States ranked by FREEDOM

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  • #50917
    bnw
    Blocked

    nn

    http://www.freedominthe50states.org/overall/new-york

    The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.

    Sprinkles are for winners.

    #50920
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    What happens here of course is that we get a contested and partisan concept of “freedom.”

    There’s no such thing as freedom, there are always only different ideas of it and what it is.

    And, a lot of those different sets of ideas are in conflict.

    I didn’t even look at your list, to be honest. I saw quickly that that operative concept of “freedom” at work there sounded to me like it ignored what I would identify as freedom and democracy.

    The only danger in these things is that someone will take their definition as dogmatically true and detest all heretics.

    I identify with particular ideas of freedom, but then, I know there are competing and different ideas of that. I cling to mine, and I reject some of the others, and then just live with the other part of the others, but at the end of the day, I kinda know the ideas of freedom I identify with just represent one view of the issue and not some god-given “truth.”

    #50930
    bnw
    Blocked

    What happens here of course is that we get a contested and partisan concept of “freedom.”

    There’s no such thing as freedom, there are always only different ideas of it and what it is.

    And, a lot of those different sets of ideas are in conflict.

    I didn’t even look at your list, to be honest. I saw quickly that that operative concept of “freedom” at work there sounded to me like it ignored what I would identify as freedom and democracy.

    The only danger in these things is that someone will take their definition as dogmatically true and detest all heretics.

    I identify with particular ideas of freedom, but then, I know there are competing and different ideas of that. I cling to mine, and I reject some of the others, and then just live with the other part of the others, but at the end of the day, I kinda know the ideas of freedom I identify with just represent one view of the issue and not some god-given “truth.”

    Then you should look at the list. I tried to post the graphic of the US with the states color coded by overall freedom. Clicking on the state gives not only the breakdown and rank of the categories but also an individual write up for each state discussing its rankings and change in ranking if any since the list was last compiled. (2012?)

    The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.

    Sprinkles are for winners.

    #50931
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    The above list is from the Cato Institute, a Koch brothers obscenity, filled with endless lies, especially on economic issues. It’s rabidly pro-corporate, pro-rich-white-dudes, anti-labor, anti-environment. Its idea of “freedom” is freedom for the rich to do as they please, and screw everyone else, especially the poor. It’s all about freedom from taxation and regulations and any attempt by the public sector to help the non-rich. It’s freedom from common sense preventative measures to improve quality of life, etc.

    Take, for example, their recommendations on how to “improve” New York from its supposed ranking as the most unfree state:

    Policy Recommendations
    Fiscal: Cut spending on hospitals, housing, libraries, public welfare, sanitation and sewerage, public transit, employee retirement, and “miscellaneous”; cut all taxes, and pay down debt.
    Regulatory: Abolish rent control. This move could have raised New York to 47th, just behind Connecticut, on regulatory policy.
    Personal: Slash tobacco taxes, which are so high as to be almost tantamount to prohibition.

    In short, its use of “freedom” is Orwellian.

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by Avatar photoBilly_T.
    #50935
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    They give New Hampshire the no.1 spot,
    fwiw.

    w
    v

    #50936
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    I missed this the first go through:

    cut all taxes, and pay down debt.

    That is typical right-wing mantra/idiocy, and Trump has embraced it as well.

    Cutting taxes increases the debt. It causes the debt. It ensures a radical increase in the debt. And you can’t cut your way out of that. Primarily because when you cut public sector spending, it’s the same exact thing as cutting private sector spending, and under capitalism, if you cut spending you shrink the economy. You contract it.

    And when you cut spending you have to cut jobs, and when you do that, it kills demand, and that in turn forces businesses to cut back even more on jobs and investment, which further contracts the economy, and further causes job losses and lost revenues and more debt.

    A downward spiral that can ONLY be stopped by, ironically, more government spending and intrusion.

    It takes a hell of a lot of effort not to say what I really think about right-wing worldviews — not only on a moral and ethical ground, not only when it comes to despairing over the suffering the right causes . . . . but even just being cold-eyed and looking at the economy from a logical and mathematical point of view.

    In both those ways, the right — including Cato — gets a big fat zero.

    #50939
    PA Ram
    Participant

    Yeah–and CATO is considered a tax-free charity. These “think tanks” are not charities in my book and should not have tax exempt status. What an amazing scam.

    "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick

    #50942
    bnw
    Blocked

    They give New Hampshire the no.1 spot,
    fwiw.

    w
    v

    It is a nice place. Nicer than NY.

    The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.

    Sprinkles are for winners.

