Seeking redder pastures

Recent census data reveals that Americans are leaving states controlled by Democrats for more conservative regions of the country, signaling a rejection of the progressive policies running amok in some of the nation’s most populous states.

The U.S. Census Bureau found the states with the biggest population increases were Republican-led Idaho, Utah, Montana, Arizona, and South Carolina. Texas “had the largest annual and cumulative numeric gain,” and Florida saw “the largest net domestic migration gains.”

Conversely, deep-blue Washington, D.C., saw “the largest percent decrease in the nation,” its population declining by 2.6 percent. New York came in first for the largest numeric decrease, losing 365,336 residents. Other states with a significant population decline were California and Illinois. California’s 2020 decrease was the first in the state’s recorded history. It is unlikely to be its last.

Though reasons for moves vary, the pattern is hard to miss. It seems that Americans are “voting with their feet,” physically renouncing liberal policies that make everyday life more burdensome, less safe, and less free.

Humans have a low tolerance for chaos, and the policies pushed by the current Democratic Party create and exacerbate it, particularly in cities like San Francisco and New York. Both are included on the list of liberal jurisdictions that decreased police budgets in 2020 and subsequently saw a surge in violent crime.

San Francisco has long been the country’s most famous haven of progressivism. And yet, in a city supposedly known for its forward-thinking policies, constituents paint a picture of a Third World country, complete with unmitigated public drug use and defecation, rampant homelessness, and pervasive lawlessness. Failure to enforce even the most basic laws has enabled shoplifting sprees that are destroying people’s ability to live, work, and run businesses safely.

A recent viral Twitter thread, written by a self-identified progressive and San Francisco resident, pointed out the ostensible inconsistencies between Democrats’ purported values of fairness and equality and the outcomes of their policies, which have allowed for—or outright produced—lawlessness and dire poverty in a city with a $13.6 billion budget.

Ironically, some blue states are combining a lack of law enforcement relating to violent crime with an eagerness to enforce restrictions in the name of public health. Mask mandates, vaccine passports, and restrictions on gatherings have characterized blue state responses to COVID, which may be driving those who value individual choice to seek residence in red states that value personal freedom. Goodbye California, and hello Texas.

It is not difficult to understand why many parents of young kids would want to get out of Democrat-run Dodge. As state and local Democrats have often done the bidding of hyperpolitical teachers unions in either prohibiting or severely complicating in-person instruction, even progressive parents may be looking for an escape for the sake of their children’s mental, social, and academic well-being.

The last two years have solidified the reality that while Democrats talk a big game about “equity” and “social justice,” these progressive policies often fail to deliver on their promises of a better, fairer world.

In The Quest for Cosmic Justice, economist Thomas Sowell explained the problem with the left-wing vision of society: “In its pursuit of justice for a segment of society, in disregard of the consequences for society as a whole, what is called ‘social justice’ might more accurately be called anti–social justice, since what consistently gets ignored or dismissed are precisely the costs to society.”

Progressive social justice policy sounds good because it claims to uplift the most vulnerable. But its proposed solutions fail, primarily because they are in opposition to human nature. Defunding the police, incentivizing homelessness, and ignoring public drug use, while closing businesses, schools, gyms, and churches in the name of safety, contradicts our innate desire for security, fairness, and the freedom to seek happiness for ourselves and our families.

Human beings crave order. That is why they create civilizations, establish hierarchies, defend tribes, build homes, form communities, start families, found companies, develop languages, and tell time.

This innate desire is a component of being made in the image of God, who is also characterized by a love for order. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture reveals God’s commitment to righteous boundaries, safeguards for His people, and purposeful processes that accomplish His will.

“God is not a God of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33), nor is He a God of chaos. Institutionalized lawlessness and degeneracy displease Him, and they never end well for the people He created, either.

Our human intolerance of chaos drives us to either flee the chaos or fix it. Christians dissatisfied with the harmful policies in their states have the liberty to choose either option, understanding that no matter where God calls them to live, they are to be agents of order, advocating for policies that create secure, thriving communities, for the sake of their neighbor and the glory of God.