The 2022 mid-term elections have spoken volumes for many Americans. In states where democrats/progressives hold the majority in state and local elections, many conservatives now consider this the time to leave. Conservatives are moving South to live near people with common values. They want to avoid crime, homeless problems, high taxes, and declining quality of life.
The 2022 mid-term elections were the last hope for many conservatives that the “crazy” things going on in their communities would change. Returning the same people to office or others like them tells conservatives that nothing will change, they may as well move.
Progressives particularly young college graduates and young people in general are gravitating to the big cities. Cities are becoming bluer and state-controlled by big cities are becoming bluer as conservatives move out.
People are born liberal later they become conservative
Basically, most children are liberal, everything for everyone, why not? Liberals actually create conservatives. As a person goes through life cycles, they become more protective about what they have and expect others to respect their property and their right to express their own opinions. when there is resistance to these new ideas that is when liberals may become conservatives.
It seems Mississippi is becoming more conservative
I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a great place to be. Beaches, sun, great weather, and more important for many who move here, stable government. The purpose of this blog is not to dive into politics, the last thing I want this article to become is offensive to anyone. Here are some facts about the Mississippi and the Mississippi Gulf Coast:
According to Pew research, 62% of registered voters in Mississippi are registered Republicans while 29% are registered Democrats in 2022.
A Gallup poll in 2017 listed 45% of registered voters as republican and 38% as Democrats.
It’s clear from the numbers above that the demographics are changing in Mississippi in favor of conservatives. The population in the state has remained flat for the past few years. It seems that liberals/progressives are trading places with conservatives.
A few years ago, I met with a state representative who told me the state was losing young people. At the time he speculated that it was because of a lack of the types of jobs young people wanted to do. In addition, young people like to live in cities.
Young people gravitate to big cities
My impression after speaking with many young people over the past five years is that they are pulled by TV and the internet to California, New York, and other places where young people love to live and socialize. I have written about some of these conversations in other articles.
Many young people leave and eventually return because the myth of living in an exciting city was just that. Unfortunately, this primarily rural state can be massively influenced by TV, movies, and the media.
As these young people are moving out, many older conservatives are moving in. I work on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and most of the clients that I speak with are moving to the Mississippi Gulf Coast in part to escape the liberal areas where they lived. This migration seems to be continuing as I write this article. The reason why I wanted to discuss this topic now is that the 2022 election cycle is winding up. Conservatives who were waiting for the election results will not make their decision whether to stay or go.
If there was a tidal wave of republicans winning elected office, some would elect to stay and slog it out. That’s not what this election seems to be producing. Many areas are not changing, democrats were reelected and the status quo seems inevitable. Republican states will, I believe, see a larger number of migrants from states where their political views are not aligned with the majority.
Southern States are called “free states”
Some conservatives are calling these Southern states, “free states”. A term coming from COVID days when public schools were closed down for months at a time.
Blue states are losing to red states in a way that I think is not often discussed. It’s great to have young people in large numbers but they are not the big wage earners at first. The money is in the hands of Gen X and the baby boomers who often vote with the republican party. Most of us understand that as a person becomes older, their priorities change. I have a theory and perhaps it is not accurate but here it is nonetheless.
People in their late teens and 20s are mostly liberal in thought. If they vote they are democratic voters. Their idealism springs in part from the fact that in the earlier years, their parents are paying the bills so taxes are an alien concept. Why not pay off student debt? Young people don’t even consider where the money is coming from. This is an example, there are many more. As they age and move into their 30s, they begin a career and later start having children. Climate change, why not!
The idea of debt becomes center stage at this phase in their lives. Raising children, buying a house, and joining the American mainstream are the priorities in the 30s and early 40s. For the first time, they start to see the burden that taxes and regulations have on their lives. Recently cultural issues are center stage. Whoever considered who was running for school boards? Social issues come up in conversations this brings people into the political arena for the first time.
As people move into their 50s they become more conservative
When they were in their 20s they demonstrated, perhaps burning a building but had no clue what they were doing. Afterward, they went to a bar and had a beer then life went on. Now in their early to mid-’40s, these events can have consequences. The cost of living, housing costs, and tax rates are now an everyday concern.
Those staunchly liberal kids in their 20s have become politically aware adults in their mid-life. When they find that their kids are subjected to critical race theory and gender politics in schools, they respond. This is how republican voters are made. Time and energy.
As they move into their 50’s the idea of what their kids are going to do is a frequent discussion around the dinner table. Much attention is given to college and some trade schools. Most of us brush aside the nonsense that comes from the so-called media because real life takes up all of the space.
For those who started to embrace their religious upbringing with their children, religious freedom becomes one of their pillars. This is the time when political ideology is formed at its strongest. Political issues such as voting rights become a topic at the dinner table.
Early 60’s mean discussing retirement
The first discussions of retirement planning start to find their way to the dinner table conversation because the teenagers are out with their friends. The topic of state income tax and how high taxes will eat into their retirement become very important. As these individuals move into their early 60s they have mostly formed their political philosophy. More and more people gravitate toward republican politicians as they age because it seems to some that the democratic party will cause financial harm to their future.
You may or may not agree with my assessment above but it’s what has happened to me, my family, and many, many others that I know. Many people will move South for economic reasons to the most conservative states. As it happens those states are less costly to live in. Some have little or no state income tax for retired people. The schools forbid teaching “woke” ideology and state government tends to stay away from bigger taxes and spending projects.
Many of the things that people move South for are enshrined in the state constitutions. I am a bit prejudiced about Mississippi, specifically the Mississippi Gulf Coast as being the best state and location to live in. You can’t argue with lower taxes. Another great thing about living in a conservative state is that you can have a conversation about anything without the other person stifling your speech. People tend to listen to the argument and render their decision.
