Almost twenty years ago, I did what many people have done and moved from a high-tax/high-tyranny area (Northern Virginia) to a low-tax/lower-tyranny area (rural SW Virginia).
The new place was still in the same state but in many meaningful ways, it was an entirely different place. One could, for example, obtain a concealed-carry permit just by filling out a form – a minor tyranny compared with the major tyranny of being effectively denied the right to carry up north because in Northern Virginia, one had to jump through so many constantly moving hoops it was almost impossible to “qualify” for the permission slip.
The people were less busybodyish, too. You leave me alone, I leave you alone – an ancient Southern thing – still applied, more or less. Or at least, a lot more than it did 240 miles up the road in Northern Virginia, where everything you did was somehow some busybody’s business.
Government was unavoidable up there. Here, it was generally avoidable. One could fill one’s lungs and breath in a way that was denied the people up north.
Now the south is a lot like the north and the question arises: Where to next?
Is it worth moving somewhere else? Is there anywhere left within the United States that is still free enough relative to wherever we are now to justify the ordeal of selling one’s home, saying goodbye to one’s friends and all the familiar places in order to try again, somewhere else?
Liberty minded people have become as the native peoples of this country once were. A kind of pariah class, constantly on the move – perpetually ceding ground – hoping that, perhaps, in the new place they’ll be left in peace at last.
A peace that never comes. Because they keep coming. They are unrelenting in their demands, the chief one being that everyone live the same way even if the way some people are living causes no harm to anyone. It’s the difference itself that cannot be allowed because it implies another way, perhaps better. Which is an implicit criticism – as well as a beckoning alternative. A choice – and above all, that cannot be allowed.
This pathological urge to force-fit everyone into the same template, no matter how much blood (and tears) squeezes out in the process manifests in the declaring of the Amish to be living in “violation” of various codes because they have privvies rather than sewers; it eructs and emulsifies most currently in the hysterical demands – always enforceable – that everyone Fear Mask, even if they themselves aren’t fearful (there being no reason for them to be fearful) and dislike the idea of being made to live in fear.
Soon, the force-fitters will be force-vaccinating, using a toolkit that amounts to the digital age equivalent of an Inquisitor’s array of torture devices. First, humiliate the victim; shame him. Incessantly browbeat him. Yell, call him names. If he does not bend, then the rack – only today it will be an electronic one that denies him food and the money to buy it with. A system that locks him out of life – as the punishment for not submitting.
So – where to go?
As recently as 50or so years ago, America – any part of it – was the place to go. People came here from all over the world, to get away from what America has become. California, in those days, was among the freest places on earth. So also New York City. Either was the place to go if you wanted to be free to do your thing – as an individual, as a businessman.
As a human being.
For all the unctuous prattle about “diversity” America is now the least actually diverse place on earth. There are people of many ethnic/racial backgrounds and sexual habits but beyond these superficial things, everyone is fundamentally the same. Or pressured to be the same. To pay obeisance to the same pieties; to mouth the same slogans – even if they secretly despise them.
It is dangerous to be meaningfully different in America.
So where does one go to be meaningfully different? To be free to live one’s life free of “guidelines” imposed by those who believe they own everyone else’s life?
To just be let alone, for once.
These are questions urgently in need of answers as America morphs almost before our eyes into a loathsome, slouching thing consuming life even as it feigns being the protector of it.
. . .
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My passport expired this week. I tried to renew it a couple of months ago, and the process was suspended. I checked back today, and it’s still suspended. The company I use (CIBT) says they have no restart dates yet. It will be restarted sometime this summer, in 3 phases. The CIBT process is considered an accelerated process, and will be the 3rd/last phase (I actually use them for the convenience of it).
Why? Can’t be the Wuhan bug, right? I mean if rioting without masks and social distancing is okay, why isn’t passport processing? Think they want to make sure we don’t leave? Should all businesses and employees list their business as “Rioting and Looting” so that we can dispense with the masks and social distancing?
And do we even believe it’s a “Wuhan” bug anymore? The more we learn about the state of immunity, the harder it is to believe that it wasn’t here at all before December.
So
many
questions
…
Rather than use a company to renew your passport, why not do it via the gov’t? Why not go through the State Dept. when it was still valid? Now that you need a new one, why not start the process over again at the post office? Granted, it might take a while if you get it via the gov’t, but you WILL get it…
I’ve got my own plans on how I’m going to flee. Currently living in Kentucky, but as was said before, it’s a matter of time when it will become another Virginia. A decade perhaps? Right now I’m 58, and planning to take SS when I’m 62 (even some libertarians agree that you should try to get back some of the money the government has been stealing from you over the years). Still have my 88 year old mom around, but after she’s gone, I’m retiring to an RV. I can have the advantages of South Dakota residency without having to live there. And spend my time camped in rural areas most of the time, where I’ll be left alone. Suits me quite well, as I love the mountains and desert. Sure, I might spend time in states that are turning blue, but I can avoid the cities and the mess that comes with them. Few people go out to the wilderness, and even fewer live there.
