So this is going to sound harsh...

[TygrBright]

...and I really don't mean it harshly. BUT...

If you want to NOT GET SHOT AND KILLED and/or not have your family members living with you shot and killed, or your kids in school shot and killed...

MOVE TO A STATE WITH MORE RESTRICTIVE GUN LAWS.

If you are a woman and want to maintain control of choices that affect your bodily health and well-being...

MOVE TO A STATE THAT HAS SOME PROTECTION FOR WOMENS RIGHTS.

Yes, I know it's not easy to just pick up and move yourself, a family, etc.

But there is a labor shortage almost everywhere. You may have a better chance of finding a job, moving now, for one thing. Yes, housing is more expensive in a lot of places, but what really matters?

Think back to the people who left Germany in the 1930s. They gave up everything... and saved their lives, and in many cases, they managed to rebuild their prosperity and ensure a better future for their children, by "leaving home" when it was becoming clear that "home" no longer cared about their well-being, their rights, or their lives.

I'm not sure there are any other good choices right now.

pessimistically,
Bright

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. It sounds harsh because it is harsh. Some people simply can't move. Or they, you know, actually

like where they live, or people rely on them, or they -- amazingly -- want to stay and work to make their home a better place. Telling them to move is just insulting.

[applegrove]

2. People have families where they live.

[TygrBright]

4. Take the family, that's the point. Save their lives. n/t

[Another Jackalope]

8. People had families in Germany too

Until they didn't.

My late partner was a Hungarian 56er, who walked out to Austria through the marshes with her parents at the age of 4, in the middle of the winter, leaving everything and everyone behind.

It's easy to get so tied to the familiar that we fail to consider the consequences. This is a good reminder that if the consequences of staying are dire enough, the choice of leaving should be closely examined, even if it's not acted on immediately.

[applegrove]

9. Sounds like a GOP talking point to get back control of Texas and Georgia.

[Another Jackalope]

12. It's more of a Canadian talking point to encourage more progressive immigrants... nt

[Mr.Bill]

19. At least they will have fewer

Confressional seats if enough people leave.

[OhioBlue]

48. Yes, but not for a decade. Plus if the state becomes more red, they will just draw the districts

more favorable to Republicans and may only lose blue seats.

[demmiblue]

3. What a bunch of bullshit. n/t

[Treefrog]

5. ...

[CrackityJones75]

6. This is going to sound harsh

Fuck that bullshit!

[USAFRetired_Liberal]

7. On your first point

Wasn’t Sandy Hook in Connecticut? I don’t know what type of gun laws that the state has, but I would think they would be strict seeing that it’s a blue state.

[CTyankee]

24. That was a real wake up call for us here in CT even tho we have fewer pro-gun rights people I would

imagine. I thought a lot about it since it was around the time I lost a niece to gun violence (in her, and my, native state of Texas). I hate to say this but in both cases we were all white middle class people. If anything we here in CT had to look at our whiteness and our privilege which means NOTHING in the presence of a madman, or a drunk man, with access and opportunity can take lives and ruin others lives.

I will never, ever live in Texas again and I'm third generation Texas by birth and neither will any of my immediate family.

[AndyS]

33. Connecticut is 46 out of 50 states for gun deaths per capita BECAUSE they have strict gun laws.

However even that doesn't prevent ALL gun deaths.

Gun restrictions do work and work well to prevent useless death and injury.

[dsc]

49. Sandy Hook led them to impose tougher laws

they used to have some gun manufacturers there (Colt for one).

[cachukis]

10. Me thinks if things aren't working out, time to change

the horizon. Refugees, in the third world, as a rule, have nothing to lose. Most of us would lose something if uprooted. Might be wiser, but it's hard to leave the comfort zone.

[StarfishSaver]

11. It's not only harsh - it's also impractical and rather elitist

Everyone doesn't have the wherewithal to pick up and move to other states.

[jpak]

13. Harsh, dude

[SoCalDavidS]

14. Better Yet, Leave America

Things are only going to get worse.

There is not a state where there haven't been mass shootings. Gun laws are pretty meaningless, when you have the 2nd Amendment, and the NRA.

I've already resolved that gun violence will exist for the remainder of my lifetime, and now it appears abortion restrictions will as well.

[Celerity]

59. +1

[SammyWinstonJack]

61. Wish that I could.

[SoCalDavidS]

64. I Hear Ya

I don't want to think about it while my parents are alive. So when the time comes, hopefully I'm still able to pursue it. This country does not agree with me.

[secondwind]

15. Moving is right up there with death in the family, etc. it's very traumatic..

[Treefrog]

16. California has some of the most restrictive gun laws, but leads the country in mass shootings.

So…

[TygrBright]

17. Actually, no it doesn't.

California has one of the lower firearm death rates.

The numbers look large because the population of California is so large. Per capita, however, the firearm death rate is quite low.

helpfully,
Bright

[Treefrog]

22. Believe what you like.

I could name some other states with this problem.

