Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

[LargoWinch]

Runtime: 3min.



Reason Tv interview: 9min.




PDF Paper can be found here.

[DSpencer]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

Interesting although the results are not surprising. I think the big question is whether any states will stand up to the fed gov.

[goadam1]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

Red states Rule. Blue Suck!!! Uhm, I'm feel pretty free in New York and I run a business. Some taxes stink and I blame pensions but I don't feel "un-free" here. You couldn't pay me to live in Texas.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

My favorite bit: "Places like California, New York and Massachusetts are not really as free as people think who live there"
LOL! So those poor stupid people who are happy where they live should wake up and think again.

from source watch:

"The Mercatus Center was founded and is funded by the Koch Family Foundations. According to financial records, the Koch family has contributed more than thirty million dollars to George Mason, much of which has gone to the Mercatus Center, a nonprofit organization. Democratic strategist Rob Stein described the Mercatus Center as "ground zero for deregulation policy in Washington.”
The Mercatus Center has engaged in campaigns involving deregulation, especially environmental deregulation. It now fills the role once played by the economics department at Chicago University as the originator of extreme neoliberal ideas. Fourteen of the 23 regulations that George W Bush put on his hitlist were, according to the Wall Street Journal, first suggested by academics working at the Mercatus Centre."

[goadam1]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

Hey NY passed gay marriage. Does that make us more or less free in NY according to these guys?

This is nonsense propaganda.

[runlikehe11]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

Freedom can now be Quantified.. How Sad.

[oddlots]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

Why is this up? Everything about it screams bullsh!t.

[DSpencer]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

Hey NY passed gay marriage. Does that make us more or less free in NY according to these guys?

This is nonsense propaganda.

State attempts to enhance
the ability of same-sex partners to make voluntary
contracts that affect life or death decisions unequivocally
enhance individual liberty.

There's more information if you look at the pdf link. Just use the "find" feature and type in marriage.

Why is this up? Everything about it screams bullsh!t.

What specifically is your complaint? Incorrect facts? Flawed methodology? The results? Where the funding came from?

[flintlock]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

LOL. Predictable results and predictable responses. Of course people living in those "less free" states don't feel that way. They choose to live there and they elected their governments. So of course they are not going to feel "less free" because they are content with the status quo. Their government and laws mirror their wishes for the most part. Someone living in NH would probably feel just the opposite.

The people who truly feel less free are the ones leaving in droves and moving to the other states. Thank God Americans still have a choice. The "sad day" will come when everyone is forced to live the same way, or live where they are told.

What specifically is your complaint? Incorrect facts? Flawed methodology? The results? Where the funding came from?

Come on, its all a right wing conspiracy! Pointing out the obvious like that.

[plinko]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

are they really measuring happiness in terms of employee freedom and transit availability? I'm in texas and I'm getting tired of the traffic, lack of public transit, and employers scaring me with non-compete clauses. If having those freedoms costs me not dealing with car ownership and owning a smaller home, and negating income gains with a state income tax, so be it.

Feel free for those living in the "less free" states to tell me the grass isn't greener.

[rhess595]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

Am a long time reader who has benefited from EJ's fine work, but this video is not worthy of a site as good as itulip.

Freedom, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. You are not as free to create new technology in Arizona or Idaho compared to California because those states don't have the kinds of "productive" individuals that produce Google, Facebook, and Apple. While AZ and ID have striking natural environments, they are not superior to the beaches of Santa Cruz, San Diego, LA, Santa Barbara, and their cities are not superior to San Francisco. I'll take the hiking of the Sierras, the wine, artists and coastline of Mendocino county, and the great central valley with the most productive farming in the world any day of the week in comparison to the freedom to do without these things.

When there are lots of people, there are always a few who disrespect common shared spaces, resources and activities. Regulations and rules protect us all as communities from spoilers of the commons, from polluters of the air, water, public spaces, etc. All you have to do is look at communities without proper regulation and enforcement to find the trash from people who have no respect for the world in which we all live.

[DSpencer]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

Freedom, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. You are not as free to create new technology in Arizona or Idaho compared to California because those states don't have the kinds of "productive" individuals that produce Google, Facebook, and Apple. While AZ and ID have striking natural environments, they are not superior to the beaches of Santa Cruz, San Diego, LA, Santa Barbara, and their cities are not superior to San Francisco. I'll take the hiking of the Sierras, the wine, artists and coastline of Mendocino county, and the great central valley with the most productive farming in the world any day of the week in comparison to the freedom to do without

So basically, the bars of your cage are the shiniest (and you have smart neighbors) so the fact that you have the heaviest ball and chain is irrelevant, subjective and should never be mentioned?

[rhess595]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

So basically, the bars of your cage are the shiniest (and you have smart neighbors) so the fact that you have the heaviest ball and chain is irrelevant, subjective and should never be mentioned?

People here travel all over the planet and still want to be back home. It's not a burden to keep our communities and state as safe and healthy as possible. A prior poster June 7, 2011 nailed this video dead center: "Why is this up? Everything about it screams bullsh!t"

[SamAdams]

Re: Freedom in the 50 States 2011 - June 7, 2011 (3min.+)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_Project

The Free State Project was founded in 2001 by Jason Sorens, then a Ph.D. student at Yale University.[8] Sorens published an article in The Libertarian Enterprise highlighting the failure of libertarians to elect any candidate to federal office, and outlining his ideas for a secessionist movement, and calling people to respond to him with interest.[9] The movement has, since then, come to emphasize secessionism much less strongly, with Sorens publishing a note in the journal to this effect in 2004.[9] Sorens has stated that the movement continues an American tradition of political migration, which includes groups such as Mormon settlers in Utah and Amish religious communities.[10]


The flag of the Free State Project, a modified Gadsden flag
The organization began without a specific state in mind. A systematic review started by narrowing potential states to those with a population of less than 1.5 million, and those where the combined spending in 2000 by the Democratic and Republican parties was less than $5.2 million, the total national spending by the Libertarian Party in that year. Hawaii and Rhode Island were eliminated from this list because of their propensity for centralized government.[11]
In September 2003 the state vote was held. Participants voted using the Condorcet method to choose the state.[12] New Hampshire was the winner, with Wyoming coming in second by a 55% to 45% margin.[12] Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Vermont, and the Dakotas (North Dakota and South Dakota) were also on the list.[10]
The state of New Hampshire was chosen because the perceived individualist culture of New Hampshire was thought to resonate well with libertarian ideals.[13] The Free State Project, however, has drawn criticism from some New Hampshire residents concerned about population pressure and opposition to increased taxation. Republicans, on the other hand, have responded more favorably to the project, because of their espoused agreement on small government.[14]