Saturday, June 18, 2011

Freedom in the States


For the full report.

10 comments:

Keoni Galt said...

Gee, why am I not surprised that along with all the other Democrat strongholds, Hawaii is one of the least free States?

Which is why I'm an absolute career criminal.

Not a day goes by in my life for over two decades for which I do not break some law or regulation here in the People's Democratic Republic of Hawaii.

Anonymous said...

California and New York - our totalitarian bookends!

Amateur Strategist said...

That's a very free Ocean!

Captain Capitalism said...

Amatuer Strat,

HAR!

Keoni,

You having independent thought is a violation of that state's laws.

Anonymous said...

They massively marked down Arizona (#8->#22) for having the temerity to deal with illegal immigration.

Anonymous said...

I have to say this is a great strategic advantage for the USA. When certain States want to maintain anti business policies, that is there choice. Businesses then have an opportunity, to move to another business friendly State. As an example; the Southern States Right To Work laws, have been attracting large companies for years. California wants to have anti business and socialist policies, that is there choice. In most other countries, one policy applies to the entire country. In the USA, laws can be quite different throughout the various 50 States. It is also an advantage to observe what State has the policies that work out well, and what State has failing policies.

Of course on an international level, one can also observe business friendly nations, that enjoy success. In the case of North Korea, we can get a pretty good idea what causes starvation and poverty (socialism).

Anonymous said...

Anon 4:32 - this only works to the extent that liberal pols and judges allow it to work. By turning every issue into a federal issue, they remove the ability of the states to innovate. With the Violence Against Women Act (turning domestic violence crimes into a federal issue), the Safe School Zones Act and No Child Left Behind (turning school management into a federal issue) you lose the ability to encourage your state to choose a different path. This is usually done (as are most insanely bad ideas) under the guise of fixing some heart-rending tragic story. "Oh, wouldn't it be nice if a woman could sue a man in federal court for beating her during their marriage." "School shootings are a tragedy... there should be a law against having guns near a school." "Some local school districts are not serving their students well... we need a national education standard that everybody has to meet." In imposing a one-size-fits-all solution, it makes it so that experimentation, deviation from Teh One Troo Path and excellence itself are no longer possible. The bad outcomes that justified the federal intrusion continue because, for the most part, really bad situations tend to be immune from the effects of Washington's legal/moral scolding. Meanwhile, everybody else gets condemned to mediocrity, since the standard is not "as good as you can do" but "the achievment we think everybody can manage to reach."

Ahhh... liberalism. Is there anything it can't f*** up?

lelnet said...

It's an unusual experience, to live in an extremely-light state (Indiana, #3...woo hoo!) and work in an extremely-dark state (Illinois, #41...boo!) Besides New Hampshire, most of the rest of the country is more gradually shaded...you don't find many free places surrounded by unfree places, or vice versa.

Flight of the Conchords said...

I suppose that's why my dad calls it "The Communist State of New Jersey."

Anonymous said...

Eh I'm not truly buying it. I agree Ohio is probably in the top ten Most Un-free states, but Indiana should get a HUGE bump up in the misery index and unfree index.

Indiana Supreme Court allows the police to break down your door and search without a warrent or probable cause....and they get #3???????????

Something smells of BS!