I love New York and I'm happy to pay my fair share in taxes. New York outlawed child labor years before the south. You cannot fire someone for being gay in NY, you can in the south. Sodomy was still a criminal offense in much of the south until the supreme court decision of 2003, NY legalized gay sex in the 1970's. In NY a childless adult is eligible for medicaid. In most of the south, you're shit out of luck. (thankfully the new health care law will change this, saving hundreds of thousands of lives over time) New York has abolished the death penalty and has a lower murder rate than Texas for example. NY allows women complete reproductive freedom while the south (most other states for that matter) put restrictions on that right. But that's federalism and it's good in the respect that it let's the people of each state choose the policies that reflect their values. NY is not perfect, we have an crazy gerrymandered legislature that both R's and D's can be blamed for but I'm happy to call this place home.