The Boston Herald seems to be surprised their their state ranks near the bottom in a freedom index:
“The big takeaway is that Massachusetts is not doing well overall in terms of freedom,†said study co-author William Ruger, despite the state’s laissez faire attitude toward gay marriage and pot. “There’s this kind of stereotype or myth that the deep blue states are more economically restrictive but more personally free. But the data doesn’t actually bear that out . . . Liberals tend to want to constrain your freedom in all areas.â€
Now I support gay marriage and a laissez attitude towards pot, but let’s face it, “rules on smoking, seat belts, transfats and firecrackers,” affect a lot more people. I, for one, have long believed it’s a core tenent of freedom that on certain holidays, we be able to celebrate our nation’s freedom by blowing up a small chunk of it.
Like you I support gay marriage and pot legality. I also think we need more MY YOUR OWN BUSINESS and less government regs. (You name great ones that I hate.)
In my neighborhood people call the cops on the 4th of July if anyone lights fireworks, because it scares their dogs for God sake. (Nice having a scanner, what fireworks?)
Mass, NJ, NY and California are very restrictive to freedom, I hardly believe they don’t know that about themselves.
“I, for one, have long believed it’s a core tenant of freedom that on certain holidays, we be able to celebrate our nation’s freedom by blowing up a small chunk of it.”
I take a much more liberal approach. No holiday is needed to justify the use of explosives. Just some free time and spare black powder! (I try to maximize both!!)
Pa is not a whole lot better. Our generous and underfunded public pensions are going to cause a lot of us to considering moving from the state in the next two years. A potential 25% jump in school taxes will drive a lot of people from their homes. PA needs to act fast or we’ll become just like MA.
“Now I support gay marriage and a laissez attitude towards pot, but let’s face it, “rules on smoking, seat belts, transfats and firecrackers,†affect a lot more people.”
But not the kind of people who support gun control.
Take Bill Maher for instance: he tries to come across as the rude guy who says what all the polite people know to be true, but are too gutless to say.
In reality, he has an extremely unusual point of view. If you happen to be someone who has never done blue-collar or low-paid white collar work, and who has no interests other than drugs and the most hedonistic kinds of sex (i.e., pickups and prostitution), then he probably does represent your point of view. If you happen to be one of the 95% who fall outside of this narrow group, he seems about as relevant as Krusty the Clown making jokes about women drivers.
Most of the people who think of Massachusetts as free have lifestyles far closer to Bill Maher than to the overwhelming majority of Americans.
Interesting that bottom five is the Brady Dream Team.
46- MA
47- HI
48- CA
49- NJ
50- NY
It is not necessarily causation, but clearly those who will take away gun freedoms will take away all kinds of other freedoms as well.
The proper spelling is ‘tenet’. Tenants are the people who pay rent.
“. I, for one, have long believed it’s a core tenent of freedom that on certain holidays, we be able to celebrate our nation’s freedom by blowing up a small chunk of it.’ …like New Jersey.
I believe liberals have a skewed notion of “liberty.” The rest of us see liberty as the least restrictive environment possible without harming others. They view it simply as freedom from responsibility. Why worry about making the wrong decisions when someone else has come along and done it for you?
They want to be like us??
With freedom comes responsibility. Unfortunately, I seem to keep paying for the idiots who blow their fingers off, fly through windshields with no insurance, etc. If they simply finished the job and killed themselves in the act, it’d be easier.
Well I lived in PA and now MA and they make NY(other than NY metro area) look good. I”m convinced that and place that starts with Commonwealth of mumble has a common goal of making wealth uncommon and has a warped sense of freedom. Though I’d say PA was way better in the 70s than here in MA now.
MA has always been tight sphinctered and yet endorses oddly liberal things while doing it. I guess its overcompensation.
Land of the free, more or mostly less.
Eck!
When I saw the middling ranking of Arizona, (a ranking even lower than Oregon and Colorado!), I looked more closely.
These rankings are based on a purist libertarian standard, so laws which contribute to border controls, such as Arizona has, will lower the ranking. Pure libertarians favor open borders.
Yeah, that’s something to be considered. But to be honest, my favoring of tightened borders is most pragmatic than principled. In an ideal world I believe in open borders. But we don’t live in that world.d
I’d just like to add to alcade’s distinction of the differing notions of freedom: yes, the liberals do seek freedom from responsibility for their actions, which includes the consequences of their actions. They want freedom to do drugs and make the rest of us pay for their rehab; freedom to commit sodomy and force us to pay for their treatment for AIDS/HIV; freedom to languish on the couch watching soap operas while illegal aliens do their jobs and force us to pay their unemployment, welfare, medicaid, and foodstamps; squander all their income and assets on immediate gratification and force us to fund their retirement and medical costs. While they demand their freedom, they demand the rest of us to be their slaves. This will not stand – it is unsustainable. Grave consequences are inevitable. That’s why I have guns.
Massachusetts: The Cradle and the Grave of Liberty. ;)
The way I look at fireworks and firecrackers on July 4th is that it is perfectly fine to violate fireworks ordinances to celebrate. Those brave men risked their lives, families and fortunes to give us this nation. I figure we can risk a couple of misdemeanors to celebrate their sacrifices and achievements.
The first July 4th celebration was held in Philly in 1777 with the use of fireworks while their success was still uncertain.