Can Red States Ever Recover? - Ring of Fire

[TexasTowelie]

Many progressives living in red states might be trying to head for the hills. Farron Cousins discusses this.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Thank you for all you do at all your channels. I'm currently scared for the future, uh, Texas that my six year old will be living in. I don't know of, uh, what would be best to move out because, because I don't know any safe states at this point, and I have no savings to speak of. Is there a way I can fight for my rights? I fear fighting because I currently work in a government agency. Um, you know, this is a question that, that unfortunately is coming up more and more, uh, as we continue to do these q and as is people in red states, you know, like myself. And I get people asking me like, when are you moving? Um, it's difficult because these, these are our homes and they weren't always like this. Sure. Florida's had a Republican governor for, you know, uh, 26, 27 years now, and it, it is rough.

You know, the damage these Republicans are doing is terrible, but it wasn't always as bad as it is today. Same thing in Texas. Yeah. You know, okay, you've had a Democrat here and there over the years. Maybe, maybe you're old enough to know that, uh, um, Becca, I don't know. But, um, things are getting worse. So some of us are considering that. I'm not saying I necessarily am, but obviously people like Becca here asking this question. It, it's something that's on our mind. And it's not just because of us. It is because we worry about our children. I'm terrified for my children. I'm terrified for my daughter. I'm terrified for my sons. I'm terrified for my wife, who is a public school teacher here in the state of Florida, like the worst place to be a public school teacher right now. It's awful. And it's like this all across the south in these deep red states, and it's getting worse by the week with each state trying to outdo itself on what kind of horrible, oppressive legislation they can come up with that week.

So what do we do to fight back? I mean, you know, the, the silly answer is we vote and we get out there and we make sure everybody votes. We're outnumbered. Yes, voting helps, but right now we're outnumbered. You know, the best we can hope for is, is to wake these people up to the reality that the Republican party isn't helping you. They're feeding you culture war crap. And maybe that's how we engage in these conversations. Try to change a couple minds at a time. Ask them specifically, how have you benefited from their policies? What has changed in your life for the better? Because Republicans pass this piece of legislation, you know, when they ban abortions in your state, you my male coworker with the MAGA hat, how did that benefit you? How has your life changed one way or another? If women can or cannot legally get an abortion, how does your life make them start thinking of it in terms of almost selfishness?

What are you getting out of this? Because the answer is a resounding nothing. And by the way, Tucker Carlson even said that about Donald Trump's presidency. In the text messages revealed in the Dominion filing this week, Tucker Carlson said, let's be honest, Trump didn't do anything for anybody. And that's how we have to do it. As for the fear, again, do we leave? Do we just abandon these red states and let the maga freaks completely take over? I don't think that's a great idea. But at the same time, if, if you or your family is personally being targeted by legislation for your own safety, you kind of have to leave. But as Becca also points out, hey, most of us do not have the means to just say, all right, screw it, pack it up, kids, we're outta here. We don't have that money. I mean, statistics show Americans basically have nothing in savings. We can't just say, all right, we're, we're going to Colorado, we're going to Wisconsin, we're going to New York. We can't afford that. We couldn't afford to go there on a vacation right now.

[Warpy]

1. Sounds like he's getting a little discouraged

In fact, he sounds like a lot of Russian vloggers before there was that one thing that pushed them over the edge and sent them out of Russia, most say for good.

It's easy to get discouraged when you're surrounded by people who believe in utter crap and have never questioned it. It's horrific when they realize you don't believe in that utter crap, they tend to close ranks pretty quickly, even if they've found out quite by accident (like having mail from the Democratic Party delivered to them by mistake). Believing in utter crap seems to require consensus, and people outside that consensus get shunned.

Can red states recover? Some of them can and will. Others, like most of Dixie, are doomed to wallow in ignorance, spite, and fear, that's how their ruling class has kept control, pretty much since the turn of the last century.