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July 4th brings out the patriotism in us.  The stars and stripes appear on bathing suits, folding lawn chairs, towels, and, of course, all those flag poles that seem to sprout along Route 34B at this time of year.  But a recent analysis puts New York State at the bottom of all states when ranked by patriotism.  The Wallethub analysis shows New York as the 3rd least patriotic state, with only Connecticut and New Jersey less patriotic.

"A good patriot would be someone who not only embraces American core values but also is comfortable with the idea that these values can in practice remain in conflict and subject to disagreement," says Kevin M. Esterling, Professor of Political Science and Associate Dean of the Graduate Division at University of California, Riverside.  "At the same time, people can very reasonably disagree in specific instances about the weight to place on different American values, where some might reasonably place greater priority on liberty and property rights, others on dissent, others on justice and equality. Thus what appear to be patriotic expressions and beliefs vary across individuals and communities."

Wallethub focused on two key metrics: military engagement and civic engagement.  New York ranked 49 out of 50 in the former and 34 in the latter.  The state has the fewest number of veterans per capita of any other state.  this might be a surprise to residents of Lansing where volunteerism is high, but New York has the second lowest volunteer rate of all the states, with Louisiana the only state that ranks lower.

Source: WalletHub

	Wallethub published another analysis for Independence day: The Best 4th of July Sales.

The analysis shows that red states are more patriotic than blue states, with red states averaging 5.85 in average rank more patriotic than blue.  In order to create the rankings, Wallethub used available statistics: the percentage of residents who enlisted in the military, the number of veterans per 1,000 people, number of active duty military per 100,000, the percentage of residents who voted and who volunteered, the number of volunteer hours per resident, requirements for civic education in each state, and even the number of Google searches for American Flags.

That is not to say patriotism doesn't exist here.  There are New York towns named Liberty and Freedom and Independence.  There are plenty of celebrations honoring fallen warriors, such as the annual watch fire ceremony in Lansing's town park.  Or the fireworks that span the state, or the Lansing Lions Club chicken barbecue.  Are most of the people who go to the fireworks like those folks who only go to church at Christmas?  That may not be fair, but it does add extra weight to local 4th Of July celebrations.

Ironically, the state that is home to the Statue of Liberty is the 48th most patriotic state out of 50, and patriotism as a whole has been dropping nationwide.  Studies found 38% of Americans said the United States is the best country in the world in 2011.  That dropped by 10% by 2014.  To be fair, Massachusetts, the site of Paul Revere's famous ride, the Boston Tea Party, the Freedom trail, Bunker Hill, and the U.S.S. Constitution, ranked 45 out of 50.

If you want to visit the most patriotic states this 4th of July weekend, Virginia was #1 in patriotism, followed by Alaska, South Carolina, Colorado, and Georgia.

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