meeciteewurkor

I found this study through a WND article and found it highly interesting.  It cites a study done by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University:

This paper presents the first-ever comprehensive ranking of the American states on their public policies affecting individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. We develop and justify our ratings and aggregation procedure on explicitly normative criteria, defining individual freedom as the ability to dispose of one’s own life, liberty, and justly acquired property however one sees fit, so long as one does not coercively infringe on other individuals’ ability to do the same.

This study improves on prior attempts to score economic freedom for American states in three primary ways: 1) it includes measures of social and personal freedoms such as peaceable citizens’ rights to educate their own children, own and carry firearms, and be free from unreasonable search and seizure; 2) it includes far more variables, even on economic policies alone, than prior studies, and there are no missing data on any variable; 3) we adopt new, more accurate measurements of key variables, particularly state fiscal policies.

According to the study, Oklahoma ranks number 18, where 1 is the most free state and 50 is the least free.  New Hampshire placed among three states regarded as the most free and therefore received a number 1 spot.  Apparently a lot of people are already aware of the freedoms that New Hampshire has and are even organizing to have freedom-loving people move there.  I’ve followed Michael Hampton’s blog for years at Homeland Stupidity.   He has a post about a New Hampshire liberty forum that I found fascinating.

In any case, moving on.  The state of New York placed last.  California was at 47 (not surprising).  Take a look at this graphic from statepolicyindex.com where the study is hosted: (click for a bigger version)

Notice that red states are considered to be those states that are the most free.  Blue states are considered to be those states that severely restrict individual liberty.  There are then varying degrees in between.  See the color codes on the right of the graphic.

I found it extremely curious that Illinois was one of the harshest states in the union that are hostile toward individual liberty.  According to the index of personal and economic freedom (pdf), here is why Illinois hit rock bottom:

Illinois is one of the worst states to live in from a personal freedom perspective (#49). On economic freedom it is in the middle of the pack (#29). Illinois has the fourth harshest gun control laws in the country, after California, Maryland, and New York, and the state’s victimless crimes arrest rates are almost unfathomable: In 2006, more than 2 percent of the state’s population was arrested for a victimless crime (and that figure does not count under-18s). Nearly one-third of all arrests were for victimless crimes. On the plus side, Illinois’ home school regulations were effectively as minimal as Idaho’s. As of the end of 2006, smoking bans had not made much headway. Illinois is in the middle of the pack on most economic issues, but it could certainly stand to relax its labor laws, improve the court system, and expand eminent domain reforms.

Ok, test time:  Can anybody tell me what the current usurper of a President was before he questionably became President?  That’s right he was a Senator from Illinois, one of the worst states in the Union for being hostile toward individual liberty.  (The previous link you should find interesting.  Note how it actually avoids using the word “Illinois” and “Obama” in the same sentence until the very end of the text.  Weird.)

Here is what the index of personal and economic freedom had to say about Oklahoma:

Oklahoma (#17 economic, #27 personal, #18 overall) has an odd fiscal profile. State spending, taxation, and debt are all about a standard deviation lower than average, but the government payroll is fully 22.5% of the workforce. Surely some cuts could be made. Gun control is fairly limited, but marijuana sentencing is unreformed. Several types of gambling are legal (not casinos). Private and home schools are virtually unregulated. Land-use planning is minimal. Labor and health insurance laws are generally market-friendly. Eminent domain reform needs much more work. Campaign finance regulations are quite strict. Smoking bans generally offer a fair number of exemptions.

This is, of course, not the be all end all descriptions.  I haven’t had time to read the full reports and do a whole lot of research.  I encourage you to hit the links above and do some reading of your own.  You may find yourself wanting to move to Texas or New Hampshire.  (no offense, Lost Ogle, I love your site and fully appreciate the humor you impart all the time)

meeciteewurkor politics freedom, liberty