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  • Bob A

    όυ φροντισ
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Nov 11, 2009
    30,690
    An interesting and timely book review published by AEIR states that taking positive action through relocation is far more effective than using the ballot box.

    From the first couple paragraphs:
    Ilya Somin’s great book from last year: Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom . . . undermining voting as the most effectful participation in civic life and showing that arguments against foreigners coming to our shores don’t hold water.

    The brilliance of Free to Move is to connect these two arguments. Ballot voting is unsatisfactory for all the reasons that foot voting is not: an individual has no ability to impact the outcome of, and therefore has no reason to learn about, the political issues involved. A foot voter has almost full ability to affect the outcome of his or her decisions, and thus all the reasons in the world to investigate them. Having accountable decisions made at the level where their consequences are most urgently felt – the individual – aligns political life with personal values in a way no amount of democratic participation could.

    * * *

    Leaving people to choose for themselves allows them to opt out of systems that force majoritarian rule on them. Somin makes a great case for migration as a life-changing force for the people able to do it, not least his own parents leaving the Soviet Union.

    It's quite an interesting article, reviewing Somin's book and restating his arguments, and is particularly appropriate for Marylanders like myself, who see no hope of changing the repressive culture here, and plenty of benefit in choosing to live in a more agreeable milieu.

    Here's a link, if you're interested:
    https://www.aier.org/article/voting-with-your-feet/
     

    Bob A

    όυ φροντισ
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Nov 11, 2009
    30,690
    My pleasure, sir.

    BTW, I just ordered Somin's book.
     

    Ponder_MD

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 9, 2020
    4,559
    Maryland
    After seeing voting patterns rapidly shift in the past 7 years, this just isn't working like it used to. Liberty minded folks keep retreating to these enclaves and they keep turning purple, then blue. Eventually, there will be nowhere to run to. Are we all going to crowd into West Virginia? What good will that do when Congress passes unconstitutional laws that neuter our freedoms?

    Virginia was solid red. Elitist, federal employees flocked to NoVa suburbs and completely took over the government.
    Texas was solid red. Now it's purple. Beto O'Rourke, a staunch anti-2A guy came a hair's width from winning his bid there.
    Then there's Arizona. (BTW, does anyone else think that "Krysten Sinema" sounds like stripper's stage name?)

    For me, Texas is the gold standard. If Texas falls to Progressives, nowhere is safe.

    At some point, we have to stop running.
     
    Sep 5, 2017
    2
    I'm chomping at the bit to put MD in my rearview mirror my establishing residency in PA, primarily to reduce retirement annuity income taxes and eventually social security taxes. PA is still 2A friendly but they too are turning purple. Amazing how Northern Virginia and philadelphia / Pittsburgh can turn an otherwise freedom loving state into a nightmare.
     

    G O B

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 17, 2007
    1,940
    Cen TX
    I left for TX in '15. There is NO way I was going to fund MD with my retirement. No State taxes here!
     
    Well, I think Ponder_MD makes some good points. The Marxist/Anarchists are attacking all our Constitutional freedoms everywhere, 2A high on the list because it makes us hard to manage. But I relocated to Tennessee in 2019 after living in Maryland for over 30 years (and even then, Western Maryland, which is arguably the most 2A-oriented part of the state). The feeling of living here in Tennessee instead of Maryland is like being able to breathe pure air. I know that a reckoning is coming and when it does come, like many of you I'll stand for the Constitution. But for now, I just can't tell you how nice it is to be away from the cesspool of Baltimore, all that issues from it, and how that corrosive criminality impacts legislation in the whole state. Make no mistake. Maryland gun laws are written for the thugs in Baltimore who will ignore them, and then applied to you, while the thugs are given a get out of jail free card by cretins like Mosby. Good luck and God speed, my Maryland friends. You need both.
     

    Bob A

    όυ φροντισ
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Nov 11, 2009
    30,690
    After seeing voting patterns rapidly shift in the past 7 years, this just isn't working like it used to. Liberty minded folks keep retreating to these enclaves and they keep turning purple, then blue. Eventually, there will be nowhere to run to. Are we all going to crowd into West Virginia? What good will that do when Congress passes unconstitutional laws that neuter our freedoms?

    Virginia was solid red. Elitist, federal employees flocked to NoVa suburbs and completely took over the government.
    Texas was solid red. Now it's purple. Beto O'Rourke, a staunch anti-2A guy came a hair's width from winning his bid there.
    Then there's Arizona. (BTW, does anyone else think that "Krysten Sinema" sounds like stripper's stage name?)

