“One of the more interesting, though perhaps less significant, fault lines between social conservatism and economic conservatism is the peculiar issue of state liquor monopolies. There are nine states in the union where the government maintains a direct monopoly on the sale of hard liquor. These lonely outposts of American socialism are not the country’s most liberal states; they’re mainly conservative ones, including three of the seven most conservative states, Utah, Alabama and Idaho. They also include one state that’s becoming gradually less conservative, and may be about to give up its liquor monopoly: Virginia.”