They want to leave an area where they have to watch what they say
When I talk to people who have moved to Mississippi from a blue area, they tell me living on the Coast is a breath of fresh air both figuratively and literally. Living in a blue area they tell me, they had to watch what they said all of the time. No wearing any shirts or hats that would offend someone because you would be called out for it. What they found when they moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast is that on a normal day, most people do not talk about politics.
It’s not that they are not interested but that they are of a mind. There is no reason to discuss textbooks in schools because none of those offensive books they found in the blue area schools are allowed where they live.
No need to talk about that last tax increase or another nanny state rule e.g. no plastic bags, no straws, etc. They tell me the nanny approach is offensive because they are adults and should be permitted to decide on their own. They find the political spectrum on the Coast includes everyone. Republicans and Democrats get along and talk to each other. This is not what one might expect in San Francisco, New Jersey, or some other deep blue areas.
It seems the 2022 election will push more to move
Another fact is that during the COVID riots in large blue cities, we just watched on TV as looting and other crimes were committed and the elected officials did nothing. None of that happened on the Mississippi Gulf Coast or even in the rest of Mississippi. Back to those who are concerned about their kids, not just the ideology issues but actual safety.
People are moving here from the west coast, Illinois, New Jersey, and many other blue states for all of the reasons that I mentioned above. I think that from several articles that I have recently read, the wave of conservatives moving from blue states will not only continue but may increase as a result of the 2022 election. American life as many of us experienced as children are changing and many are not feeling good about it.
It seems that liberal states have decided that putting criminals in jail for small crimes is wrong. Somehow the civil rights of criminals supersede that of the general public. Political polarization is rampant in many areas and getting worse. I am not getting into this argument here, I simply want to say that conservatives are moving South to get away from crime among many other things they want to divorce themselves from.
It’s terrible that people have to leave friends and family to feel comfortable
A few days ago, I read an article about a person who was leaving the Chicago area tired of crime and other issues. Just before they decided to move, he said why move, I should stay and fix things. This is a novel approach, something I have been wondering about for many years. Living in California with massive illegal immigration, I often thought how terrible it must be to uproot yourself from family and friends because the political system was so corrupt. How many of those immigrants could stay and fix their own country instead?
Most Americans who are moving South have decided that they won’t or can’t fix the system. As a result, it seems that the blue areas are only getting bluer, and the red areas getting redder. Unfortunately, the Gen x and Baby boomers have the wealth and they are moving it South. This can eventually be a devastating problem for blue areas that rely heavily on subsidizing a large portion of their political supporters.
If you erode the financial strength of a city, who will be left paying the bills? You would think that the politicians would realize this and fix the problems causing conservatives to move.
Local and state elections are more important than the presidential election
There was a time when the big concern about politics was the presidential election. Now presidential elections although important seem to take a back seat to state legislatures and governors. With the abortion ruling at the supreme court, the issue is now with the states so the political landscape there has become very important. Major parties have been pouring tremendous amounts of money into state and local elections.
We know now that the local elected officials have much more impact on our daily lives. School boards, Mayors, and others are at the leading edge of forcing people to move.
I lived in the Portland, OR area many years ago and never thought about it as being either conservative or liberal. It was just a great place to live where most people got along. Now it’s a municipal wreck. Night after night of violence and destruction. Yes, most of that is occurring in specific neighborhoods but it scares people because it can spill over to the surrounding areas. The elected officials seem completely incapable to find a solution. Who wants to move into that environment? The better question is who wants to move out?
Wake up in the morning without news of the next tax or restriction
In recent years, people have moved to areas where they thought they would be safe and it was less expensive, crowded, etc. Unfortunately, they moved to areas already talked about in the media, it was like following the herd. Now some of those places are crowded, crime has increased, the property is more costly and taxes are increasing to support the homeless.
I know that I am venturing into an area that I would prefer to stay out of which is politics but that’s the problem. Everything is political when it was not during the past decade or even last year.
If I were living in California, I would be writing a blog that could be considered all politics. Every day when I would wake up and check the news, some other crazy law was enacted. That does not happen in Mississippi which makes waking up to good news about the last great event this past weekend the big news. Or, the local high school football team won their game.
This is what people who are moving South are expecting, a more simple way of life without all of the stress. The problem as we get older is that we care more about the city, state, and country. It’s hard to bury your head in the sand and ignore what is happening in other areas.
I need to mention that there are some great conservative states not located in the South. The largest number of contiguous conservative states are located in the South. People who live in North and South Dakota for example are as if not more conservative than those who live in the South.
People get the government they deserve
All I can do today is think that people get the government that they deserve. There was an opportunity this year to change things and many people are just fine with criminals running around, shoplifting, homeless and other issues. Ok, if that’s good for them, then who am I to object to? I am just pleased that I made the right decision to move South to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and hope others can find their new home free from stress.
Note: Crime exists everywhere, it is not exclusive to blue areas. Large cities everywhere have crime problems. In the South, most of the large cities are blue cities that have similar issues to blue cities in other states.
Using the term safer is meant to convey that riots and other big city crimes in the South are usually confined to the big cities. Smaller Southern cities and towns did not participate in the types of activities prevalent in larger Northern or Coastal cities the past few summers. This is my personal opinion from what I have observed.
Thank you for reading this article and visiting the RetireCoast.Com website. Please listen to our podcasts and read other articles such as this one: Why I Decided to Retire in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and The best conservative cities (Mississippi Gulf Coast). Please leave comments on this page, tell us how we are doing, did this article help you?
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