I think as long as you are in a low population area far away from major cities you are in about as good a place as can be found these days. We are headed for a major collapse. Maintaining an empire is extremely expensive. The dollar could very well lose it’s reserve currency status, which would lead to hyper-inflation from all the currency created out of thin air coming home to roost. It would also make it impossible for the fed to continue creating currency from thin air. This will put the government in a position where they’ll have to tax the crap out of an economy that is flatlined to be able to continue spending. That will be like squeezing water from a stone. Inevitably leviathan will collapse under it’s own weight. It might be that our government ends up much smaller and having far less of a footprint simply because the credit cards they’ve been paying the bills with are maxed out and there is no one foolish enough left to issue them another one. I suppose the empire might continue to expand it’s control and influence, but my money is on collapse. Every bully eventually gets punched in the nose and has to face victims who have decided that enough is enough, which invariably ends their reign of tyranny. I see this happening to Uncle at home and abroad.
You can see from the condemnations from chiefs of police all across the country of the AGW murderer in Minneapolis that they are afraid that they are close to losing their support from the citizenry. When that support fades leviathan will face much more blowback when using threats of violence to enforce its edicts, and when you get down to it, the threat of violence is the only tool they have for maintaining control.
It won’t be long before the daily focus for the majority of Americans will be finding enough to eat to keep themselves alive, which will lead to acts of desperation. I think the ruling class will have much more on their plate than they can handle. Their acts of petty tyranny will be completely ignored and any attempts at enforcement will likely be strongly resisted. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Hank, you could live in upstate NY, in it’s northern or western extremities, hundreds of miles from NYC….and you’ll still be ruled by Comrade Cuomo, pay very high taxes, and have to live under many of the dictates of liberalism of the southern sliver of the state- even though the other 95% of the state is rural and mostly red.
IMO, you have to be in a state that doesn’t have any big cities/metro areas whose populations outnumber the rural areas and small towns. And a state which hasn’t been taken over by liberalism or by an influx of residents fleeing the commie states, like NY, CA, and ILL-annoy.
There are few such states left. KY and WY are among the few. A state’s gun stance is a goiod indicator of how much they will screw with you. If they have constitutional carry; no registration; no restrictions on scary-looking (“assault”) rifles, no capacity or ammo restrictions above the federal BS…chances are good they won’t be messing with ya much.
How they treat drivers is very important too- since to the average person, driving is pretty much the only time we may be interfered with by the pigs- and VA. is the very worst on this. It’s not just about the traffic laws either- but also about how likely they are to stop you for minor things; if they use speed traps, etc. These things are hard to ascertain remotely- You have to either spend some time in an area, or know people from there, to get an idea how that is handled. (19 years living here in KY so far….commonly do 80 on a 55MPH posted road…never been stopped].
All of the border states and coastal states are gone (AZ is still decent on guns…but their federalized aggressive cops, large population of transplants, and heavily authoritarian state and local gov’ts make it a no-go for me). And state with big cities/metro areas and or a tradition of blue governance…no go….
20 years ago I might have gone to MT but for the weather. Glad I didn’t, as MT has turned blue; is getting deluged with Californians, and is not what it used to be. VA. is done now too. NOVA/Norfolk/Richmond have done it in.
Nunzio, I agree. I moved to the backwoods of southern Missouri five years ago. The county I live in has no traffic lights, no zoning laws and no building codes. My property taxes are less than a quarter what I was paying in Colorado and I have acreage here, a big shop building and a larger house compared to a small suburban house with a very small yard.
I can do pretty much anything I want to on my property with no interference from the law or the neighbors. I mind my own business and they leave me alone. In all the time I’ve lived here I have yet to have an encounter with an AGW. In Colorado the AGWs were inserting themselves into my life and my affairs continually. I got tickets for petty code infractions like having my service truck parked on my own driveway, working on my own vehicle in my own driveway and building a fence without a permit. I got several stupid bogus nit-picky traffic tickets there as well, like one I got for going into the middle lane of a major thoroughfare instead of the far right lane when making a right turn on a green light.
Missouri is a constitutional carry state, which is awesome. We do have the influence of K.C. and St. Louis, but that doesn’t seem to be quite enough yet to tip the balance.
All of that being said, my point is that the US is on the cusp of dramatic change and upheaval. My belief is that life as we’ve known it is in the rearview mirror and there is a rough patch ahead. Reality is going to bitchslap liberal utopias. There won’t be any more kicking the can down the road. Blue state tyrants won’t be able to do much of what they’ve gotten away with in the past because there won’t be a budget for it, and not enough productivity left that they can steal funding from. They are bankrupt. Not only have they put main street out of business, but they’ve mortally wounded themselves by killing the goose that lays the golden egg. What is unsustainable will not be sustained.
