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Any state that is highly corporatist is not a progressive state. It's progressive socialism for it's companies but nothing for it's people. California is a great example of this fake progressive stuff. Just a bunch of neoliberal nonsense while more and more people become homeless or poor in places like California. It's all a face for looking like they care about their people and their rights when they truly don't. California is a state that only cares about rich people and money, and therefore, not a progressive one. California, the home of the contractor in industries like Uber, the poor worklife balance in tech, sure, a champion of the people... If we are using the California neoliberal definition, even though it's factually incorrect use of the term progressive, then there are quite a few places that match well on the East Coast. NY being one of them I'm sure, the home of Wall Street.
With that being said, are states on the East Coast any better? I don't know enough about them to say. I'd argue that VT is the most progressive state in the US. VT protects gun rights (a very progressive ideal to anyone that has ever read Karl Marx or Conquest of Bread) while also encouraging other progressive ideals. Any state that is actively anti-2A is not a progressive one, no matter how much they vote for the right-leaning Democrat party.
Had those books came out after the War on Drugs, skyrocketing gun violence when Baby Boomers hit their 20s in the 1970s onwards, and the rampaging of mass shootings.. I highly doubt their stance on guns would look anywhere near what it looked like back then.
Had those books came out after the War on Drugs, skyrocketing gun violence when Baby Boomers hit their 20s in the 1970s onwards, and the rampaging of mass shootings.. I highly doubt their stance on guns would look anywhere near what it looked like back then.
Allowing the government means of control and power (guns) while not also allowing it for their people is a problem, as it further enforces the system which works against them. People subject to unjust police violence or are stuck in a poor areas with little defense should not be the ones who lose that power the most, as gun control like other laws in our country are applied unequally and often on some discriminatory line, like race, money, or gender. Especially as our police continues to get military-grade equipment. Gun control is not gonna apply to my father who owns over 40 guns already, but will probably apply to someone in the projects trying to buy one gun for home defense in a city where police do nothing for them or potentially make it worse.
People of any government system need means to actually threaten or ensure the government will work for them and not oppress them. Could you imagine if we were still a British colony because the colonists didn’t have guns to revolt against Britain? The government continued to not listen to them, tax them in ways they didn’t like, so they had a revolution. When did we become so complacent in government not listening to us?
People result to crime and violence because they are facing insurmountable odds in an unjust system, so they resort to extremes. Improve conditions for your citizens and it will go down. Some people are truly power trip heavy or violent for mental health reasons and not economic or social ones, but this also applies under the “improve conditions” section. Getting rid of stigmas on mental health and improving healthcare access will limit this, as well as forcing wage increases or living costs to go down and working conditions I guarantee will lower rates. Give people hope again, and they will be better people.
This is why some areas, like Maryland who is currently winning the poll, also has one of the most crime-ridden cities in the US Baltimore. Conditions for people in Baltimore clearly are not that good, which is why this is happening. Neither blue or red parties are actually doing anything to effectively improve both economic and social conditions of its citizens. Sure Blue is slightly better than red, but both are failing to address the real problems.
You should read about the War on Drugs and why it was a failed initiative. The War on Drugs took a public health problem and turned to violence and oppression and unjust criminal sentencing of racial minorities. Those books would still support giving power to the people even if it was published in 2021, especially after things like the War on Drugs where the government took minor victimless crimes and forced people to work for less than a couple dollars an hour with literal chains and orange outfits. Sounds like slavery with extra steps does it not?
Since politics have become the central focus of this thread, here's some food for thought: why not move to the state where you'll have the most consequential political impact as a civically-minded resident?
Not trying to undermine the OP's priorities or be contrarian, but with people of liberal political persuasion "clustering" more and more (this is well-documented), your seemingly deeply held political beliefs would be much more influential in near-evenly divided states like Pennsylvania or North Carolina (and not just at the state level, but also the federal level). Maryland doesn't "need" any more liberals in that sense, and increasingly, neither does Virginia.
That being said, both NC and PA are large and diverse enough to offer robust areas of liberalism (in fact, I'd definitely argue that Philadelphia is the most staunchly liberal/progressive city between all of these states, easily).