    #50943
    bnw
    Blocked

    The above list is from the Cato Institute, a Koch brothers obscenity, filled with endless lies, especially on economic issues. It’s rabidly pro-corporate, pro-rich-white-dudes, anti-labor, anti-environment. Its idea of “freedom” is freedom for the rich to do as they please, and screw everyone else, especially the poor. It’s all about freedom from taxation and regulations and any attempt by the public sector to help the non-rich. It’s freedom from common sense preventative measures to improve quality of life, etc.

    Take, for example, their recommendations on how to “improve” New York from its supposed ranking as the most unfree state:

    Policy Recommendations
    Fiscal: Cut spending on hospitals, housing, libraries, public welfare, sanitation and sewerage, public transit, employee retirement, and “miscellaneous”; cut all taxes, and pay down debt.
    Regulatory: Abolish rent control. This move could have raised New York to 47th, just behind Connecticut, on regulatory policy.
    Personal: Slash tobacco taxes, which are so high as to be almost tantamount to prohibition.

    In short, its use of “freedom” is Orwellian.

    Oh the drama! Why not post the same thing from the pinko standpoint? Or is the word ‘freedom’ so alien or undesired as to never making the radar?

    BTW if you owned a building that was rent controlled you would sing a much different tune.

    The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.

    Sprinkles are for winners.

    #50944
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    Oh the drama! Why not post the same thing from the pinko standpoint? Or is the word ‘freedom’ so alien or undesired as to never making the radar?

    BTW if you owned a building that was rent controlled you would sing a much different tune.

    Actually, the word “freedom” isn’t important at all. What’s important is its reality. The existence of freedom in the real world, and for whom. Who has it. Who doesn’t. In real life. The right tends to fetishize the word and do everything it can to make sure it doesn’t exist in the real world, except for very rich people and the ruling class in general. Everyone else gets to see the word, but not the thing itself.

    As for rent control: You epitomize the right’s vision to a T. Your only concern is how rent control impacts the owner. No mention from you — or Cato — how it impacts renters.

    #50945
    Avatar photonittany ram
    Moderator

    As for rent control: You epitomize the right’s vision to a T. Your only concern is how rent control impacts the owner. No mention from you — or Cato — how it impacts renters.

    The landlords should be free to raise the rent as much as they want. The renters are free to freeze in the streets. See, everybody is free.

    #50952
    Avatar photosnowman
    Participant

    freedom = least regulated. Funny how the most populated states are the least “free”.

    #50953
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    The landlords should be free to raise the rent as much as they want. The renters are free to freeze in the streets. See, everybody is free.

    ——————-
    Yes, which leads me to repost my favorite ‘law quote’ for the
    gazillionth time. I never tire of reading Anatole France’s quote:

    “The law is therefore a regulation of equality among unequals.
    For those who believe the official slogans of the ruling class
    — that we are a government of laws and not men,
    and that our system guarantees equal protection —
    Anatole France once answered by describing how
    “the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well
    as the poor from sleeping under the bridge.” …the law is an
    expression of political ideology and propaganda as well as
    an instrument of oppression….”
    M.E. Tigar (radical lawyers)
    —————-

    btw, what do you think is the core, fundamental, difference tween
    right-thinkers and left-thinkers? What is the heart of the ‘difference’ ?

    I think of this right / left thing sometimes when i see debates
    about Fisher, btw. Sometimes i think the core difference tween righties and lefties has ‘something’ to do with how they view…’context’. I mean is ‘injuries’ an ‘excuse’ or do we look at the context…. I dunno. Just rambling…

    w
    v

    #50954
    bnw
    Blocked

    As for rent control: You epitomize the right’s vision to a T. Your only concern is how rent control impacts the owner. No mention from you — or Cato — how it impacts renters.

    The landlords should be free to raise the rent as much as they want. The renters are free to freeze in the streets. See, everybody is free.

    More glib lib. How about the government controlling your income?

    The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.

    Sprinkles are for winners.

    #50955
    bnw
    Blocked

    Oh the drama! Why not post the same thing from the pinko standpoint? Or is the word ‘freedom’ so alien or undesired as to never making the radar?

    BTW if you owned a building that was rent controlled you would sing a much different tune.

    Actually, the word “freedom” isn’t important at all. What’s important is its reality. The existence of freedom in the real world, and for whom. Who has it. Who doesn’t. In real life. The right tends to fetishize the word and do everything it can to make sure it doesn’t exist in the real world, except for very rich people and the ruling class in general. Everyone else gets to see the word, but not the thing itself.

