Your patriotism is being dissed, Jersey folks, despite your love for your veterans and military and your Fourth of July celebrations.
Usually New Jersey gets dissed for the oil refineries up north, or our in-your-face, no-holds-barred, speak-your-mind attitudes. Now, however, we're getting dissed on our patriotism: A new survey has ranked New Jersey dead last out of all the states for how we feel about the U-S-of-A.
Really?
The state that produced astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, President Grover Cleveland, Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston — whose performance of the national anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl still ranks as the best all-time — is the least patriotic in the country?
It is, according to the new WalletHub report, which ranked New Jersey last, right behind neighboring New York.
The personal finance website determined the most and least patriotic states based on 13 indicators of military and civic engagement. The ranking is based on figures from a range of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the United States Elections Project.
The website ranked New Jersey 48th in military engagement, a score comprised of the average number of military enlistees per 1,000 adults, veterans per 1,000 adults, active-duty military per 100,000 adults and share of adults in military reserves. Wallet Hub found the state had .42 enlistees per 1,000 adults and 55.8 veterans per 1,000 adults (NJ ranked 49th in number of veterans).
The survey ranked the Garden State 45th on civic engagement. That category includes voting in the 2016 elections, volunteerism, AmeriCorps and Peace Corps volunteers, jury duty participation, residents who participate in groups or organizations, and civics education requirements. The state was 28th in jury participation, with a 70.70, and 43rd in volunteer hours, while coming in 48th on AmeriCorps participation.
So whether you participate in the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 4 in Freehold, march in the Veterans Day and Memorial Day parades around the state, or belt out patriotic music at fireworks displays to celebrate the country's birth, or have your flag out to proclaim your love of country, New Jersey's patriotism has been called into question.
The state ranked most patriotic was New Hampshire, and our neighbor to the west, Pennsylvania, came in 40th. Here's what Wallet Hub says are the top 10 most patriotic states.
New Hampshire
Wyoming
Vermont
Utah
Idaho
Wisconsin
Alaska
South Carolina
Missouri
Minnesota
We know New Jersey is a flag-waving, country-loving state, despite how Wallet Hub chose to define it.
https://patch.com/new-jersey/tomsriver/nj-least-patriotic-state-us-study-says
