Thirty lessons for America from the blue state laboratories of democracy
Laboratories of Democracy – Part IV
Bonfire of the Blue State Vanities
By: George Noga – April 11, 2021
Welcome to the final post in the series; the previous three parts are easily accessible on our website: www.mllg.us. The raison d’etre of laboratories of democracy is to learn from laws adopted in one or more states without risk to the rest of America. The successful experiments then may be emulated and the failed ones rejected.
Wide chasms exist between red and blue states. Blue states are hemorrhaging jobs, people, tax base and political power to red state America. We explain the causes of this tectonic shift by identifying the major reasons people flee blue states. We whittled the reasons down to the thirty horrors presented below, which are not listed in any order.
- Spending/Taxes: Blue states spend/tax more; NY spends double FL per person.
- Economic opportunity: Blue states suffer stagnation and depopulation.
- Jobs: Blue states are losing jobs at a fast pace – especially middle class jobs.
- Minimum wage: High minimums are harmful, devastating Seattle restaurants.
- Demographics: Depopulation results in malaise and loss of opportunity.
- Public safety: Sanctuary cities, abolition of cash bail, defunding police.
- Homelessness: Heavily concentrated and tolerated mainly in blue states.
- Rent control: This devastates housing stock along with bans on evictions.
- Economic freedom: States with least freedom all are blue; most freedom red.
- Shrinking middle class: Blue states are home only to the rich and poor.
- Political correctness: Runs amok in blue states – harms civility and culture.
- Housing: Zoning, NIMBY and unions create shortages and drive up costs.
- Right to work: Absence of RTW laws reduces jobs and freedom.
- Unfunded liabilities: Unions and corruption cause huge unfunded obligations.
- School quality: Disaggregated and COL adjusted, blue state schools lag.
- Gun control: Such laws infantilize people decreasing freedom and safety.
- Drug legalization/decriminalization: Numerous problems created as a result.
- School choice: Hostile to charter, private, magnet and voucher schools.
- One party politics: Lack of competition results in corruption and stagnation.
- Civility and culture: There is less tolerance and a toxic culture.
- Regulation and bureaucracy: These go hand-in-hand degrading daily life.
- School curricula: Hostile to parental values; teach fake 1619 project.
- Public health: California had Typhus outbreak and rodent infestations.
- Cost of living: Much higher than in red states but results in no added value.
- Law and order: Looting, arson, mayhem tolerated during the summer of love.
- Energy policies: Unreliability, outages, rolling blackouts and sky-high cost.
- Wokeness: This is a code word for socialism and casts a pall over everything.
- Covid management: Lockdowns, delayed reopenings and shuttered schools.
- Infrastructure: Roads, bridges, airports are neglected despite confiscatory taxes.
- Happiness/Quality of life: Gini coefficient shows less happiness in blue states.
We do not assert all of the 30 horrors are found only in blue states. We do assert that every one of the 30 is much more likely to occur and to be more extensive and more virulent in blue states. It is possible to quibble with this or that one of the horrors, but it is impossible to take the 30 in the aggregate and not get the picture. Although I tried, I could not conjure one thing that is better in blue state America – maybe you can.
America owes thanks to its founders for creating a federalist system that includes a political safety valve where each state can serve as a laboratory of democracy. The lesson from the laboratories of democracy couldn’t be any clearer: progressive policies fail and fail miserably. America is voting – and voting decisively – with its feet and the result is a landslide victory in favor of more liberty and less government.
Coming April 18th is MLLG’s always special Earth Day posting.