Nov.24

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Dem 51

   

GOP 49

The Land of the Free?

The extremely libertarian Cato Institute has just released its "freedom" scores for 2023. They actually calculate three different scores. The first is "economic freedom," which includes state and local taxation, how big the state government is, and what debt/assets the state government has, among other things. The second is "personal freedom," which includes the percentage of residents in prison, limits or lack thereof on alcohol/tobacco/marijuana use, gun restrictions, legality of gambling, and limits or lack thereof on campaign finance, among other things. The third score is an overall score which incorporates the other two (but weighted).

Here are the top five states for "economic freedom":

1. New Hampshire
2. Florida
3. South Dakota
4. Tennessee
5. Georgia

And here are the bottom five:

46. New Jersey
47. Oregon
48. California
49. Hawaii
50. New York

Here are the top five states for "personal freedom":

1. Nevada
2. Arizona
3. Maine
4. New Hampshire
5. New Mexico

And here are the bottom five:

46. South Carolina
47. Kentucky
48. Wyoming
49. Idaho
50. Texas

Here are the top five states for "overall freedom":

1. New Hampshire
2. Florida
3. South Dakota
4. Nevada
5. Arizona

And here are the bottom five:

46. Oregon
47. New Jersey
48. California
49. Hawaii
50. New York

What lessons can be derived from this particular exercise? We see a few:

1. The folks in New Hampshire are definitely living up to their state motto.
   
   
2. When red states talk about "freedom" and when blue states talk about "freedom," they mean rather different things. Readers will have their own ideas as to which is more important, but we will point out that the blue-state version of freedom at least extends to everyone, whereas the red-state version primarily benefits those who have wealth.
   
   
3. Many libertarians, particularly the ones at Cato, claim to be advocates for all kinds of freedom. But, when push comes to shove, what they really care about is the economic stuff. It is for this reason that libertarians are often described as closet Republicans.

If you click through the link above, the Cato folks also make available maps that break down each individual "freedom." For example, the state where it's easiest to get a gun? Kansas. The state that is least friendly to marijuana? Texas. The state with the worst debt problem? New York. (Z)