1340 State Freedom Ranking

The Cato Institute, named after “Cato’s letters,” written in the 1700s that expressed the ideas of Libertarianism. is a think tank for policy debates, and is an important counterweight to the collectivist narratives that purport to rank ideas like “freedom” from their egalitarian povs. Cato did a ranking of the U.S. states by personal freedoms. They use 3 metrics: fiscal, personal & regulatory. For example, Hawaii is #49 overall, not in a good way: they’re #50 fiscally, #46 for personal freedom, and #45 for regulations; a ranking which hasn’t changed since 2016. Of course, California is #48 and New York is #50; it’s easy to see the theme of this rating: the more Democrat, the more Leftist, those states scrape the bottom of the barrel for personal freedom. My own state, Washington, even without an income tax and criminal justice polices being among the best in the nation, is a lowly #39 and feels that way. Cato recommends strict budget restrictions, protecting property rights, and support home-schooling. You’d think those would be easy things to accomplish? When I moved here in 1980, it was much more freedom-oriented but has gradually succumbed to feminism, the scourge of liberty. However, our bordering state, only a few miles from me, is Oregon, #46 on the list: there’s a reason they call this the Left Coast.