There is a lot of movement globally away from the dollar, which is weakening its status as the global reserve currency. The empire is having more and more trouble keeping the petrodollar arrangement intact and functioning to their advantage. The cost militarily will eventually be more than the advantage realized, if it isn’t already.
When Uncle can’t print anymore they won’t be able to bail out all the blue state malfeasance which will bring it to an end. Liberal nonsense is an indulgence only afforded by affluent societies. That affluence is soon to be just a fond memory. I may be optimistic, but I think things will start unraveling rather quickly from this point. Right now I think one’s main priorities ought to be avoiding conflagrations as much as possible by living in areas of low population density and being prepared for some lean times.
There’s always Cafayate- Doug Casey’s Libertarian resort town. http://www.lec.com.ar/
Basically Libertarian Casey sought to create a sanctuary for Libertarians and Libertines there. He argues that Argentina, although leftist/commie, is incapable of governing the vast lands outside it’s metro areas. Ergo- old time freedoms.
Similarly I have divorced my self from the idea that because I was born somewhere or because I “live here” that place is somehow exempt from turning to crap. Places change. People change. Look at Detroit or Buffalo for example. For most of the 20th century they were ultra wealthy places and offered lifestyle and culture galore. Then came the plot to globalize. (IMO making US autos garbage, the BS Arab Oil Embargo, and Environmentalism were all part of the plan to de-industrialize the USA. GM was in on it!) Be willing to move.
My buddy was imprisoned for 3 years by the Feds for “insider trading”. A non-crime. He tells me stories about Federal Prison that are both hilarious and scary. One thing he learned in prison is that there are cliques- the homies hang out together, as do the Latinos, the redneck meth-heads, the pot guys, and the white collar guys (he says there are a number of MDs and judges in the Fed Pen!!) His takeaway was this: Don’t attempt to integrate yourself where you are not welcome. It ends badly.
For me as a socially conservative Christian I have learned that living with commie liberals like the ones in the Upper West Side of NYC is hell. Although they are my economic equals they reflexively hate me- even before I have too much wine and run my mouth about liking America. Leftists can smell a Christian from across the room and something inside them snaps. Then they snarl and attack. In my experience Liberals are Stalinists in disguise and will ruin hour life if they can. Just for the hell of it. I moved to coastal SC and although there is some NYC sewage creeping in here it’s still a place where I can decorate my golf cart with an American flag on the 4th of July and ride around with a cold beer and get smiles and waves. For now I’m safe here. Until the NYC commies ooze into local government and wreck the place with their purposeful misery. Then I’ll go somewhere my kind go and be happy for a few decades. Call it “white flight with a twist”
How you, as a self-described “conservative Christian”, living in the heart of “Jew York City”, have managed to not be socially blackballed or have your employer pressured to fire you, or, if you’re self-employed, not have the bureau-rats come out of the woodwork to find obscure “code violations” and file many a nuisance lawsuit, that escapes me. Ya done well in the “Devil’s Den”.
That’s what I was wonderin’ too, Dooglas[sic].
Even 20 years ago, just prior to leaving NY, I would have been better received if had dressed as a Klansman, as opposed to openly being self-reliant, anti-government, non-PC, and a conservative Christian AnCap whose beliefsa and practices are actually integral and able to withstand scrutiny…….
We’re [All us Libertarians] viewed like 1984’s Bernstein, or Atlas Shrugged’s Ragnar Danneskjold by the masses- be they trend-setters, suburbanites or welfare bums- the propaganda and hatred of freedom, traditional Western values, independence and non-conformity has permeated every nook and cranny.
Did you mean Goldstein? He was the object of the two minutes hate in “1984”, IIRC…
I escaped in 1984. Plus I’m an oddball- my Grandfather on my Dad’s side was a Jew. Grandma was a Norwegian. Mom is English. I look like a Nordic- blond and bulky. In NYC I played the Jew Card which helped, but never have I denied Christ. That’s where I drew the line, and still do. Of course that alone will get you killed in most parts of the world. For some reason a Jewish carpenter who lived only 33 years, had no children and never wrote a single word on parchment is arguably the most hated man who ever lived. If He lived in NYC today He’d be killed again. The trouble is libtardism knows no racial boundaries because it IS a religion. The NYC Stalinists are Liberals first, then Jewish, then “New Yorkers”.
You are right about how dirty and cruel their tactics are. Once you are “on ze list” it’s a barrage of gotchas. No way would I live and work there again. It’s an angry filthy place full of bitter and often violent people- with a superiority complex.
I appreciate your faith in the Savior.
An interesting quote from the Book of Mormon about Jews and their crucifying Christ comes from II Nephi 10:3
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/10?lang=eng
Whether you accept this as scripture, the work of the “devil”, or just a product of ol’ Joe Smith’s fervent imagination, you have to admit the passage nails it.
Good stuff, Auric!
