Free states and not-so-free states

A new study ranks the 50 states based on how free one is in those states. Unlike many previous studies, it does not stick to economic freedom, but also includes measures of personal freedom such as when it comes to alcohol laws, gun laws, environmental laws, gambling laws, and other victimless crime laws. It follows the definition of freedom that a libertarian would give, rather than what a conservative Republican might give. In that sense, it is the first of its kind.

Here are the top five and bottom five:

Rank	State	Rank	State
1	New Hampshire	50	New York
2	Colorado	49	New Jersey
3	South Dakota	48	Rhode Island
4	Idaho	47	California
5	Texas	46	Maryland

Not surprisingly, the usual suspects are at the bottom of the list, places like CA, NJ, and NY, whose state governments are notorious for their hatred of individual liberty. And I am proud to say that my new home Texas is in the Top 5.

However, the study report also notes that the people in the free states do not necessarily have a libertarian streak. Instead, the freeness is due to the conservative-liberal culture war. The conservative position in the culture war requires less government intrusion overall, they claim.

They could be right; I don't know for sure. But I do think that if several generations live in an unfree state, the people become accustomed to having government boss them around in every aspect of their lives, and become more compliant with additional future infringements on their liberty.