Sun editorial: New Jersey not patriotic? Just go away

New Jersey residents don’t rate their patriotism on internet searches

By Alan Bauer

Sometimes surveys and studies nail the results. They’re spot-on. They accurately and succinctly summarize an issue and provide clarity on a number of points.

WalletHub’s recent list of patriotic states is not one of those studies. Heck, when one of the measuring sticks is the number of Google searches for “American flags,” you know something is amiss.

New Jersey ranked 49th on the most patriotic states list. Seriously? Perhaps even more egregious, Massachusetts was №50. Apparently history, what happened back when the nation won its independence, wasn’t one of the key indicators, because, hey, modern-day Google searches are more important, right? We’re not sure how to accurately define patriotism — and, apparently, neither is WalletHub — but we think patriots fighting and dying to establish the country should have something to do with it.

As should actions that could be defined as patriotic — such as paying taxes. New Jersey residents pay taxes. A lot of taxes. And, according to another study by, yes, WalletHub in May, they don’t get a lot of their federal tax dollars back.

That study ranked New Jersey №47 on the list of most federally dependent states, and fifth on the list of states that receive the lowest amount of grants received per federal taxes paid.

Maybe that fact figures into the patriotic state study, as New Jersey ranked 49th in fewest veterans per capita. They have to leave. They can’t afford the taxes.

Fortunately, New Jersey residents don’t need a study to define their patriotism. We know our history. We honor that history and the many men and women who serve and have served this nation. We are a true melting pot of diversity. We are patriots.

And we don’t need a half-baked study of internet searches to prove it.