    As for rent control: You epitomize the right’s vision to a T. Your only concern is how rent control impacts the owner. No mention from you — or Cato — how it impacts renters.

    More drama.

    The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.

    Sprinkles are for winners.

    #50959
    Avatar photonittany ram
    Moderator

    ——————-
    Yes, which leads me to repost my favorite ‘law quote’ for the
    gazillionth time. I never tire of reading
    btw, what do you think is the core, fundamental, difference tween
    right-thinkers and left-thinkers? What is the heart of the ‘difference’ ?

    I think of this right / left thing sometimes when i see debates
    about Fisher, btw. Sometimes i think the core difference tween righties and lefties has ‘something’ to do with how they view…’context’. I mean is ‘injuries’ an ‘excuse’ or do we look at the context…. I dunno. Just rambling…

    w
    v

    My all too brief and simplistic response to that is the right views the world through a ‘moral absolutist’ lense. Everything falls into a category of either right or wrong, true or false. There’s no gradation between the categories. It’s black or white, period. No room for more than one truth. Whereas a leftist’s views are more nuanced. They recognize an entire spectrum exists between black and white…one shade grading into the other and what shade you see is a matter of perspective. Of course as I said that’s overly simplistic and there is a lot more to it and there are exceptions yada, yada but to me that’s the gist of it.

    #50963
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    btw, what do you think is the core, fundamental, difference tween
    right-thinkers and left-thinkers? What is the heart of the ‘difference’ ?

    There are many differences but here is one key one.

    That has changed over the years. The right has gone from being conservative traditionalists who believe collective moral norms are paramount to being sociopathic individualists who defend the power of a wealthy few to dominate a society.

    The left believes in using public resources to both limit the arbitrary power of the wealthy few over the majority and to give more individuals in general more opportunities to live comfortably well and pursue happiness.

    Here;s another key one.

    The right is ideologically committed to abstract individualism, which is the belief that on paper all individuals have the same equivalent opportunities. It’s a language of simple praise or blame.

    The left, in a word, sees that as a bunch of willfully blind bs and believes instead that all lives are lived in contexts defined by policies and histories, and social/cultural determinations such as race and gender. In short, contexts.

    #50964
    Avatar photowv
    Participant

    ——————-
    Yes, which leads me to repost my favorite ‘law quote’ for the
    gazillionth time. I never tire of reading
    btw, what do you think is the core, fundamental, difference tween
    right-thinkers and left-thinkers? What is the heart of the ‘difference’ ?

    I think of this right / left thing sometimes when i see debates
    about Fisher, btw. Sometimes i think the core difference tween righties and lefties has ‘something’ to do with how they view…’context’. I mean is ‘injuries’ an ‘excuse’ or do we look at the context…. I dunno. Just rambling…

    w
    v

    My all too brief and simplistic response to that is the right views the world through a ‘moral absolutist’ lense. Everything falls into a category of either right or wrong, true or false. There’s no gradation between the categories. It’s black or white, period. No room for more than one truth. Whereas a leftist’s views are more nuanced. They recognize an entire spectrum exists between black and white…one shade grading into the other and what shade you see is a matter of perspective. Of course as I said that’s overly simplistic and there is a lot more to it and there are exceptions yada, yada but to me that’s the gist of it.

    ==================

    I dunno. I think there is something to that, but i dunno.

    Sure seems like, above all else, they Blame the Poor.

    I just wonder where that comes from.

    w
    v

    #50967
    Avatar photonittany ram
    Moderator

    ——————-
    Yes, which leads me to repost my favorite ‘law quote’ for the
    gazillionth time. I never tire of reading
    btw, what do you think is the core, fundamental, difference tween
    right-thinkers and left-thinkers? What is the heart of the ‘difference’ ?

    I think of this right / left thing sometimes when i see debates
    about Fisher, btw. Sometimes i think the core difference tween righties and lefties has ‘something’ to do with how they view…’context’. I mean is ‘injuries’ an ‘excuse’ or do we look at the context…. I dunno. Just rambling…

    w
    v

    My all too brief and simplistic response to that is the right views the world through a ‘moral absolutist’ lense. Everything falls into a category of either right or wrong, true or false. There’s no gradation between the categories. It’s black or white, period. No room for more than one truth. Whereas a leftist’s views are more nuanced. They recognize an entire spectrum exists between black and white…one shade grading into the other and what shade you see is a matter of perspective. Of course as I said that’s overly simplistic and there is a lot more to it and there are exceptions yada, yada but to me that’s the gist of it.

    ==================

    I dunno. I think there is something to that, but i dunno.