Since politics have become the central focus of this thread, here's some food for thought: why not move to the state where you'll have the most consequential political impact as a civically-minded resident?
Not trying to undermine the OP's priorities or be contrarian, but with people of liberal political persuasion "clustering" more and more (this is well-documented), your seemingly deeply held political beliefs would be much more influential in near-evenly divided states like Pennsylvania or North Carolina (and not just at the state level, but also the federal level). Maryland doesn't "need" any more liberals in that sense, and increasingly, neither does Virginia.
That being said, both NC and PA are large and diverse enough to offer robust areas of liberalism (in fact, I'd definitely argue that Philadelphia is the most staunchly liberal city between all of these states, easily).
Just throwing it out there.
It’s true that people who will often benefit most from such politics are in the deepest of the red areas. I find that as someone who lives in a purple state that was a solid red one at one point we were never *that* conservative to begin with, compared to other states. Arizona like many other states has been subject to weird gerrymandering.
The US political system is set up to value land over people, which is why people in Wyoming have more voting power federally over Californians. If the goal is to better spread your political ideals, than a state with opposing beliefs and ideally as little populated as possible the better. Rather than a densely populated area that already has like minded people.
Since politics have become the central focus of this thread, here's some food for thought: why not move to the state where you'll have the most consequential political impact as a civically-minded resident?
Not trying to undermine the OP's priorities or be contrarian, but with people of liberal political persuasion "clustering" more and more (this is well-documented), your seemingly deeply held political beliefs would be much more influential in near-evenly divided states like Pennsylvania or North Carolina (and not just at the state level, but also the federal level). Maryland doesn't "need" any more liberals in that sense, and increasingly, neither does Virginia.
That being said, both NC and PA are large and diverse enough to offer robust areas of liberalism (in fact, I'd definitely argue that Philadelphia is the most staunchly liberal/progressive city between all of these states, easily).
I agree that Maryland is currently more progressive than Virginia overall. However, they are definitely becoming more equal. One example is that Virginia has been heavily investing in commuter rail and Amtrak throughout the state to provide more transportation options. Hampton Roads is also becoming more progressive similar to Richmond and Northern Virginia. The current governor is from Hampton Roads, and he has helped to expand the healthcare industry in the area as well as providing support for the construction of the states largest mental health hospital for children in Norfolk. So although there is still a strong conservative presence in Virginia you will still be able to benefit from many progressive initiatives in the state. Any of the largest 3 metros in Virginia would provide you with a great place to live in communities that overall support a lot of progressive legislation. If you choose Maryland then living closer to Annapolis would allow you to live in very nice suburbs and benefit from only having a 30 min ride to both DC and Baltimore.
Some more examples of Virginia becoming progressive.
The death penalty has been abolished.
Ultrasound is no longer required before getting an abortion.
Legalized marijuana.
Give financial aid to illegal aliens for college.
Ended mandatory prison sentences.
Are passing strict gun control measures.
Virginia is on its way to becoming California east.
Since politics have become the central focus of this thread, here's some food for thought: why not move to the state where you'll have the most consequential political impact as a civically-minded resident?
Not trying to undermine the OP's priorities or be contrarian, but with people of liberal political persuasion "clustering" more and more (this is well-documented), your seemingly deeply held political beliefs would be much more influential in near-evenly divided states like Pennsylvania or North Carolina (and not just at the state level, but also the federal level). Maryland doesn't "need" any more liberals in that sense, and increasingly, neither does Virginia.
That being said, both NC and PA are large and diverse enough to offer robust areas of liberalism (in fact, I'd definitely argue that Philadelphia is the most staunchly liberal/progressive city between all of these states, easily).
Just throwing it out there.
Some people interpret "progressive" as being "liberal". I am not liberal. I am an independent. Maybe I'm a moderate, I don't know. I just know my QOL is very different in SC than it was in MA. I feel like a fish out of water.