What you say about Argentina is what I have long thought, too. In the countryside, far from the big cities, iut’s pretty much business as usual- the way life had always been. Unlike here, people don’t just toe the official government line everywhere, because the reach of media and government is not as pervasive in such places, and the people don’t just sit around watching TV nor grooming themselves to spend 40 years in a windowless cubicle. They actually LIVE!
And yes, the most rabid liberals can smell a Christian and or Libertarian a mile away, and seem to exist just to strut their idiotic psychotic tyrannies and immorality in our faces just to annoy us. I sometimes think the only reason they advocate the things they do is just to rebel against the sanity and practicality of principles we represent!
No revolution was ever started by fat people. Hungry people, on the other hand………
And it appears to me a great many are going to suddenly become hungry. It may be that the Psychopaths In Charge are in the process of shooting themselves in the ass and, since that’s where their brain is, may not survive it. It no doubt will be a painful process, fatally so for many of us. Especially for those who have no interest in producing anything as long as they get subsistence from gubmint. How concerned will Karen be with what you are doing when she’s losing weight involuntarily? The darkest hour is right before the dawn.
I wouldn’t necessarily pack up and go, but I would make some preparation to do so, if I weren’t older than dirt. No doubt some areas will be worse or better than others when the SHTF.
Hi John,
Yup. I keep my backpack ready to go; it’s weird and strange to even have to think along such lines. . . but foolish not to. I can be in the woods in minutes and have the gear to survive for weeks. It is not something I want to do – and I hope I never have to do it. But I am glad I have the option to do it.
Keep your necessary firearms well-oiled and handy, along with ammo. You’ll still need to “plink” to keep up proficiency. Also, pick a particular ammo type and stick to it. Me, I prefer .40 S&W which both my Ruger and Walther shoot, and my Ruger GP revolver, though chambered for 10mm Auto, can fire the Smith rounds as well with moon clips. I’m in the market for a cheap, lightweight carbine that also fires the Smith rounds, as the accuracy is sufficient for most engagements, ALMOST all should be “varminting” of the four-legged variety.
There was one interesting thing that came out of the Wehrmacht debacle known as Stalingrad. When Von Paulus surrendered, along with the 6th Army staff, the Soviets made great effort to film these Heer officers. One thing they made note of, though none of them, save for Paulus himself, looked particularly “gaunt”, while the 91,000 German troops that were finally bagged were starving. Indeed, the majority of the Germans that perished in the Stalingrad “Kessel” did so due to disease, exposure, and MALNUTRITION, not necessarily to enemy fire. There were instances of Soviet troops, whom had no reason to show the invader any mercy, actually given some of their meager rations to their prisoners out of pity. The Soviet propaganda machine made a great deal out of how well the officers lived while the average German “Landser” was left to freeze and starve. Herr Feld-Marschall Von Paulus, however, from Christmas Day, 1942, onwards, permitted himself only the meager rations that his troops had to subsist on, when they could actually get it, and lost a great deal of weight in that last month of the seige.
Likewise, if things get bad, it might be a good idea to go just a wee bit hungry, if for nothing else to stretch out precious food supplies, but also to not “advertise”. Folks whom are starving generally aren’t thinking so well, either.
That depressing mountain sky and cold weather you have would be enough for me to climb the walls.
If you’re serious about relocating, I highly recommend checking out Baldwin County, AL. There’s lots of rural farm communities there along with beach towns (Gulf Shores and Orange Beach). There’s also the quaint town of Fairhope where there’s some nice coffee shops. Plenty of quality grocery store options, too.
Hi Handler,
Thanks for the skinny on AL! I’ve been through a couple of times; it’s generally similar to VA and I like that. I’m still very attached to my place, though – which I’ve spent the past 15 years making the way I like it. But – sic gloria transit mundi, eh?
But – just maybe – there is still time to cleanse this country of its unhygienic elements.
“Bama” is fine if you can live with a LOT more hot, muggy weather, bugs that need the Air Force for pest control (why they never entirely closed Maxwell, I think), tornadoes, hurricanes, and, oh yes, there’s a LOT more of those folks of the African “persuasion”. OTOH, most blacks in the Deep South are just as “down home” as whitey and generally relations are good, as they’ve become accustomed to each other.
Eric, your child-like optimism about possibly maybe being able to turn this country 180* despite the cultural, societal and moral decay of the entire Western world, and rescue humanity from the last 100 years of tyranny and propaganda, reminds me of this classic scene from the Simpsons:
Homer chases the pig:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LTgNVwfMAE
Hi Nunz!
It’s not optimism – it’s refusal to give in – a different thing. I don’t care whether the fight is hopeless. I will fight. Because the fight is worth it for its own sake.
Hey Eric!
Oh, we’re on the same page there- I’ll never give-in; will fight as long as I have to or until I’m dead…..but that’s us. We have to be realistic about those around us, and their country as a [w]hole- And keep a realistic outlook of the actual scenarios that are likely to play out.
We fight for our own freedom. If we think we are fighting for some hoped-for collective gain, we are just wasting our time.
