Happy to be part of the brain drain. I left the deeply conservative countryside for a forward-thinking border town. Thinking about maybe transitioning out of the country in the future.
I grew up in a deeply red area. Lived in quite a few places in the East coast during college and for a few years after, eventually moved to Colorado and it went blue soon after.
That area is still deeply red. Of the people I kept track of since high school, I cannot think of one of them that went to college and stayed in that area after graduating. Even with today’s option of working remote, I don’t see how I could stomach living there. The landscape is beautiful and some of the people are great.
The conservative base in that area? Some of the ugliest personalities I’ve ever had the displeasure to meet. And it’s something like 3- or 4-to-1 ratio of Republicans to Democrats.
They are probably so confused as to why their economic situation is a total shitshow, too…
I recognize that not everyone has the freedom to relocate. Indeed, it took my family about 18 months to position financially to move to a new town, thousands of miles away, and I’m still in the States. It took months and a pile of money to execute the plan. It’s hard.
Even then, you couldn’t pay me to go back. Not only am I living with good people, but I now have options to transition entirely out of the country with a relatively modest effort. The extreme views in my old town was a primary reason for leaving. I didn’t feel safe living there. We were in spitting distance of a real life concentration camp, for God sakes! It still feels as if a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I can breathe again.
I hope it hurts the place I left if only in a small way. My partner and I are both in highly skilled fields. I just hope I’ve gone far enough. I’ll keep my options open because I remain wary. This country is fast becoming a more dangerous place.
Happy to be part of the brain drain. I left the deeply conservative countryside for a forward-thinking border town. Thinking about maybe transitioning out of the country in the future.
I grew up in a deeply red area. Lived in quite a few places in the East coast during college and for a few years after, eventually moved to Colorado and it went blue soon after.
That area is still deeply red. Of the people I kept track of since high school, I cannot think of one of them that went to college and stayed in that area after graduating. Even with today’s option of working remote, I don’t see how I could stomach living there. The landscape is beautiful and some of the people are great.
The conservative base in that area? Some of the ugliest personalities I’ve ever had the displeasure to meet. And it’s something like 3- or 4-to-1 ratio of Republicans to Democrats.
They are probably so confused as to why their economic situation is a total shitshow, too…
I recognize that not everyone has the freedom to relocate. Indeed, it took my family about 18 months to position financially to move to a new town, thousands of miles away, and I’m still in the States. It took months and a pile of money to execute the plan. It’s hard.
Even then, you couldn’t pay me to go back. Not only am I living with good people, but I now have options to transition entirely out of the country with a relatively modest effort. The extreme views in my old town was a primary reason for leaving. I didn’t feel safe living there. We were in spitting distance of a real life concentration camp, for God sakes! It still feels as if a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I can breathe again.
I hope it hurts the place I left if only in a small way. My partner and I are both in highly skilled fields. I just hope I’ve gone far enough. I’ll keep my options open because I remain wary. This country is fast becoming a more dangerous place.