    Sure seems like, above all else, they Blame the Poor.

    I just wonder where that comes from.

    w
    v

    I wonder if blaming the poor is an American thing. The poor are mistreated all over the world but it seems to me that only in America are they are blamed for being poor. It probably stems from that ridiculous idea that in America, if you work hard enough you WILL succeed so anyone that doesn’t succeed must be lazy. Anyone not succeeding simply isn’t trying hard enough. That’s probably rooted in American Exceptionalism or some other BS.

    #50973
    Avatar photoZooey
    Moderator

    There are many differences but here is one key one.

    That has changed over the years. The right has gone from being conservative traditionalists who believe collective moral norms are paramount to being sociopathic individualists who defend the power of a wealthy few to dominate a society.

    The left believes in using public resources to both limit the arbitrary power of the wealthy few over the majority and to give more individuals in general more opportunities to live comfortably well and pursue happiness.

    Yes, and Taibbi nailed that one with precision: “The most successful trick was linking the corporate mantra of profit without responsibility to the concept of individual liberty.”

    On the question of contempt for the poor, afaik that is a uniquely American thing. I think we are the only culture that equates net worth to spiritual worth.

    #50975
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    Oh the drama! Why not post the same thing from the pinko standpoint? Or is the word ‘freedom’ so alien or undesired as to never making the radar?

    . . .

    More glib lib. How about the government controlling your income?

    . . .

    More drama.

    It’s pretty clear, bnw, that you really don’t want to engage in any discussions here, beyond taking silly pot shots. I mean, you might as well just respond with “yawn” or “more yawns,” like you did before. “Drama” doesn’t really work. And “pinko”? Really? Sheeesh. That was a sign of serious ignorance back in the 1950s when it was used. It hasn’t aged well since then.

    Oh, well.

    #50976
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    WV,

    Science has being doing a lot of studies in recent times about the difference between lefties and righties. There seem to be actual hard-wired differences which impact how we think and feel. I’ve always been a nature/nurture guy, and see them both as vital, along with environment and “systems,” etc. etc. But the biological component can’t be ignored.

    The amygdala is more prominent among righties — recent science tells us. This means righties tend to start from a position of fear and paranoia to a much greater degree. A lesser ability to be compassionate, or extend that compassion to a larger group, is also a big part of the right-wing mind. Obviously, the science isn’t saying all righties or lefties are this or that way. They’re talking aggregates, and there are always exceptions. But I think this is a very interesting difference between humans which seems to influence political and social philosophies.

    IMO, the biggest difference between left and right is the acceptance or rejection of inequality, and all the variations in between. And that the presence of inequality is seen by the left as immoral and profoundly wrong, and that this tends to loom larger the further you move to the left. Lefties tend to have more advanced moral compasses, extending to a greater portion of the earth. The further you move to the right, the more inequality is embraced as “natural” and normal and not worth bothering with, and the moral compass shrinks. The self and immediate family and friends tend to be the boundaries for care and concern. They get downright (self)righteous about the self and the tiny circle around the self. The “Other, ” out there, beyond that circle, is seen as a threat — which is where the paranoia and fear kick in again, as that old amygdala works overtime.

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by Avatar photoBilly_T.
    #50978
    bnw
    Blocked

    Oh the drama! Why not post the same thing from the pinko standpoint? Or is the word ‘freedom’ so alien or undesired as to never making the radar?

    . . .

    More glib lib. How about the government controlling your income?

    . . .

    More drama.

    It’s pretty clear, bnw, that you really don’t want to engage in any discussions here, beyond taking silly pot shots. I mean, you might as well just respond with “yawn” or “more yawns,” like you did before. “Drama” doesn’t really work. And “pinko”? Really? Sheeesh. That was a sign of serious ignorance back in the 1950s when it was used. It hasn’t aged well since then.

    Oh, well.

    If the shoe fits

    The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.

    Sprinkles are for winners.

    #50979
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    And, I think this concentration on the self makes it a great deal easier to support policies that help the few at the expense of the many. Because the right’s focus has always been the ruling class, the rich, the Church and State hierarchies and their privileges. The right has always been the side of the political spectrum most concerned about keeping existing hierarchies in place and preventing inclusion of “the lower orders” from happening, much less any kind of universal access/franchise, etc.

    Historically, they’ve fought against every movement to extend civil and social rights and access . . . from the landless, to women, to ethnic and sexual minorities, to the poor.

    The left has always been the side of the aisle championing the “underclasses,” in opposition to the rulers. And the further left within the left you go, the broader that support goes, the less support for hierarchy, for inequality, for concentrations of power of any kind.