I always wondered why Milhous Van Houten had a crush on this SJW with a twat, in training. OTOH, given his feckless Dad and his pathetic excuse for a mother, he had “cuckold” written all over him from the day he was hatched.
Pathetic. The one time Homer J Simpson actually earned some respect and admiration from his peers, and his know-it-all female sprog fucked that up for him.
Doug, this sums up Milhouse…. LOL
https://ne-np.facebook.com/NothingButSimpsonsClips/videos/496364040729869/
I don’t think there is anywhere left to run.
Leave the United States? For where? Europe? Australia? New Zealand? They all have problems, and you’d be a foreigner, at best a resident alien. Mexico, Central or South America? Better speak Spanish, the governments and banks are unstable and if things go bad, you’re just an unarmed gringo with a target on your back.
Leave Virginia? Texas, Arizona and Colorado are being overrun with refugees from California who bring the progressive virus with them. Florida, the Carolina’s, and Georgia are overrun with refugees from New York, New England and Illinois with same problem. All the big cities are the same with high crime and poverty and the big states are all headed in the same progressive direction.
The best possibility would be a small city in a small county in a small state. Of course there are problems relocating to a small town. Jobs are hard to find in small towns. If you’re retired or can work remotely that helps. Another problem is being accepted by the locals. In lots of small towns it takes generations to not be thought of as an outsider.
Southern Virginia may not be lost. The Governor sucks and the legislature is controlled by the northern progressive counties, but there must still be a fair number of freedom loving people in your rural part of the state. Maybe this totalitarian overreach will motivate people to get involved in local and state politics to swing the pendulum back to sanity. At this point there may be no alternative other than to stand and fight where we are.
Griff, don’t forget Portuguese; that’s what they speak in Brasil, and Brasil covers much of the continent down there…
Eric, come up for a visit next month.
https://porcfest.com/
Come to Mexico. Property and Car taxes are cheap as is just about everything else. We have a lot of laws here but if they are deemed stupid, they are neither respected or enforced. Driving back from the beach the other day, I thought to myself, Ìf I were stopped for this speed in the States, I would probably be taken to jail and my car impounded´.
Yeah, Doug- I never looked at Mexico as a permanent solution- but these days, it’d be the equivalent of what moving to one of the freer rural US states would have been 30 or 40 years ago- It’d be a big improvement to quality of life. And just all of the little things, too- like ready access to REAL food (Not just local produce- but popcicles with real fruit in ’em; Coka-Cola with sugar and not HFCS! etc.)-It’s gotta be like rolling things back 30 or 40 years.
I hear that there is a big Libertarian/Anarchist community just outside Acapulco too!
The way I see it, here in the US, due to our model of government being practiced EVERYWHERE, no matter where ya go within, it’s all getting to be the same to one degree or another- and the differences are getting fewer and fewer. Everywhere is going to be exactly the same, very soon. 9/11 hastened it…and now Corona is essentially 9/11 on steroids.
\
\Being just one step over from Eric, here in KY. I keep rehearsing what I would be doing if I lived in VA. instead; or if KY were to become like VA (Which it will- it’s just a question of when)- and I keep thinking that even if staying in the US were my only option, I’d still move to preserve what liberties can still be had in a few places for the time being. If it weren’t for my 95 year-old mother though, I’d be out of this country so fast the revolving door at the border would be spinning for days from the force of the air I’d be displacing!
There is no future for us here in the US anymore. It’s too the point where we don’t even need to be too fussy about where to go anymore- just get out….and then have time and a better perspective to look around if we desire.
The main trouble with retiring to ANY “Latin Paradise” is that you’d better have plenty for “la Mordidad”, else, you’re just prey to “Los Banditos” or “Los Federales”, whom are often one and the SAME. There ain’t no “free lunch” anywhere in the world.
Doug, if you’re away from the cities/populated areas, you can go decades without ever having any contact with anyone who is even remotely connected to the government in many of these places. Out in the sticks, many people never even get a driver’s license. They just don’t have the resources/control to police everything the way they do here. And even in places like Mexico, even in the more populated areas….the situation with the Federales isn’t like it used to be decades ago. From what people I know in real life have told me, I’d much rather deal with them these days….than one of ours.
What you said about Mexican police versus ours seems credible…and TELLING (sigh).
Yeah, theirs got better….ours got a LOT worse!
Friend o’mine told me once, that back in the 70’s a friend of his (Is that “a friend of a friend”? 🙂 ) was driving through Meh-hee-co in a motorhome; got stopped by the Federales; He and his fambly were ordered out of the RV; the pigs got in and drove it away, aqnd that was the last he ever saw of that RV or thosde pigs.
Today, it’s more like they’re looking for major criminals and drug dealers. If they stop you for a traffic violation or something, you may get a ticket- but that can usually be discouraged by the offer of a few dollars- but the treatment you get here- like the threat of or actual use of violence; the barking of ridiculous orders, and being humiliated, etc. isn’t really an issue there. There may be some corrupt ones to one degree or another- as can be the case anywhere- but in general, they still act like human beings…and treat you like one- which these days, is pretty much unheard of here, even when they’re not being total assholes.
