No surprise to most folks in Alabama, but we're ahead of the pack on the conservative/liberal scale, says a Gallup poll...but even there it was less than half...49%! In second place was Mississippi with 48%. And the most liberal place in America, according to its residents? Washington D.C.
We're actually behind Missisippi? Do tell!
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ReplyDelete"...polled identified themselves as..."
ReplyDeleteIsn't that like asking prisoners if they should be in prison?
They were adjudicated by a peer jury, then incarcerated for guilt. But is their opinion in the matter important?
My point is, the story talks about a special type of opinion - one's self opinion.
Gallup poll: "Political Ideology: "Conservative" Label Prevails in the South"
There is no concretely defined guide for what exactly and precisely constitutes liberality and/or conservatism.
So barring that, we’re left to compare and contrast.
For example, in the Southeast we have an abundance of water, while out West, it’s not so. Thus, water rights at the individual level are stringently battled in court, and have been historically. In fact, until recently in AZ (and it’s the case still in many western states), it was illegal to catch rain. To the best of my knowledge, we have no such prohibition or regulation because we have no such need.
Our northern neighbor Tennessee, for example, has no state income tax. But then, neither do NV, AK, FL, TX, WA, WY, SD & NH.
However, Alabama does.
Considering the regulation of beverage alcohol, for example, is interesting. In Tennessee, table wine cannot be sold in a grocery store, while in Alabama it's quite commonly found in grocery stores in locales where it can be legally sold. Tennessee also requires universal ID for anyone purchasing beer. Interestingly enough, the law is not applicable to wine or liquor. Alabama has no such restrictions. However, both states have an Alcoholic Beverage Control agency, and both have "Responsible Vendor Programs." Alabama's laws in that regard are not as stringent... or shall we say "liberal"?
Another case in point with beverage alcohol is New York State.
Having recently spoken with AL's ABC attorney, he share with me a remark made at gathering of states' ABC officials. It seems that one NY ABC official was remarking about a penalty they had assessed against a licensee for $3,500,000 per occurrence/per day. It was a purely minor and strictly administrative matter, not one which involved illegal sales/consumption/possession or any other issue in that regard. Again, it was strictly a minor administrative issue.
The NY state officials marveled at our ABC's cap of $1000 for such a violation.
The AL ABC attorney with whom I spoke said, "we're not trying to put folks out of business."
This issue, of course, is but one case in point.
Again, defining and establishing guidelines for exactly what constitutes "liberal" or "conservative" would and could be most helpful, but cannot be done, so we must examine comparatively to determine that fluid term.
As well, the poll of the highly respected Gallup organization indicates that all states have a minority percentage of those whom identify as "liberal" AND "conservative." Even self-identified Alabamians reported at 49%... a minority.
Statistically, this is in keeping with the Bell curve, which says that 68% & 95% of anything lies between ±1 & 2 standard deviations respectively, of the mean.
So, while there is some value to a group's members' opinion of themselves, it is limited.