Freedom Index by State
I am not endorsing this, but it is too interesting not to share. I also have not had the free time this morning to thoroughly review it and summarize it for you. I know I'm shirking my duty as a blogger here, but civil liberties take work, people!
Anyway, the Mercatus Center at Georgia State University has compiled what they call "Freedom in the Fifty States," an index of personal and economic freedom (check the study for their definitions and standards of measure for each) in each of the 50 States. It's an interesting read.
According to this study, folks in Alaska are running wild as wolves, while New Yorkers are living under lockdown in a statewide gulag. Or something like that. Pennsylvania falls in the "second quintile," with higher than average economic freedom and slightly lower than average personal freedom.
The full study is available here. Thanks to Boing Boing for bringing this to my attention.
Update: Commenter Anonymous (I've looked around the internet and he's quite prolific) supplied a link to a similar page, except this one allows the viewer to customize "freedom" according to his or her own definition. Thanks for the link, A. It's the kind of thing that can entertain some of us ACLU-types for hours on end. And that is in no way depressing.
Chris in Philly
Labels: drug law reform, free press, free speech, religious liberty, women's rights
posted by ACLU of Pennsylvania at 5/15/2009 11:11:00 AM
3 Comments:
Looks like a wingnut study trying to rationalize failed policies and attack environmental, economic and social policies it disagrees with by classifying them as erosions of freedom.
Expect this study to start showing up in talking points to justify pollution, anti-worker activities, anti woman and anti gay governmental policy's
Classic case of starting with a conclusion and defining terms so they support the preconcieved ideas.
If you want to re-weight the variables in line with your own political ideology, you can do that here: http://freedom.robocourt.com/
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