory enforcement, and transparent civil and criminal justice, the top five countries are Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and New Zealand.

The US ranks 27th.

What does this mean in practice? In countries that rank higher on privacy and rule of law, you’re less likely to be subject to arbitrary and potentially unconstitutional policing. Police won’t use capacities designed for serious crime to hassle people for personal choices and behaviour. They may have the capacity to track and identify you, but there are meaningful safeguards to prevent abuse.

On the other hand, some countries ask that you surrender a big chunk of your personal liberties when you live there. The monarchies of the Persian Gulf are for the most part highly restrictive surveillance states where the rule of law depends on who’s being charged with what, and by whom. Many expats are fine with this until they get caught… like a young Scotsman who was sentenced to three months in prison for public indecency after accidentally bumping into a local businessman in a Dubai bar.

Of course I’m not suggesting you should move to a less developed country to break the law… But living in a place where personal freedoms are more respected has important benefits. People “feel freer.” They have a stronger sense of personal dignity. They have more trust in public institutions. They’re more likely to be involved in politics, especially when they support ideas that go against the mainstream. They’re less likely to suffer from the ambient anxiety of not knowing who’s watching or listening.

Personal privacy and the rule of law mean a lot to me. They should be factors you consider if you decide to live abroad, too. So, if you’re thinking about a life in a foreign country, make sure to give me a call… and I’ll give you the straight dope on your destinations of choice.