Texas is turning fast. If the Dems get vote-by-mail, Trump will lose the state, and the Republicans may well lose the US Senate seat held by John Cornyn, replaced most likely by MJ Hegar, a decorated Air Force pilot but failed Congressional candidate out of Round Rock.
Florida will eventually turn, but the Democrats completely blew their chance at holding all three branches of state government for at least 10 years with Andrew Gillum.
Neither dire outcome is inevitable. Look at recent GOP successes in Calipornia. Yeah, I know, the “lesser of two evils” is still EVIL, but better the “devil” you can work with.
‘For all the unctuous prattle about “diversity” America is now the least actually diverse place on earth …’
… thanks to the dead hand of the US fedgov. Before the mid-1960s, it exerted little influence over the states.
Now the fedgov micromanages everything — for example, the uniform .08 BAC threshold for DUI, shoved down states’ throats by threatened loss of highway funding. (Utah is at .05 BAC, but Uncle don’t mind.)
Vast federal justice palaces harshly enforce the multitudes of new federal laws. Retroactive ‘legalization’ of electronic surveillance after NahnLeven destroyed privacy and the right to associate without being monitored.
But like the former Soviet Union, the usurper regime in Washington has an Achilles heel. Its unsustainable global military empire is bleeding it dry, while at home, decades of unfunded health and pension promises are coming due when there’s nothing but digitally-printed vapo-dollars in the till.
When the Soviet government lost all credibility in 1991, its ‘Union’ busted up into 15 pieces.
We may likewise wish that when the megalomaniacal DC regime smacks the wall later this decade, American regions will reclaim their sovereignty after a peaceful divorce settlement (and hopefully, Nuremburg trials of the seditious DemonRat and RepubliClown parties).
Good point about the USSR, Jim H.- but I fear that it will be far different here. The regime may well collapse- nay, will collapse- it’s just a question of when?- But the problem is, unlike Russia, our people are not sick of communism/tyranny, nor do the masses see the government as their enemy. Most Americans want MORE communism/tyranny…..they vote for it, beg for it, argue for it, work for it- and when the current tyrannical system crumbles, they will likely replace it with an even worse one. Our government is a pretty good reflection of our people.
Not all, and this is where and when it makes sense to leave certain “socialist” enclaves.
For example, I predict that WHEN Trump is re-elected, and IF the GOP retains the Senate and re-takes the House, and if especially quite a few House seats in “Calipornia” get flipped “red”, the now-stalled “CalExit” movement will restart. Of course, the disaffected Northern CA rural counties will want to bolt and form the State of Jefferson. Suppose, indeed, such a secession movement is successful (mostly b/c the rest of the country sez “Good Riddance”!), watch the immediate exodus of whites, not unlike South Afreeka or Zimm-Boob-a-weigh, and the Republic of California immediately turn into even more of a dysfunctional banana republic.
There’s nowhere left to go. The infection is everywhere.
Colorado is the birthplace of the Libertarian party. It’s also a pretty “purple” state, with a large majority of independent voters. But it’s also always been dominated by Denver, which has been overrun by people moving here for work instead of lifestyle. Once they get here they want the same government “solutions” they had where they came from. So far the TABR act has served its purpose as a brake on their plans, but every politician wants it gone.
But the big problem with the western states is all the federal land. It is a big drain on the economy and prevents growth. But it also keeps land values high and that’s the way the elites like it.
This is the same issue I’ve been struggling with for awhile, and the house arrest mania has only intensified it.
The problem for me is that I have 4 young kids and both me and the wife’s families are close by. This places emotional hardships and questions of obligation to aging family on the table.
On top of that, I would need to find gainful employment relatively quickly after a move, which will be complicated by the extreme unemployment now happening.
Then looking internationally, the same issues with family and income crop up but add additional financial pressures, language barriers and cultural differences to the mix.
Just not sure what to do.
And I should add, that’s assuming you can even find a place that’s livable and that did not participate in corona fever
Rural areas in fly-over country, which do not have any major cities. Low cost of living; cheap land…be independent of the system; Cheap to live and low taxes=be self employed at some blue-collar free-market service or trade; and and in many such places, like the one traffic-light county in which I moved to, most people aren’t paying any attention to the Corona BS. If it weren’t for Walmart and Lowes, and an occasional woman wearing a mask (Always the young healthy ones…they’re most succeptible…to the media BS), I wouldn’t even know the Corona BS exists.
In general, states that have Constitutional carry- no CCW permit required; no gun registration, are the best places to look. As go the gun rights…so go all the others.
And fewer J-O-O-s and Negroidals, save for in the South for the latter.
Yes, generally as goes the respect for 2A, so goes general respect for individual FREEDOMS. Doesn’t ‘splain’ Vermont and the Commie Rat Sanders, though.
