July 19, 2018

‘Worst States to Live In’: Correcting the Record

“There are ways to objectively measure quality of life, and some states do not measure up.”

According to CNBC, “There are ways to objectively measure quality of life, and some states do not measure up as well as others.” Let’s start by objecting to the word “objectively,” because the network’s list of worst states to live in should come with major caveats. Beginning at No. 10 on the worst-states list is New Mexico, followed by Mississippi and South Carolina (tie), Oklahoma, Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Notice a theme? These states are disproportionately from the Deep South and nine of the 10 have Republican governors. Worse, one of the most-cited criterion isn’t economic opportunity, cost of living, or education — it’s LGBT protections.

CNBC admonishes Missouri (6) lawmakers for a dearth of “protections against discrimination for LGBT people.” The same goes for Indiana (5), which “still lacks explicit protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, age or marital status.” Furthermore, Tennessee (4) has “no statewide antidiscrimination protections based on marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity,” Alabama (3) is absent “statewide protections against discrimination of any sort,” Louisiana (2) “lags in inclusiveness, with no protections against discrimination based on marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity,” and Arkansas (1) “lacks such protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status and age.”

In other words, this is a follow-up to “Gay Pride Month” and a way to shame those who don’t submit to the homosexual agenda.

Importantly, all of these states have Democrat inner-city mayors, which accounts for the high crime rates in very specific areas of those cities and reflects nothing about the standard of living for the rest of the states. CNBC explains: “Our Quality of Life category in America’s Top States for Business, worth 300 out 2,500 total points, looks at factors such as violent crime rates, area attractions, health care, and environmental quality, based on our Top States methodology and sources” — meaning the list is but a small part of a broad analysis. But things like economic opportunity, cost of living, and education should be part of the calculus, particularly when we’re talking about residency. By the way, leftist policies underpin the great blue-state exodus. But who are we to judge the “worst states”?

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.