What I meant by "progressive" is a state/state govt that is not stuck in the dark ages and is open to change that may benefit it's citizens. Some examples -
An educated populace that believes in science. I consider MA where I came from progressive. Lots of educated people who for the most part followed protocol during the pandemic. High vaccination rate. Not so in SC. Over half of the population doesn't believe in science. They are conspiracy theorists and as a result our case numbers are skyrocketing. The Gov doesn't believe in science either, and puts $$ above people's lives. He has actually enacted and the state govt has passed legislation to block the mitigation measures that his own health dept recommends and the recommendations of the CDC. Vaccine rates are abysmal here.
There is a connection I believe, between education and progressive thinking - being open to change and new ideas. SC is 48th in education. New ideas are not welcome here. If one dares to bring up a new idea, they are told "if you don't like the way things are here, then go back home where you came from". Mind you this is not telling someone things were better back where you came from, it's simply presenting a new idea when a problem is presented.
Progressive is about having some environmental controls in place and not in-filling wetlands so that every square inch of land can be developed.
Progressive is considering light rail or some other public transit system that might alleviate growing traffic issues.
Progressive is allowing medical marijuana for ill patients that need pain relief.
I am not in favor of abortions, but I also don't believe in outlawing them, which is what the Govt here has done, purporting to be "pro-life" but with their mitigation stance on the virus they are anything but pro-life, letting people spread the virus unnecessarily and die.
There is a LOT of gun violence here. It seems every argument is solved with someone being shot. There isn't a night that goes by without the news recounting stories of shootings. Many times of innocent people who are killed. Now we have open carry without any training whatsoever. Here people shoot off their guns to kill the venomous snakes or alligators in their back yard (not legal). In MA if anyone heard a gunshot in someone's back year they would call the police. Not here... it's "normal". People don't care about laws. Or safety.
Progressive is paying people a living wage. COL is quite high in the Charleston metro. As high as where we were in Newburyport, MA save for lower RE costs. The wages are abysmal here. I worked in a highly skilled job requiring specialized training in which I have 22 years experience for a national company (financial services) and was paid $15/hr. I had to fight for that salary. They wanted to start me at $12/hr. $12-$14/hr is considered a "good" wage here for college educated, experienced people. The benefits were two weeks vacation and health insurance where the premium and deductible (7K) were over 40% of my salary. The minimum wage here is $7.25/hr.
Progressive is not being a "good 'ole boy" state.
I could go on, but that's the gist of it.
A lot of what I mention above goes on in the red states. Just look at the CDC vaccine map. I just am tired of living in a state where over half the people have "the world is flat" mentality, and "no one is telling me what to do, this is a FREE state", "no one is taking away MY civil liberties", community and helping fellow citizens be dam**ed.n. Here's my take on "freedom". A history professor once put it this way - "Your freedom to swing your arms ends when you hit me in the face". Exactly my stance. If your "freedom" hurts me, then steps to curb your "freedom" are reasonable and warranted.
I'm am not a "liberal" who believes in giving free college to illegals, or defunding the police, or not having strong border policies. Again, this is not about politics.
I want to live in a state where people realize that in a civilized society, laws and regulations are sometimes necessary. This state sometimes feels like the Wild West. I had a cousin who moved from NH to FL before we moved to SC. I asked her how she liked it. Her response was she liked the weather, but said "sometimes I feel like I am living on Mars." I had not idea what she meant. Now I do. The way of thinking here is SO different than where I grew up in NH and where I lived most of my life in MA.
Even if you live in a "progressive" area of a red state, the state govt. can enact legislation that is anything but progressive (outlawing mask mandates) and it WILL affect your quality of life. I'm living that reality now.
Macalan, this sounds like 'classical liberalism' to me, which is not liberal in the sense of the word used today -- it's actually a form of conservatism.
You'd be ok in any of the states mentioned in this post then.
I too am morally opposed to abortion (as well as gay marriage) but I'm not for outlawing them either, for instance. People have choice and the government should get out of the way.
It's the defund the police, reparations, no personal responsibility, free college, pronoun-enforcing-gestapo-woke-faction of liberalism that I object to. Most of us conservatives would welcome you in our red communities.
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