Yeah, VT. is the exception as far as the 2A- but since everything else is frigged-up about the commie place….I guess the one good thing doesn’t count; and I suppose most of the types who live there would never carry anyway…..
For anyone considering escape from the “homeland” to move to another country, I’m willing to discuss by private emails. I left the USA 15 years ago and now reside in Thailand. American men over age 50 years of age are welcomed here. Life is calm, quiet, mostly pleasant. It’s not Shangri-La, but local politics that makes the headlines hardly affects my life at all.
mike1946 (at) fmailbox (dot) com
Mike, I’ve been keeping Thailand in mind for quite some time. I may well be joining you soon.
I’ll go to Thailand and bring along a freaky young g/f with the nose ring and tattoos…buy her a lobster dinner…and spend MORE than a dollar on it. However, my “bum ass” is already moved out of my mother’s house for some 42 years!
The thing about Thailand though- from someone I know who’s been there several times, is that the Thai language is very difficult for Westerners, as a lot of the meaning to the words varies radically depending on subtle inflections. And while many people around Bangkok speak English….out in the country, it is not so- and Bangkok is the epitome of everything I’d like to avoid!
I think that Virginia is largely a goner. I looked at the Coonman and the people who will likely oppose him in 2021 and I don’t think that freedom loving people will get any relief. The opponents are boring and bought. I would get on the real estate websites and look for a western state with a decent political and car culture. Not sure where that is, but South Dakota, cold as it is, looks reasonable to me. Just bring your girlfriend so that you don’t have to go two years without the slap and tickle.
Outside the country, Eastern Europe looks far more reasonable than the rest of the world, bitterly cold as it is.
I live in the state of Oklahoma. Moved there from Texas. There are some palpable differences. It is hard to fit in here, but I’m slowly finding my way. With what you can sell your house for in VA, you can get twice the home in OK (I think), especially in the rural areas.
It’s open here. Speed limit enforcement is absent off the interstates and small towns. There are quite a number of state parks and things to do here. The car culture here isn’t bad. One town outside McAlester had a burn out contest last summer.
The politicians are grotesque, but not nearly as bad as what you get in VA. We don’t have statewide lockdowns and are are “reopening” without mask mandates, just announcements about “social distancing” from companies that are on the payroll. Lots of mask wears as they make up about 30% minimum of the “population.”
I’m also in OK, west of Tulsa, out in the country in a quiet middle class neighborhood surrounded by miles of forest. Going into town, I see rebels everywhere. Rebels that will NOT be shouted at by Karen for not wearing a mask, due to the implied threat of a beat down ever present.
The little steakhouse we ate at last weekend didn’t even require their employees to wear the mask, if you can believe it.
Car culture is alive and well here. The weekend before all this shit started, I was part of one of the largest local car shows I’ve ever seen around here (no entry fee, so everyone comes). Rolling through the neighborhoods around here on a nice warm day, I see just about every 5th house with the garage open and a classic sitting inside.
Like Swamp said, you get a lot of house for the money here too.
Hi Philo,
It’s heartening to hear there are still enclaves of America left; this post cheered me on a day much in need of. Thank you.
My mom was born and raised in Yale.
I remember it as very hot and humid in the summertime. OK has “constitutional carry” now, so I have actually wondered about western OK as a place to get some horse acreage in a warmer climate than MT.
Yes, it can get quite humid in the summer, but I love it. We experience all types of weather here. We are in tropical monsoon mode right now.
And you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced firsthand, the awesome sight of a massive thunderstorm swirling, churning, spinning up, threatening to drop down into a tornado right above you. Honey, hold my beer while I go grab the camera!
Ha! Man, I have always wanted to live amongst those OK T-boomers! Just seeing the pics/videos of ’em…spectacular!
Yeah. One of my favorite things is watching 1960’s Tornado films. I don’t want to be in one, though. I wish we would get out of this 70’s and rain crap and get into full summer mode. It’s taking too long. I like it when it’s in the 90’s. Great weather to work on the car and sweat all the crap out. Got a few car projects this year I want to finish. Also want to see a few local car shows with burnout contests.
Ha! Same here, Swampers!
I’m often swimming by the end of April. This year? Haven’t even been in the pool once yet, and it’s almost JUNE!!!! We’re getting 70’s and lots of showers. Usually +/-90’s by now…. Even getting some humid blasé neither sunny nor overcast days…. More like freakin’ Pennsylvania weather!
One can’t help but think of that opening riff to the classic Clash tune over this question.
Just like the Borg, they keep coming. As CS Lewis said, they have the “approval of their own conscience”. I looked into international “escape” a couple decades ago after nineleven, but found no suitable places unless I wanted to give up a lot of things that I love – cars, guns, building things, etc… I’m not a “lie on the beach all day” sort of person and need to get outdoors and do productive stuff. And that’s assuming I could make a living in one of those places.
