|
|
New Hampshire really does take its state motto, “Live Free Or Die,” seriously.
The sunshine state of Florida exudes a healthy amount of personal and economic freedom as well, along with Nevada, South Dakota and Tennessee.
Hawaii, on the other hand, may be exotic and a dream vacation, but on the freedom index, it’s a nightmare.
And New York? The classic 80’s Kurt Russell flick “Escape From New York” might be the operative phrase for the prison state.
Those are some of the assessments of a 2021 Cato Institute (CI) report, “Freedom In The 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom.”
The libertarian think-tank’s analysis ranks all 50 states, using various criteria and statistics, to compare and contrast states and regions.
CI has been offering measures and data regarding state freedoms since 2000. The 2021 guide represents their sixth annual comprehensive report.
Will everyone agree with CI’s methodologies?
Probably not. The analysis awards points for things like sports betting, marijuana, and gay marriage legalization, but ignores property tax levies as a measure of freedom.
Even more inexplicably, the report left the COVID elephant completely out of the room. Widely varying COVID policies of different states were not figured into the CI assessments.
Thus, Michigan, which under Gretchen Whitmer endured some of the more draconian lockdown measures of any state, somehow managed to rank 7th on the freedom index.
North Carolina outranked its southern neighbor South Carolina, at number 16, compared to 28, which left some commenters who happen to live in the region scoffing.
But with all that said, the Cato Institute’s effort does attempt to illuminate the current climate of freedom in America, which seems at more of a crossroads now than it ever has in the history of the nation.
The Founders Vision Included a Unique Franchise
The Federal system laid out and enacted by America’s founders preserved significant rights of the original free states that came together in a compact forming a new nation.
There was an understanding that states would have different views and different approaches to self-governing, and that was considered a good thing.
Citizens were free to travel or move to any state of the union. Adventurous Americans have often exercised their option to seek out greener pastures—or make it in the big city.
Currently, between the COVID era, and the elite co-option and irregularities that marked the 2020 elections, more people have been voting with their feet.
Whether the mass exodus from New York City, the flight from California to Nevada and Texas, or the general drain from the Northeast to points south and West, Americans are utilizing their federal system “franchise.”
States like Florida and Texas, which had already been gaining in population and Congressional representation, have only seen that trend accelerate with COVID.
New York and California, meanwhile, despite being geographically gifted and historically leading states, continue to sap themselves via political regimes that are driving longtime natives away.
New York, for example, hits residents with combined state and local taxes that are crushingly high compared to other states. And though state debt is down somewhat in recent years, at 27.4 percent of income, it still is the highest in the country.
New Yorkers are overburdened with regulations (where New York ranks 48th, ahead of only New Jersey and California). Land use freedom is rated as poor, but a portion of that owes to NYC’s rent control.
CI gives points to the Empire State for relatively low incarceration rates, but fails to mention the significant uptick in violent crime. And “nonviolent” property theft and other “victimless” crimes like drug peddling don’t appear to register with CI’s freedom index methodology.
The libertertarian think tank, which offers advice to each state to improve freedoms, says about New York: “Cut all taxes and pay down debt.”
But its prescription for improving personal freedom in the state is odd indeed. Ending vaccine mandates for the SUNY school system? Not mentioned.
Cato focuses on cigarette taxes: “Slash cigarette taxes, which are so high as to be almost tantamount to prohibition.”
States Where Freedom Reigns
Florida isn’t just for retirees, as the CI report notes: “the state attracts more than seniors, as others vote with their feet for good weather and the increased opportunity afforded by Florida’s freer society.”
Low taxes, “right-to-work” laws and limits on “exclusionary zoning” (where localities have wide powers to block land use and development) are cited as features that have made Florida attractive.
But again, the stands that Florida has taken during COVID under leading Governor Ron DeSantis are ignored in the report.
DeSantis took tremendous heat resisting lockdowns and business restrictions. His administration worked to keep schools open for in-person learning. And Florida fought the feds to get therapeutics like monoclonal antibodies to people, instead of so-called “vaccine” gene therapies.
The COVID policies of states like Florida, Texas, Teneessee and South Dakota have not gone unnoticed by Americans who value freedom.
But the Cato report chooses not to address any of that. It’s a failing that renders the 2021 edition a flawed measure of true current freedom in the 50 states.
The interactive edition of the report can be viewed here.