An interesting study of economic and personal freedom in the US, state-by-state. The general ranking, from best to worst (mashed to consume less space):
1. New Hampshire 2. South Dakota 3. Indiana 4. Idaho 5. Missouri 6. Nevada 7. Colorado 8. Oregon 9. Virginia 10. North Dakota 11. Florida 12. Oklahoma 13. Iowa 14. Texas 15. Georgia 16. Tennessee 17. Kansas 18. North Carolina 19. Alabama 20. Utah 21. Wyoming 22. Arizona 23. Nebraska 24. Mississippi 25. Wisconsin 26. South Carolina 27. Michigan 28. Arkansas 29. Montana 30. Vermont 31. Pennsylvania 32. Kentucky 33. Maine 34. Minnesota 35. Louisiana 36. West Virginia 37. New Mexico 38. Connecticut 39. Delaware 40. Washington 41. Illinois 42. Ohio 43. Maryland 44. Alaska 45. Rhode Island 46. Massachusetts 47. Hawaii 48. California 49. New Jersey 50. New York
Surprising that Utah and Alaska ranked so low (Alaska: government fiscal polcies are the cause; Utah: state laws on booze and gambling are the cause) . Not surprising? That RI, MA, HI, CA, NJ ranked at the bottom… and that NY came in dead last.
As someone on the relevant Fark thread commented…
But everything in New York is better than wherever you are from. This is according to everyone I have met from New York, so it must be true.
And then this pure awesomeness:
“Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who do survive.” – Frank Herbert
And this:
“New Yorkers like to boast that if you can survive in New York, you can survive anywhere. But if you can survive anywhere, why live in New York?” – Edward Abbey
It seems that “freedom” and “high population density” are mutually exclusive concepts. Out here in rural utah I can go out into my back yard and set off explosives, raise chickens, shoot guns, breed horses, fire off rockets, slaughter sheep, forge iron, work on cars. Can I do these in the hearts of major metro areas? And if I can do them legally, can I do them without massively irritating my neighbors?
7 Responses to “Freedom in the 50 States”
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It seems that “freedom” and “high population density” are mutually exclusive concepts.
In a general way, yes. Taking California as an example, however, the state was pretty free 20-30 years ago even with the biggest population in the country. It went authoritarian in a big way when immigration went through the roof – 2000 census = 30 percent LA country residents were not born in this country and it’s probably worse now.
Of course, those weren’t your traditional US immigrants “yearning to breath free” – they were destitute folks from all over looking for free goodies from the welfare state and they got them in spades. So subsequently, they voted in the nanny state goons who provide them.
My question is, if population is such a big issue with the pro freedom folks and the environmentalists looking to preserve the natural beauty – why has immigration allowed to run uncontrolled for so long?
It’s also interesting to note that the Conservative/Republican states are towards the top of the list while the Liberal/Democrat states tend to be towards the bottom of the list. It’s interesting that the more conservative states are faring better in the midst of this recession — Utah is a pretty conservative state but there is still a lot of growth there while California is suffering.
> Utah is a pretty conservative state but there is still a lot of growth there while California is suffering.
My understanding is that Texas is where the real growth is these days. Heard something to the effect that more than half of the jobs that have been created in the US in the last year have been created in Texas. Haven’t checked on that, though.
God, how I wish I could do half the things you mention in my backyard in California
Seccede. The US and its people would be better off if the political boundaries made more sense. Illinois should seccede from Chicago, and Indiana from Gary; Chicago and Gary could then form a state of their own. NW York could separate from NYC; California from the San Angeles Metroplex. California could be easily broken into at least three states; NorCal north of San Fran; “Inland Empire” east of LA, and then the coastal SoCal region. San Fran could of course further break off and form the Bay Area Nation. That would be *awesome.*
And don’t forget the People’s Republic of Berkley.
I would assume that would go with the Bay Area Nation. When I lived near there, the hippies were forever yammering on about that, and included Berkely in their notion. Oakland as well, though I suspect there are parts of Oakland that would make for an interesting subset of the BAN. Build a wall around the area, and it won’t be too long before the Raiders *eat* the hippies.
With inevitable consequences…