    For me, Texas is the gold standard. If Texas falls to Progressives, nowhere is safe.

    At some point, we have to stop running.

    Well, voting patterns are so last year now anyway; votes will be added where needed to elect the elite candidates.

    While it's undeniable that people are fleeing the socialist states, not all of those emigrants are leftists. Virginia could use a number of MD conservatives to counteract the toxic NoVa types, for example.

    It's all very well to suggest we stop running, but I'd like to end my days in a place where the vast majority do not despise everything I believe in, and put me at risk of multiple felony convictions over truly stupid new legislation. Better to take a stand in VA or PA than to take up residence in a MD jail.
     

    BeoBill

    Crank in the Third Row
    MDS Supporter
    Oct 3, 2013
    27,064
    南馬里蘭州鮑伊
    An interesting and timely book review published by AEIR states that taking positive action through relocation is far more effective than using the ballot box.

    From the first couple paragraphs:


    It's quite an interesting article, reviewing Somin's book and restating his arguments, and is particularly appropriate for Marylanders like myself, who see no hope of changing the repressive culture here, and plenty of benefit in choosing to live in a more agreeable milieu.

    Here's a link, if you're interested:
    https://www.aier.org/article/voting-with-your-feet/

    That strategy works only until you run out of places to move to. Logic, my friends. Logic.
    I'm chomping at the bit to put MD in my rearview mirror my establishing residency in PA, primarily to reduce retirement annuity income taxes and eventually social security taxes. PA is still 2A friendly but they too are turning purple. Amazing how Northern Virginia and philadelphia / Pittsburgh can turn an otherwise freedom loving state into a nightmare.
    This is the pitfall behind the "Democracy" we have at the state level, and what the Commies are trying to mandate at the Federal level.
     

    Growler215

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 30, 2020
    2,170
    SOMD
    Well, I think Ponder_MD makes some good points. The Marxist/Anarchists are attacking all our Constitutional freedoms everywhere, 2A high on the list because it makes us hard to manage. But I relocated to Tennessee in 2019 after living in Maryland for over 30 years (and even then, Western Maryland, which is arguably the most 2A-oriented part of the state). The feeling of living here in Tennessee instead of Maryland is like being able to breathe pure air. I know that a reckoning is coming and when it does come, like many of you I'll stand for the Constitution. But for now, I just can't tell you how nice it is to be away from the cesspool of Baltimore, all that issues from it, and how that corrosive criminality impacts legislation in the whole state. Make no mistake. Maryland gun laws are written for the thugs in Baltimore who will ignore them, and then applied to you, while the thugs are given a get out of jail free card by cretins like Mosby. Good luck and God speed, my Maryland friends. You need both.

    Tennessee is on my short list to move to after the Mrs. retires. As is Kentucky. Looking for someplace that gets 3-4 inches of rain per month and is 2A and liberty friendly.

    As I see it:

    Tennessee pros are no income tax, Republican governor, house and Senate. But it only gets a D- from Giffords and doesn't have constitutional carry.

    Kentucky pros are that it gets a solid F from Giffords and has constitutional carry. But it currently has a D'Rat governor and an income tax.

    Well, either would be better than here. Definitely won't go anywhere that gets "higher" than a D rating from Giffords. (I bet Giffords doesn't approve of my using their rating this way.)
     

    Bob A

    όυ φροντισ
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Nov 11, 2009
    30,690
    That strategy works only until you run out of places to move to. Logic, my friends. Logic.

    True enough, but my chances of both survival and avoiding prison increase if I leave MD. It would also remove a huge stress load, living in a state that is less insane.

    I doubt I have 15 years left to me. I don't want to waste them smacking my head against the wall here. Frankly, Maryland can go to hell in a hand-basket, taking all its True Blue Believers along for the ride. I've done my bit toward change, and I'm tired of the effort of trying to save progressive assholes from themselves. They deserve the Maryland they prefer; let them eat it.
     

    Bob A

    όυ φροντισ
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Nov 11, 2009
    30,690
    How's the freedom in Delaware, for anyone who resides there?

    Well, in the Delaware forum, their senate has declared gun violence a public health crisis.

    We're still waiting for the violent gun uprising. So far, the guns are biding their time, lulling us into a false feeling of security. But the Delaware Senate won't be fooled.
     