    Both the left and the right have faults, of course. Both have blind spots and have made tons of errors, historically. But, IMO, the left — especially the far left — has the moral high ground to an overwhelming degree . . . . and I don’t mean that in a religious sense. Well, because I don’t see organized religions as good arbiters of morality in the first place, with the possible exception of Buddhism. Which many see as a philosophy, not a religion anyway.

    #50980
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    If the shoe fits

    You’re admitting to your own ignorance? Well, maybe there’s a chance for you after all.

    ;>)

    #50981
    bnw
    Blocked

    WV,

    Science has being doing a lot of studies in recent times about the difference between lefties and righties. There seem to be actual hard-wired differences which impact how we think and feel. I’ve always been a nature/nurture guy, and see them both as vital, along with environment and “systems,” etc. etc. But the biological component can’t be ignored.

    The amygdala is more prominent among righties — recent science tells us. This means righties tend to start from a position of fear and paranoia to a much greater degree. A lesser ability to be compassionate, or extend that compassion to a larger group, is also a big part of the right-wing mind. Obviously, the science isn’t saying all righties or lefties are this or that way. They’re talking aggregates, and there are always exceptions. But I think this is a very interesting difference between humans which seems to influence political and social philosophies.

    IMO, the biggest difference between left and right is the acceptance or rejection of inequality, and all the variations in between. And that the presence of inequality is seen by the left as immoral and profoundly wrong, and that this tends to loom larger the further you move to the left. Lefties tend to have more advanced moral compasses, extending to a greater portion of the earth. The further you move to the right, the more inequality is embraced as “natural” and normal and not worth bothering with, and the moral compass shrinks. The self and immediate family and friends tend to be the boundaries for care and concern. They get downright (self)righteous about the self and the tiny circle around the self. The “Other, ” out there, beyond that circle, is seen as a threat — which is where the paranoia and fear kick in again, as that old amygdala works overtime.

    Like the lip service paid by leftists that won’t send their kids to the public schools they foist upon others.

    The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.

    Sprinkles are for winners.

    #50983
    Avatar photoBilly_T
    Participant

    Like the lip service paid by leftists that won’t send their kids to the public schools they foist upon others.

    First of all, “leftists” don’t control any levers of power in America. With all too rare exceptions, like the socialist (Dana) Lincoln had in his cabinet, they never have. Second, who are these people who supposedly refuse to send their kids to public schools, while simultaneously forcing others to?

    And are you against public schools? Would you prefer it if only the very rich could afford K-12 for their kids? Or anything beyond that?

    #50985
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Or is the word ‘freedom’ so alien or undesired as to never making the radar?

    It’s pretty clear, bnw, that you really don’t want to engage in any discussions here, beyond taking silly pot shots.

    If the shoe fits

    Guys don’t make me close this thread. There’s some discussion going on in spite of barbs like this.

    It;s the rules. Don’t use anatagonistic attack language, don’t go after posters, if someone else starts it don’t respond in kind.

    So consider that aspect of the exchange over.

    #50988
    bnw
    Blocked

    Or is the word ‘freedom’ so alien or undesired as to never making the radar?

    It’s pretty clear, bnw, that you really don’t want to engage in any discussions here, beyond taking silly pot shots.

    If the shoe fits

    Guys don’t make me close this thread. There’s some discussion going on in spite of barbs like this.

    It;s the rules. Don’t use anatagonistic attack language, don’t go after posters, if someone else starts it don’t respond in kind.

    So consider that aspect of the exchange over.

    Stop deleting my response to Billy’s post!

    The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.

    Sprinkles are for winners.

    #50989
    Avatar photozn
    Moderator

    Or is the word ‘freedom’ so alien or undesired as to never making the radar?

    It’s pretty clear, bnw, that you really don’t want to engage in any discussions here, beyond taking silly pot shots.

    If the shoe fits

    Guys don’t make me close this thread. There’s some discussion going on in spite of barbs like this.

    It;s the rules. Don’t use anatagonistic attack language, don’t go after posters, if someone else starts it don’t respond in kind.

    So consider that aspect of the exchange over.

    Stop deleting my response to Billy’s post!

    It’s delete or close the thread. And I am not arguing, btw, I am stating…it’s not open to debate. I just said stop the antagonistic language. You then do the “drama” riff. That’s antagonistic language aimed at the poster which has the effect of being derisive and dismissive…which is of course antagonistic.

    So if it keeps up, it’s either more deletions or closing the thread.

    I am reluctant to close the thread because others are having good discussion. But if it reaches that point I will.

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