New Jersey, where Freedom comes to die

Congratulations New Jersey, you're one of the most over-regulated, highly-taxed, freedom-restricted states in the nation.

They forgot a few uniquely Jersey gems. Like how there's a law against letting Mother Nature pile leaves up on the street in front of your house. Yeah, it's your job to clean that up. Or the "no cardboard in your garbage" rule that's always good for a few laughs. And our restrictive zoning laws would make a Soviet apparatchik blush.

Speaking of garbage, did you know that the only way to dispose of an old toaster or dead cell phone around here is to bring it in person to the County Recycling Garage in Cedar Grove on one of 4 designated Saturdays each year? Bonus points if you also knew that there's no nearby bus route (because apparently everybody except me can drive a car), and Orthodox Jews are totally out of luck since they can't go anywhere on Saturdays. I guess they just stash all that shit in their basements and forget about it.

My personal favorite? The "wash your recycling" law. I actually got a ticket for "dirty recycling." Twenty five bucks. It was back before the blog though, otherwise I woulda posted a picture of it.

Meanwhile, the Liberty Bell resides right across the river in Philadelphia. So close, and yet so far away…

A general historical pattern of which states were free or not free emerged from the latest study, Sorens said. Freedoms were impacted by how early a state had become urbanized. Places that had urbanized with labor and progressive movements early in the 19th century were generally more inclined to accept more regulations and restrictions, he said.

Yeah, liberals don't like Freedom. Just ask Mike Bloomberg. Which leads us to the only state below New Jersey in the freedom rankings — New York. I'm sure you're shocked by that, right?

Posted at 15:07 by Chris Wysocki   [/news]   Comments | Perm Link |
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