New Hampshire already the freest state

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University recently published the first-ever comprehensive ranking of the American states on their public policies affecting individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. The results are not surprising to many of us here in New Hampshire. New Hampshire came out on top of the overall index, meaning it is currently the freest state in the nation.

The Free State Project is an agreement among pro-liberty activists to move to New Hampshire where they will work together toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property.

The Free State Project could, in theory, have been successful regardless of where it started, so long as the cadre of pro-liberty activists was effective enough to achieve the goal. Several factors make reaching that goal easier. One of those factors is starting with a place that is already friendly to freedom. This study demonstrates what was known years earlier by the voters in the Free State Project’s state vote to determine which state would be the destination of the project’s participants.

Starting at the top is a great place to start. That doesn’t mean that New Hampshire won by a landslide, nor does it mean New Hampshire will surely stay on top. Those would depend on the past or future performance of pro-liberty activists. Colorado came in a close second. And while those who have moved to New Hampshire have demonstrated repeated success, there’s a very vocal minority in New Hampshire who wants it to be more like New York, which has the dubious distinction of being the least free state by a large margin.

Despite what the anti-liberty minority has, this report demonstrates what Free State Project participants have known all along. They are working to make New Hampshire more and more like itself – the freest state in the nation. Congratulations to New Hampshire for winning a truly important place at the top of this freedom index. Congratulations to the Free State Project for starting in the very best place for freedom. And best wishes to the current and future participants in the Free State Project who move to New Hampshire for the purpose of creating and sustaining a Free State.

The full report can be found here: http://www.mercatus.org/PublicationDetails.aspx?id=26154

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