# If you could get rid of any state... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724 "2017-11-15T21:44:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/101 "2017-11-17T02:44:20Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Huh. I assumed we’d all universally agree that New Jersey has to go. No, no, no. The nearest Cheeseburger in Paradise is in NJ. I’m not voting out the only state where I can realistically drive to in order to have [chocolate nachos](http://www.cheeseburgerinparadise.com/menu/sensuoustreats.php) (they’re way better than they sound, trust me). I mean, _I guess_ there’s always Maryland, but does anyone really even know where Maryland is? ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/102 "2017-11-17T03:03:20Z")
I say we merge New Hampshire and Vermont because their shapes are roughly the same, only one is upside down and I can never remember which is which. Besides, then I can brag that my ancestors (mother’s side) spent the Revolutionary War in Hampmont or shout to my friends “Road trip to Vershire for Ben and Jerry’s!” Woohoo! ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/103 "2017-11-17T06:14:11Z")
If we got rid of Mississippi, the average IQ for the country would go up by a few points. (I live in Mississippi.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/104 "2017-11-17T06:24:02Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > I say we merge New Hampshire and Vermont because their shapes are roughly the same, only one is upside down and I can never remember which is which. Vermont is French, and open to Quebec. New Hampshire is English, and closed. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/105 "2017-11-17T09:36:00Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > California is the 7th largest economy in the world. Tell me how we aren’t important to the US. And, as already noted, paying for all the benefits going to the red states. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I really urge you to reconsider New Jersey. What has it done for us lately? I mean, for the New Jersey Turnpike alone it would be a contender, but it also gave us Chris Christie and Jersey Shore. Come on. As long as we evacuate Bruce Springsteen first, I could get on board with this. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/106 "2017-11-17T13:28:51Z")
Ohio, just to get rid of the Buckeyes. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/107 "2017-11-17T15:03:14Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > Nevada. I live here. Then we’d be independent. We mine enough gold to get what we can’t produce or grow here. Those who mine the gold share it with the general population? ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/108 "2017-11-17T15:34:03Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Yes, I was thinking that religiosity is correlated with poverty, so the most religious state being the poorest (and worse on other metrics that also correlate with poverty) wasn’t at all surprising to me. The opposite of incongruous. Utah is fairly religious yet doesn’t have tons of poverty. It also has the most income equality of any state by gini coefficient. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/109 "2017-11-17T16:14:55Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Ohio, just to get rid of the Buckeyes. OMG, twice in one calendar year I’ve agreed with **BobLibDem**. Everyone quit paying your bills, the world is surely about to end! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/110 "2017-11-17T17:00:35Z")
I would get rid of Idaho. Who really gives a shit where their potatoes come from? I lived there, and the word “white” isn’t white enough to describe the people and their attitudes. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/111 "2017-11-17T18:47:08Z")
Let’s see. I drove big rigs for 12 years, keep that in mind. In no particular order… 1. New Jersey. You can enter NJ for free but you have to pay a toll to leave. Doesn’t matter which route you try. Because NJ knows that if they charged people to enter no one ever would, but people are happy to pay if they can leave. I’ve lived 19 years across the river from NJ. If Goddess ever gives the Earth an enema, the nozzle is going to be stuck in The Garden State. B. Michigan. Give the UP to Wisconsin, huh? Gibson/Epiphone no longer make musical instruments there and after 20 some years living in Ohio, I caught Buckeye Fever, so Fuck Michigan! iii. CT, RI, MA? Merge them together and the’ll still make one small state. 4th. NH and VT? Merge 'em. OIOI. The Dakotas? You’re not impressing anyone. Merge! |||| |. New Jersey. Saw off the connecting land in North Jersey between the Delaware and Hudson Rivers and just let it float away. G. West Virginia. Get some heavy duty earth movers in there and bulldoze it FLAT. I lived there for 2 years. It was NOT “Almost Heaven”. Maybe I’ll come back later. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/112 "2017-11-17T20:01:12Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > I say we merge New Hampshire and Vermont because their shapes are roughly the same, only one is upside down and I can never remember which is which. > > Besides, then I can brag that my ancestors (mother’s side) spent the Revolutionary War in Hampmont or shout to my friends “Road trip to Vershire for Ben and Jerry’s!” Woohoo! The problem is, all the roadside litter is on the Cow Hampster side. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/113 "2017-11-17T21:56:48Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Texas, so they’d stop screwing with our school textbooks. Amen to the textbook thing. I’d hoped that ebooks would replace print, thus making different versions a simple operation. Still puzzled why that hasn’t happened. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/114 "2017-11-17T22:08:19Z")
Texas. Slam dunk. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/115 "2017-11-17T22:24:49Z")
Never thought I’d say this, but Wisconsin is starting to piss me off. Give 'em to Canada - let’s see how they deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/116 "2017-11-17T22:36:21Z")
This thread should have been a poll. It’s hard to keep track of all the Californias and Texas and New Jerseys votes here. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/117 "2017-11-18T01:25:22Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > And, as already noted, paying for all the benefits going to the red states. > > As long as we evacuate Bruce Springsteen first, I could get on board with this. California isn’t paying. The productive people in California and elsewhere are paying, in part, for unproductive people nationwide. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/118 "2017-11-18T06:33:39Z")
Denial. It really needs to go. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/119 "2017-11-18T08:13:02Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > Denial. > > It really needs to go. Don’t think we annexed Egypt yet. Britain tried. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724/120 "2017-11-18T08:56:49Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I’ll vote for Florida, but I’ll keep my reasons to myself. I say we sell Florida to the highest bidder. Get what we can for it now before it’s underwater in a hundred years or so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-get-rid-of-any-state/801724.md?page=7)