States Ranked by Personal Freedom (2023)

freedominthe50states.org

2 points·supplied_demand··3 comments

A report from the premier libertarian think-tank in the US, the Cato Institute. They rank Nevada at #1 and Texas at #50 for personal freedom.

Interestingly, 7 of the top 10 are blue states or swing states and 9 of the bottom 10 are red states. This goes against the conventional wisdom that Republican-led states support personal freedom. They do perform better in the "economic freedom" index, but I found this more interesting/counter-intuitive.

The "economic freedom" index appears to put any taxes at all in the negative column. With that kind of orientation, copyright and patents are also negatives. There's some tension between freedoms that's not acknowledged by these ratings.

I've had the feeling for a while that the real tension is between "personal/individual freedom" and "corporate/business freedom."

It feels like the more left-leaning states have more of a focus on the freedom of the individual. Examples include marijuana laws, high minimum wage, gambling, strong environmental protections, strong healthcare, and strong safety net, etc.

Compared to the more right-leaning states focused on the freedom of businesses. Examples include right-to-work, low minimum wage, low worker's comp, limited environmental protections, lower corporate taxes, etc.

The primary exception would be gun laws, which the right favors more than the left.

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