the 50 states, ranked on freedom

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

The objectively best state is last and the worst state is first. Incredibly telling.

[Dabeav]

Weird that FL comes first, looks like they liked that government spending shrunk quite a bit there.

As expected considering the source, a highly misleading ranking.

Amazing that a bunch of southern states with heavy mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws still make it least the middle to upper middle level pack. I guess it's even out by those States social welfare net making it basically a sh**ty place to have a handicapped child or the like.

Uh, these are freedom rankings, not who has the biggest welfare state.  Less taxes = smaller government = more freedom.  Some people like having half of what they earn taken away to supposedly help others, some like the freedom to choose what they do with their earnings.

[Badger]

Weird that FL comes first, looks like they liked that government spending shrunk quite a bit there.

As expected considering the source, a highly misleading ranking.

Amazing that a bunch of southern states with heavy mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws still make it least the middle to upper middle level pack. I guess it's even out by those States social welfare net making it basically a sh**ty place to have a handicapped child or the like.

Uh, these are freedom rankings, not who has the biggest welfare state.  Less taxes = smaller government = more freedom.  Some people like having half of what they earn taken away to supposedly help others, some like the freedom to choose what they do with their earnings.

Libertards gotta tard.

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

dead0man do you seriously think Florida is more free than legal marijuana states?

[Dabeav]

dead0man do you seriously think Florida is more free than legal marijuana states?

Fiscally, yes.  No income tax, strong property rights, etc.  Not so much on the social side.

[Dabeav]

You need at least a balance (a "purple" state, if you will) or you lose:



Or in ND's case, the oil business dies down and people realize there is nothing to do there.

[Ban my account ffs!]

WARNING:  Horn tooting post.

Minnesota should be top 5 at least.  2nd lowest incarceration rate, high income, low cost of living, good schools, very good cultural, sports, and outdoor amenities, among the cleanest politics/government in the nation.

This relies on high taxes and a good bit of redistribution.  And I bet that's the only reason CATO put it so low.  What a farce.

Oh and for Averroes:  HOAs and gated communities are frowned upon.

The object is not to keep the riff-raff out.  The object is to make the riff-raff not riff-raff.

[Dabeav]

WARNING:  Horn tooting post.

Minnesota should be top 5 at least.  2nd lowest incarceration rate, high income, low cost of living, good schools, very good cultural, sports, and outdoor amenities, among the cleanest politics/government in the nation.

This relies on high taxes and a good bit of redistribution.  And I bet that's the only reason CATO put it so low.  What a farce.

Oh and for Averroes:  HOAs and gated communities are frowned upon.

The object is not to keep the riff-raff out.  The object is to make the riff-raff not riff-raff.

Good points here. Freedom is part of the picture, but not necessarily all of it. Maybe it could be aggregated with a list like this one, for example (which has MN #2 and CA as #50):

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings

[หมูเด้ง]

You need at least a balance (a "purple" state, if you will) or you lose:



Or in ND's case, the oil business dies down and people realize there is nothing to do there.

Wyoming is definitely crashing. They are probably blaming Obama as we speak.

[Politician]

Kansas number 10, really? Lol

Of course, this is basically just freedom for corporations list.

[pbrower2a]

This list seems to look only at government policy for freedom indicators, which is a really skewed way to look at it. Is someone who can only shop at the company store 'freer' than someone whose state law prohibits such things?

are there Americans in 2018 that can only shop at the company store?

What about all those small towns where the only store is a Walmart?

show me a town that only has a Wal Mart.....I'll wait.  While we wait, can someone tell me why the family that owned the old grocery store that Wal Mart ran out of business in this hypothetical town is more important than every other person in that town?

Wal-Mart has lousy grocery departments. Meat is typically shipped in, so it is not as fresh as the meat at grocery stores that have on-site meat-cutters. (Wal-Mart wanted the unionized meatcutters and of course their union out of the stores, and got them out). Selection of just about everything is poor -- large quantities of the same staple items.

It's easy to beat Wal-Mart as a grocer -- of course, customers will pay more.   

...If your town has only one store, then that is a Dollar General.

[Wrong about 2024 Ghost]

Weird that FL comes first, looks like they liked that government spending shrunk quite a bit there.

As expected considering the source, a highly misleading ranking.

Amazing that a bunch of southern states with heavy mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws still make it least the middle to upper middle level pack. I guess it's even out by those States social welfare net making it basically a sh**ty place to have a handicapped child or the like.

Uh, these are freedom rankings, not who has the biggest welfare state.  Less taxes = smaller government = more freedom.  Some people like having half of what they earn taken away to supposedly help others, some like the freedom to choose what they do with their earnings.

Like starve, or watch their kids die from preventable disease.

But as long as a few wealthy (often but not always inherited wealth) people are free to have the state protect them, their wealth, and their business model it's all good then, right?

[136or142]

link=CATO so if that triggers you, keep it to yourself.

If somebody being triggered by CATO triggers you, keep it to yourself.

[Karpatsky]

This list seems to look only at government policy for freedom indicators, which is a really skewed way to look at it. Is someone who can only shop at the company store 'freer' than someone whose state law prohibits such things?

are there Americans in 2018 that can only shop at the company store?

There were until quite recently, and it is because of government regulation that there are no longer. Are we less free as a result?

[IceSpear]

Is this the same group that ranked Kansas high on the "fiscally responsible" list when they had to auction off sex toys to pay their bills?

[Progressive Pessimist]

What metrics these "freedoms" are based on, especially from the CATO institute makes these rankings extremely suspect to me. It comes off as a spiteful "checkmate nanny state!" criteria more than anything. The most important freedom, to me, is my freedom to not have to live in Florida.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

What metrics these "freedoms" are based on, especially from the CATO institute makes these rankings extremely suspect to me. It comes off as a spiteful "checkmate nanny state!" criteria more than anything. The most important freedom, to me, is my freedom to not have to live in Florida.

[Take your vitamins and say your prayers, Brother!]

I assure you that Florida is one of the LEAST "Freedom" states; it is incredibly oppressive in a number of ways.  It takes more than low taxes and less business regulations to be a "Freedom State". 

there's a reason people say of Florida:  "I went down on vacation and came back on probation."