West Virginia is finally No. 1 in something

Thanks to Lance Shultz for linking this on his facebook page: CNBC's List of The Most Socialist States in America.

 

What is 'Socialist,' Anyway?

To evaluate the degree to which different states manifest socialist principles, we started from the core definition of socialism as a form of government in which the state owns the means of production and allocates resources to its citizens at its discretion.

In other words, a purely socialist state is one in which the state is responsible for 100% of economic output and spends all of it on social programs.

Since no part of the U.S. can be considered purely socialist, we measured total expenditures as a proportion of total economic output to compare the size of the public sector in each state. Using recently released 2009 state gross domestic product figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and total state expenditures for fiscal year 2009 from the most recent report of the National Association of State Budget Officers, we have come up with the 10 most socialist states in America.

10. Rhode Island

 9. Hawaii

 8. Arkansas

 7. Wyoming

 6. Mississippi

 5. New Mexico

 4. Vermont

 3. Alabama

 2. Alaska

 1. West Virginia

 

 

 

Comments

[Mannie Sherberg]

Mazel tov,Yael! I -- like hundreds of millions of other Americans -- am green with envy toward you and your fellow West Virginians. I console myself with the knowledge that just one week ago, my own town of St. Louis received an equally glorious honor: We were named America's most violent city -- a distinction for which we have shot, stabbed, maimed, and mutilated just about every one in sight for many years. I's a truly wonderful thing to be recognized for our labors. Yesterday, to celebrate our new -- and richly-deserved title -- we went out and shot four more of our fellow citizens. I hope West Virginia can hold on to its title. We're doing everything we can to keep ours.