Trying to gauge if I'm going crazy or a little too much "online."
I currently live in Texas, and moving has been on my mind a lot lately as the Republican party and Texas itself seems to be slowly moving toward fascism. I don't know when the slide toward fascism will stop, and how much more authoritarian the state will get. I do not feel very good about my tax dollars going to support this state.
I am a middle-aged cishet white man; middle to upper middle class software engineer. I have leftist opinions (libsoc/ansoc), but I'm not an activist (I am very introverted, probably a little bit on the autism spectrum, and pretty much a hermit right now). I do seldom indulge in marijuana consumption, which is illegal here.
I really don't have much tying me down here. I have no close friends, no family in the state, and no current romantic partners. Last year, I moved within the state for a job, but the company was bought out, and everyone was layed off. I have very high autonomy at my current job, and could probably work fully remote if I wanted. Moving would be expensive (I am in an upside-down mortgage), but I have enough savings to take the hit.
I am personally feeling very isolated here (Texas suburb), at this point in my life, and am thinking about moving into some sort of intentional community (eco-village, cohousing, or land trust; not a commune) in a blue state (or even in Canada if I could pull that off).
Also, the weather in the last 2 years has been absolutely oppressive, and I have a hard time keeping anything alive in my veggie garden :)
Am I being over dramatic? Should I just stick it out here, and try to rebuild my life in a state that doesn't align with my beliefs?
Also, I've heard arguments that libs should stay or even move to red states, but I'm not convinced. The state rules with an iron fist, and pre-empts anything progressive Texas cities try to do. And the district I live in is already pretty solidly blue. Not to mention, red states put families that contain females or lbgt people in danger.
Texas population is purple, we just need more people to vote. My work and social circle are 85% blue and 15% moderate red. You're going to find people who agree and disagree with you in any situation and that's how it should be. You have to do what's right for you, but wherever you are, vote and encourage people around you to vote. That's the only way anything gets better.
"people who [...] disagree with you and that's how it should be" I mean... except for human rights. Like there's a ton of crap that no decent human should agree with going on in states like Texas, Florida, and more. Some of that is inexcusable, even if the person is uneducated and easier that way. Plenty of knowledge freely available on the internet. Many of the social positions of conservatives simply cannot be excused, even as a "we need differing opinions"
Yup it’s getting harder and harder to have that conversation. Like the video posted yesterday of the guy who went to a Trump rally, had civilized conversations with some of the people there, and found out they mostly had the same thoughts the the left had (i.e. the rich shouldn’t be as rich as they are, we’re living in an oligarchy, everything shouldn’t be owned by 6 big corporations, etc.). That’s nice and all, but at the end of the day, who are these people voting?
Therein lies the question. Stay and fight the good fight, get out while the getting is good, or ignore the sensational headlines because overall most of these people are actually pretty nice besides their hard coded habit to vote R.
I don't care if you're hard coded to vote against human rights. That's an automatic bad person. Period. All Republicans Are Bastards. They let the worst of them rise to power and they pass horrendous laws in their states. It's just inexcusable at this point. Like, the only people I feel that want to have "the conversation" are folks who want to keep voting Republican for whatever reason. I've failed to ever hear a good argument, even a fiscally conservative one at this point. The financial imbalance alone is the root of most economic downturn at this point. And honestly, the fiscal argument doesn't outweigh basic human rights. No "good" person votes republican at this point. They just can't accept theyre the bad guys and instead of switching sides, just declaring "nah, let's ruin more lives instead. They're the problem." Many of their tentpole issues are rooted in hating someone else. Republicans are just not good people. Period. I just don't buy it. You can't justify voting against human rights.
Think Hank Hill, not Tucker. I don't disagree with you and have a very hard time reconciling the fact that these otherwise kind decent folks continue to vote R. I think a ton of them are just disengaged voting by muscle memory, misled by faux news, and figure it is politics as usual.
You should review the thread title and re read the OP's question. If you get off the internet and go outside and talk to people you see it's actually quite nice out there for the most part. So should you uproot your life to get while the getting is good, stick around and tough it out, or what? It's nowhere near as simple as you make it seem.
I just said do whatever is best for their mental health. And don't get me wrong, what's going on is great for some people. But it's hell for others. Glossing over that might make you feel ok or whatever, but ignoring it and the fact Republicans likely have passed bills that have no social benefit but will likely cause people to die, whether by their own hand or shitty medical practices, is 100% not possible.
Don't downplay the hardships others face because it doesn't specifically affect you. It's kind of gross and not at all as enlightened as you're trying to sound.
Whatever