So please let us know what perfect state you live in and where should we all move?

[Hekate]

23. What is your point, then?

[Treefrog]

26. My point is: what state is safe?

Hello?

[AndyS]

36. First, California is 45th out of 50 states in gun deaths per capita, second

as long as the gunners run things there will be death and injury. So now, what's your point?

[Treefrog]

40. Still waiting for the op to tell me the safest state.

Mkay?

[Marius25]

28. California actually has some the lowest firearm deaths

in the country.

[dsc]

50. Not per capita which is what matters

CA has about as many people as Texas and Georgia combined. So yes, they will tend to have more mass shootings but not more per capita.

[johnp3907]

18. So simple!

[Raine]

20. because moving your whole family, finding a place to live and getting a job

are just so easy to do..

[VarryOn]

21. Here is a link to a ranking of states by unemployment rate...

Put out by Bureau of Labor Statistics in July:

https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

Vermont ranks 5th and probably meets both of your criteria.

[LeftInTX]

52. Well look at the Texas miracle..We're 36th..LOL

Too bad, our unemployment isn't making headlines.

[VarryOn]

55. Good catch... but for the big population states, TX is decent...

My takeaway is the smaller states are the better destinations . Sure, we'd be bored out of our skulls, but we'd get paychecks. Lol

The OP (TygrBright) was castigated as being harsh with his post, but he wasn't. The largest impediment to people gaining employment is refusing to relocate. I've done it; it's difficult. But, it can pay off.

[LeftInTX]

56. Texas does relatively well in recessions probably due to their economy

oil, service etc..
Manufacturing always takes a big hit during recessions. (Texas is not a big manufacturing state)

But still, we can say, "It's the economy stupid to Abbott in 2022"..LOL We can compare it to blue states!

[VarryOn]

57. I go to TX a lot due to biz....

I've got a lot of friends there. I go there as much as I can. There are actually some good people there...Democrats. Not all are the stereotype Republicans who hate women.

Still, I wouldn't want to live there. I like having four distinct seasons. AndI especially don't like summers as hot as it can get in TX.

I go there mostly because my company is a customer of one of the best railroads in the US, headquartered in Fort Worth. My wife, son, and I go there occasionally for personal reasons, mostly for Nascar races a couple times per year. Plus, there's lots to do in the DFW area.

[sanatanadharma]

25. Moving, finding housing, finding work, leaving family, friends, familiar neighborhoods is hard

Indeed, so hard that apparently people can not do so; they are seemingly trapped, not living free lives.
Is all this talk about American freedom simply action-less talk? Is freedom available only to the few?

What binding desires, what over-bearing fears, what attachment to the familiar do people have that, as though, imprison them in their lives; such that "I can't" becomes a mantra?

[Hekate]

27. Like leaving Afghanistan in early 2021, or leaving Europe before 1936, very hard to do...

I keep hoping things will get better in the US. Yes, we are in California, but just up the street from us is an actual doctor with a “Recall Newsom sign,” and last uear he had a ginormous “Trump” sign.

[Joinfortmill]

29. I get it, sort of. But it's a bandaid on an amputation.

[hunter]

30. My ancestors didn't come here for the "opportunity."

They were fleeing worse shit at home in 18th and 19th century Europe.

Many of them were Pacifists.

Some of them had been thrown off the land they had farmed for generations by gentry who had decided sheep were more valuable, and a whole lot less trouble, than tenant farmers.

I have an ancestor who didn't want to fight for the South in the Civil War, or the North especially, so he headed West.

My great grandparents were all Wild West. My grandparents ultimately ended up in Los Angeles because they didn't want to be ranchers, miners, or dairy farmers.

I think "brain drain" is a very real problem in parts of the U.S.A..

All the interesting kids leave -- the future scientists, doctors, engineers, artists, the LGBQT kids. Those who remain behind become resentful.

I don't think we can solve this problem until we neuter the U.S. Senate. Until then a minority population of fearful xenophobic white people will wield more than their fair share of political power and continue to support city-slicker con-men like Donald Trump or Mitch McConnell, politicians who are in it for their own gain.

If the United States does become another "shit hole" nation I'd encourage all the young people in my family to leave. It's in their genes.

Throughout human history migration has been one of our defining traits as a species. That's why all the continents except Antarctica and most of inhabitable islands had people living on them long before the Europeans started building their world empires.

If I lived in cosmopolitan Texas I'm not sure I'd be packing my bags yet. The white deplorables may have bitten off more than they can chew.

[billh58]

31. This advice is obviously

aimed at those who are inclined and able to move to another, more Liberal area. For those who would find it too traumatic, much like watching Fox News -- stay put and try to make changes. Not that hard to make the choice to relocate or deal with right-wing fascism in some form or fashion.

[hadEnuf]

32. This is OUR country, not the Texas Taliban's or the NRA's.

Why should we move? This isn't Nazi Germany, yet, so there is no need to run away. WE have as many rights as THEY do and if we have to fight fire with fire, then so be it.

