Miserable cities

Forbes Magazine puts out a list upon which no city wants to find its name. How would you like to be living in one of "America's Most Miserable Cities?" You may have thought it was the color you painted your house. No, the problem goes deeper than that.

The things examined by Forbes to come up with this inglorious list include "the serious" and "the less weighty." Things like unemployment and inflation, violent crime, foreclosures, taxes, and home prices appear alongside quality of life downers like weather and commute times.

Below I have listed Forbes' top 20. As you examine the list, notice which states show up again and again. Consider what these places have in common.

1. Detroit, Michigan. Home prices tanking. Violent crime through the roof
2. Flint, Michigan. People are leaving the city faster than sponsors are leaving Lance Armstrong.
3. Rockford, Illinois. Illinois. Need I say more?
4. Chicago, Illinois. Another feather in the cap of Rahm Immanuel.
5. Modesto, California. Third highest unemployment in the U.S.
6. Vallejo, California. Hmmm...Michigan, Illinois, California...hmmm...
7. Warren, Michigan. We have Michigan by a nose.
8. Stockton, California. Largest city to file for bankruptcy in 2012. Top 5 in crime and unemployment.
9. Lake County, Illinois. Okay, this started out kind of funny. It's turning tragic.
10. New York, New York. You knew this had to break the top 10.

There's the top 10. Have you noticed the similarities? On with the show.

11. Toledo, Ohio. Another state heard from. Apologies to Cpl. Klinger.
12. St. Louis, Missouri. I'm not surprised. I've been to their bus depot. Sounds like mis-er-y.
13. Camden, New Jersey. 42% of residents living below the poverty line. How can that be?
14. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Interesting choice. Forbes didn't like their winters nor their property tax.
15. Atlantic City, New Jersey. I guess casinos aren't the solution to the world's ills.
16. Atlanta, Georgia. Breaking out of the mold. Housing collapse and heinous traffic.
17. Cleveland, Ohio. Forbes said, "Only Flint and Detroit have a faster exodus rate."
18. Poughkeepsie, New York. Cutest name in the top 20. Lousy weather and commute.
19. Gary, Indiana. Sandwiched amidst Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, what did you expect. Kentuckians are thankful for the Ohio River!
20. Youngstown, Ohio. Nothing left to say.

Three from Michigan. Three from Ohio. Three from Illinois. Three from California. Two each from New York and New Jersey. These are places steeped in government and social law. There are other common factors, too (union thuggery, broken families, and out-of-wedlock births), that I'll not address here.

So how's the state as savior working out for them?

If big government is crushing cities on the local level, what makes us think big government will cure all ills on the national level? Freedom constrained breeds blight and sucks the life from the organism.

The nanny state is unsustainable. We must jettison it soon by choice and pick up the heavy and productive yoke of personal responsibility. If we do not, it will come crashing down all around us, and great will be the fall.