A place where freedom is a promise, and a puzzle

Florida proudly proclaims itself the freest state. It’s a place where the pursuit of happiness is as complex as the people who seek it.

Our reporter Patrik Jonsson says he loves to cover Florida. 

He spent his formative years growing up in the state. He was an editor and writer for his high school’s award-winning yearbook when he lived in Clearwater – an exciting experience he says helped launch his career as a journalist.

"I've always felt partly Floridian, and I kind of claimed it," he says. "I like the intensity, and I enjoy it a lot because, as a reporter and writer, I like to focus on characters, and Florida is full of characters. I’m being general here, but people are kind of free to be themselves in a way that I think is more so than other places."

That was just one of the reasons he wanted to explore in this week’s cover story how Floridians understand America's foremost mantra: freedom. 

The state's diversity, from the cosmopolitan pulse of Miami to the rural expanses of the Everglades, creates a mosaic of lifestyles and beliefs, he points out, making it a place where freedom can be understood in various ways. 

"It's totally full of houses and malls, you know, but you can get in a boat and be on a lush little island very quickly," Patrik says. "It's so interesting, but it's hard to pin down, too. It's hard to put your finger on what the heck it's all about. ... [Florida] has just this kind of life-at-full-bore kind of vibe."

Florida takes a lot of ribbing. It often finds itself a national punch line, especially in online memes, for example, which often highlight stereotypes. 

Ironically, one reason this happens is because of Florida's emphasis on freedom. Since 1909, the state has had stringent government transparency laws. In the 1960s, its "sunshine laws" made it perhaps the most open in the nation. "Nothing is hidden. Even arrests. That's why they have those little mug shot magazines everywhere in Florida," Patrik says. 

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has called Florida a "liberty outpost" compared with other states, and he's helped turn Florida solidly red. But at the same time, he's also taken an expansive understanding of the power of the state to restrict specific books about race and sexuality. He calls it "freedom from indoctrination," applying restrictions even to ideas. 

Florida's paradoxes are testaments to the American experiment itself, Patrik says. It's a place where freedom is both a promise and a puzzle, and where the pursuit of happiness is as complex as the people who seek it.