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.
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