    Athelney878

    Active Member
    Jan 9, 2021
    201
    Montgomery County
    A lot of people can’t realistically move to suit their political preferences because their jobs and/or family situation isn’t really mobile. Some types of jobs exist all over the country, but some are still tied to particular regions.
     

    slsc98

    Ultimate Member
    May 24, 2012
    6,746
    Escaped MD-stan to WNC Smokies
    Very early into the article I felt the author was a bit, um, presumptive and broad-brush in his assertions regarding the impact of an individual vote.

    But then I read; and based on my own observations, I cannot agree more with the following:

    Most voters ... don’t know what the topics discussed mean, don’t know which party controls which branch of government, and are in no position to assess what the future outcome of proposed policies are likely to be.”

    The author MUST know (JUST) some of my not immediate relatives still in MD. Even more shocking than their consciously swallowing and / or blatantly tolerating whatever pablum is spewed from the tv which they sit entranced in front of all morning all day and all night are outright (explicit) statements to the effect of, “We’re not smart enough to argue with any of that” - “so why bother” (implicit)

    The most insane part of encounters with them can be pointing out to them how polices and programs being passed by Leftards on the MD state and now national levels either RUN COUNTER TO PRINCIPLES THEY VALUE or outright impact them negatively (as small business owners as well as tax payers).

    Their response is to shrug and let their eyes roll up and back into their skulls as they turn back to the TV or, the Washington Post.

    Short of a funeral, I’ve put my wife on notice I’ve made my last visit back to MD :sad20:
     

    rockstarr

    Major Deplorable
    Feb 25, 2013
    4,592
    The Bolshevik Lands
    I keep saying I think old Fred was right. 2 state solution is about the only way. It been getting worse and worse each year that goes by, and we are beyond divided now.

    I don’t see anything short of a major rallying cry uniting us all again.

    Call me a pessimist if you will, but these folks loathe and are doing everything they can to erase everything I am and the majority of things I believe in.

    We are nothing more than cash cows to these parasites.
     

    Ponder_MD

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 9, 2020
    4,559
    Maryland
    I keep saying I think old Fred was right. 2 state solution is about the only way. It been getting worse and worse each year that goes by, and we are beyond divided now.

    I don’t see anything short of a major rallying cry uniting us all again.

    Call me a pessimist if you will, but these folks loathe and are doing everything they can to erase everything I am and the majority of things I believe in.

    We are nothing more than cash cows to these parasites.

    Which is why we'll never be allowed to go our own way peacefully.
     

    mranaya

    Task Force Sunny, 2009
    Jun 19, 2011
    996
    Hanover MD
    At some point, we have to stop running.

    There's the true point. When MD politicians, or politicians in any blue state, hear conservatives threatening to leave, they are thrilled. "Good, then go," they are thinking. The see it as conservationism ceding territory to the left. IF we leave, they will quietly share the voice of AOC, who during the 2020 elections said something to the effect that, "If we can win these states, we won't have to negotiate anymore."

    If they do the math, the very same by-population math that tells them they want to remove the electoral college and give the vote to the majority living in gov-dependent inner cities, they know we can only escape to a few holes of sanctuary. Then the map will be theirs.

    However, if we stay in our miserable states and fight, they too have to fight. That's not the dictatorship they are looking for.
     

    Bob A

    όυ φροντισ
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Nov 11, 2009
    30,690
    There's the true point. When MD politicians, or politicians in any blue state, hear conservatives threatening to leave, they are thrilled. "Good, then go," they are thinking. The see it as conservationism ceding territory to the left. IF we leave, they will quietly share the voice of AOC, who during the 2020 elections said something to the effect that, "If we can win these states, we won't have to negotiate anymore."

    If they do the math, the very same by-population math that tells them they want to remove the electoral college and give the vote to the majority living in gov-dependent inner cities, they know we can only escape to a few holes of sanctuary. Then the map will be theirs.

    However, if we stay in our miserable states and fight, they too have to fight. That's not the dictatorship they are looking for.

    Sure, they're thrilled to have us leave.

    Maryland and Virginia are special cases, as most of the revenue comes from their proximity to DC and its fountain of tax revenue. So if the money-making job-creating conservatives leave, there's still plenty of tax cattle who will stay and applaud the nanny state.

    Other states are not that lucky.

    Maryland, thanks to merciless gerrymandering, will never leave Leftist control. Doesn't matter if you stay and fight; no one can overcome a veto-proof supermajority. Conservatives are not "ceding territory" to these people; that ship sailed years ago.
     

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