How about we stand against these bastards and make it stick instead of flushing everybody's rights down the toilet and fleeing like refugees in OUR OWN country?

[wnylib]

34. Why not stay

fight for better reresentation and laws?

Fight not just to elect better people, but to win culture wars with messaging.

[kcr]

35. Not helpful n/t

[Chautauquas]

37. what if I go to all the trouble of moving

and the same bullshit that took place in the place I left starts happening in the place I moved to? Pack up and move again?

[griloco]

38. In short, move where there are few MadMAGAHatters

[Lonestarblue]

39. It takes money to move. Some people simply don't have it.

And it is the poor women who will suffer most from this abomination of a law. It is they who may have lived for generations in their communities, who rely on family and friends who help them get through the roughest patches of their lives. Asking people to simply give up their families and friends to move elsewhere is asking a lot.

[Runningdawg]

41. The American government forced my ancestors to move TO this hell hole known as OK

I'm NOT leaving again.

[Texasgal]

42. Ridiculous!

I'm a 5th generation Texan that has lived in very BLUE Austin, TX my entire life.

My elderly parents live five minutes away from me...my brothers and their family live close by.

I own my home. I have a good paying job.

I do not like what is happening in my state. I am a voter and more and more people are moving here from liberal states. They vote too.

Why would I leave?

Things are starting to change in Texas. I want to be part of that.

[MerryBlooms]

43. I refuse to live in fear. How many times to you want people to pick up and leave?

Land in a place and the politics change, RUN! You know what, no matter where You go, there You are. You can't spend your life running, and I for one, refuse to consider your method of pursuit of happiness or security, or whatever it is, for one second.

[orleans]

44. i understand what you're saying

my daughter was talking about the best place to live -- due to climate change.
we live in illinois (just west of chicago--she grew up here, i grew up here) but after driving thru georgia (when she was a tweenager) she's had it in her head that she'd like to live in the south.

i used to tell her that wasn't happening. she'd argue with me; what about when she grows up? i'd tell her she still couldn't move there. (i admit i've had a bug up my ass about "the south" for years)

well, she's all grown up, married, has a little girl of her own now.

so today she tells me she thinks the best place to live is in the midwest--regarding climate change. i think illinois is pretty good. we have dem reps and gov. pritzker is (generally speaking) great.

chicago has a lot of gun violence. i googled cities with highest murder rates. this is from fbi crime stats 2019 (article published april 2021):

1. St. Louis, Missouri
2. Baltimore, Maryland
3. Birmingham, Alabama
4. Detroit, Michigan
5. Dayton, Ohio
6. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7. New Orleans, Louisiana
8. Kansas City, Missouri
9. Memphis, Tennessee
10. Cleveland, Ohio
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/murder-map-deadliest-u-s-cities/57/

(i'm surprised chicago didn't make the top ten; i bet we would now--but who knows?)

(i'm still looking for chicago...)
11. Richmond, Virginia
12. Miami Gardens, Florida
13. Washington, D.C.
14. North Charleston, South Carolina
15. Peoria, Illinois
16. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
17. Columbia, South Carolina
18. San Bernardino, California
19. Cincinnati, Ohio
20. Columbus, Georgia

okay, i'm not copying any more. chgo is 28.

[LeftInTX]

51. Chicago has certain parts that give it norority...Overall, the city is quite safe

[infullview]

45. What is this, The Grapes of Wrath part II? We hit a political dust bowl and just pickup stakes?

This whole notion smacks of privilege. Poor people are not the ones with the resources to pick up and move. Even if you could find employment elsewhere, it's usually not the kind of work that would include enough financial incentives to make it worth while.

[Tommymac]

46. This IS Harsh...fuck that noise.

That is all.

[ecstatic]

47. Every now and then I look at homes for sale in Oregon

I don't know a single soul who lives out there and although the demographics and the risk of tsunamis, earthquakes, and wildfires freak me out a little, I'm still intrigued. I doubt I'll ever act on it... I'm just so used to east coast life.

[jcgoldie]

53. well

This is a pretty poor post.

[LeftInTX]

54. Texas ranks 25th in murder rate

Smack dab in the middle...
Now what?

[url=https://postimages.org/][img][/img][/url]

[area51]

58. There isn't a labor shortage;

there's a shortage of good paying jobs.

[ARPad95]

60. I wish my grandmother had packed up and moved next door to my aunt's house to

escape that f**kwad emotionally and mentally abusive poor excuse for a husband. Operative word being "wish." I would never have yelled at her to do it. Too many "harsh" realities would have made her life worse if she had done it. And my aunt's house was literally next door.

Edited to add:

And she got out of Germany in 1927 when she was 19 years old. Her older sister and brother had already immigrated a couple years earlier.

[xmas74]

62. So you expect poor people to scrape together

Upwards of ten grand to relocate? Do you also expect divorced parents to break court orders and move children across state lines because you've decided it's probably safer in another state?

Try harder.

[iwannaknow]

63. It might depend on what color

your skin is.