Domestically there was the Free State Project mentioned by Charles, and I did sign up for that. But it never reached the required 25,000 (got to maybe 12,000?). Not enough people willing to commit. Not enough people even willing to make a sacrifice to move to a different state.
It’s similar to when they confiscated guns in the UK. A former UK (now Texan) gun owner showed up at the UK gun confiscation protests and wondered why there weren’t more people there. He was told that since the UK government was confiscating alphabetically by last name, only the As and Bs were protesting at the moment.
That is the most British thing imaginable.
NH. “free state….NOT in the freaking Northeast! That whole corner of the country, along with both coasts are totally gone…as well as most of the north and south border states….now they’re gonna start coming for the rest of us! And with even more people slated to flee NY, CA. and Shit-cago than ever before (And not for freedom, but for lower taxes/cost of living and better ‘quality of life’) things are gonna start deteriorating even faster here in fly-over land.
A few years back, there was a project to get liberty minded people to move to New Hampshire en masse. The idea was to overwhelm a small state with libertarian minded individuals so that the state could have a libertarian minded majority in the state’s government. I never heard how that turned out.
It’s going quite well, thank you.
Come on up for a visit.
https://porcfest.com/
The answer to your question is to stay put. The solution to the problem is to not advertise.
In this example, let’s discuss smoking. Smoking was a widely accepted practice performed by lots of people in lots of places. It is now not. smoking is something everyone around the smoker has to endure. When humanity discovered that some people get sick from it, smoking became stigmatized. Not every smoker gets sick, and a person is still free to smoke. Just not all over the place.
Same might apply with this mask thing. Smokers had to make concessions to enjoy their freedom to smoke. Winston’s taste good like a cigarette should, just not at the Kroger, bank, doctor, office, airplane, bar(somehow),gym, church.
This won’t change, though people still smoke em if they got em. To put it another way, there’s always a smoker friendly spot. Just ask a fellow smoker where it is. Get it? Also, Bitcoin. You can buy a murder on the internet these days. I ordered LSD last week.
Look at a map of population density. Go West young man. Nevada, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and yes California are ALL 99% rural states. Watch the movie Easy Rider and Go West
Not Oregon aka Northern New California. Land of many communists. The newspaper in Portland “The Oregonian” is often regarded as “The Oregonski” and seems to be staffed by the reds from Pravda. Washington is not such a good choice either, especially on the west side of the state.
Can also add South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa to the list of places to move. Have to warn you though, you’ll miss the hills of Virginia. Iowa is mostly low rolling hills and wall-to-wall corn and soy beans. Nebraska is see-the-curvature-of-the-Earth flat. Decent people even if a good bit complacent and naive.
If you like rocky hills and woods, look to northeastern Iowa.
I live in Utah. Have my entire life, but I can’t say Utah is as “free” as it once was and I blame that partially on the movement of people from California.
They destroy one state, and then move elsewhere and destroy another state. That’s what they’re doing here. Same with Nevada and Arizona.
“Yew-Tah” is politically in a state of perpetual dissatisfaction. Those whom aren’t LDS, or are but non-observant, grumble that the Mormon Church runs everything in the Beehive State. Many liberal transplants, from not just CA, including a lot of gays, have taken over SLC, especially in the trendy “Avenues”.
And, with a relatively booming local economy, there’s been a huge push to build, build, build. I’ve seen Spanish Fork, which was about 7,500 folks some 20 years ago, grow four-fold, having become a bedroom community for Provo. Since Utah doesn’t tax retirement income, I’m considering there to relocate and GTFO out CA, but it’d be to a rural backwater like Delta or Richfield. I might put up with being NEAR Cedar City or St. George, but both are growing like weeds themselves.
Not Nevada. For decades, this state was near-libertarian…no income tax, quickie marriages, quickie divorces, gambling, brothels…you name it. With the influx of Californians over the years, things have changed significantly and get more California-ized every year. In the rural areas (much like rural Utah, where I grew up) it seems rugged individualism attempts to struggle on, but even they are not immune to the diktats from Carson City.
Problem with both Nevada and Utah (IMO) is that most of each state is rural, with one metro area which dominates the political landscape (i.e. LV and SLC).
I should add…which is largely the situation you’re in, EP.
Well, with the Commonwealth of Virginia, it’s more a matter of “Ver-gin-Yah!” versus “Ver-ginny!” Efete liberals and government bureaucrats and those affiliated with “Beltway Bandits” versus “good ole’ boys” driving them thar “pick-em-up” trucks. I’d say it’s the VA part of Metro DC that “leads”, as it were, but there’s obviously Metro Richmond. Tidewater region? I’d say that’s more a tossup, as you do have a lot of blacks whom vote overwhelmingly Democrat, but there’s also a strong military presence, especially Navy, which tends to be conservative.
I can see a movement for the various counties of Western Virginia to secede and likely unite with West Virginia. Maybe such an enlarged state could take the original proposed name, Kanawha.