I love your work. Much of what you describe here for your "escape plans" line up very closely with my own. I also live in WA, and the authoritarian "leadership" of our Dear Leader Lord Jay has had me considering exiting for some time. I'm still a bit leery of AZ due to their very obvious issues with election fraud (and all that implies for the state in general), but it is someplace I'm watching closely. And of course the skiing is a lot better in MT!
One comment. You, and many others, talk about the value of Democracy. But as I'm sure you know, actual Democracy is in fact just a fancy name for mob rule; in the most literal of terms, gang rape is an example of democracy taken to an extreme. The issue is more fundamental than Democracy. It is Freedom itself, and the God given rights that all people have, and that are (mostly) enumerated in our Bill of Rights. The system that we use in the US so people can enjoy these freedoms is a Representative Republic, which is designed to take the best parts of Democracy (hopefully) without allowing things to degenerate into mob rule. Our current (false) President and his Party have been working hard to destroy our Bill of Rights for the past 4 years, but lust for power does not stop with political affiliation. Under a Republican President we allowed the Patriot Act to be passed, which stripped or limited far more of our precious Freedoms than most people realize. And during Covid we allowed our Government to force us into living in a manner that most found to be horrendous, as you noted stripping us of many rights and freedoms. Both of these situations were driven by fear, and in both cases enough people were scared enough that those in power were able to strip us of those rights and freedoms without effective resistance. In the case of Covid, all it would have taken was enough people to simply refuse to comply and the whole scheme would have quickly fallen apart. But Fear was used to keep the majority compliant, while the noncompliant minority could only watch helplessly and hope that they would not become victims of the mob.
I'm sorry, I took off on a tangent that I could take even further but I'll try to get back to my original point. Whatever you want to call it, Freedom, Democracy or something else entirely, We The People must do everything in our power to force our elected officials to do what WE want, and to only enact laws that do not infringe upon our rights. As Ben Franklin noted, trading some freedom for security leads to the loss of both. If we do not elect representatives who will do their job by following our wishes, and following the Constitution, we will certainly lose the country that was once the United States of America. We're already far closer to this than I like to think about.
I agree with all the nuances you've brought up. The beauty is that there are so many pieces of the puzzle that everyone can grab onto one that resonates with them or which they have a unique ability to impact, and they are a part of the larger solution. I can only hope and pray that more and more people will begin to view engagement and action as not just valuable but rewarding and enjoyable versus the "bread and circuses" being shoved in our faces constantly. What gives a person purpose? What makes a day a good day? What do we consider an accomplishment? Is it caretaking for ourselves alone or taking an action that has a dual benefit to self and others in the community or others who will inherit the land we live upon after we are gone? And so on...
I love your work. Much of what you describe here for your "escape plans" line up very closely with my own. I also live in WA, and the authoritarian "leadership" of our Dear Leader Lord Jay has had me considering exiting for some time. I'm still a bit leery of AZ due to their very obvious issues with election fraud (and all that implies for the state in general), but it is someplace I'm watching closely. And of course the skiing is a lot better in MT!
One comment. You, and many others, talk about the value of Democracy. But as I'm sure you know, actual Democracy is in fact just a fancy name for mob rule; in the most literal of terms, gang rape is an example of democracy taken to an extreme. The issue is more fundamental than Democracy. It is Freedom itself, and the God given rights that all people have, and that are (mostly) enumerated in our Bill of Rights. The system that we use in the US so people can enjoy these freedoms is a Representative Republic, which is designed to take the best parts of Democracy (hopefully) without allowing things to degenerate into mob rule. Our current (false) President and his Party have been working hard to destroy our Bill of Rights for the past 4 years, but lust for power does not stop with political affiliation. Under a Republican President we allowed the Patriot Act to be passed, which stripped or limited far more of our precious Freedoms than most people realize. And during Covid we allowed our Government to force us into living in a manner that most found to be horrendous, as you noted stripping us of many rights and freedoms. Both of these situations were driven by fear, and in both cases enough people were scared enough that those in power were able to strip us of those rights and freedoms without effective resistance. In the case of Covid, all it would have taken was enough people to simply refuse to comply and the whole scheme would have quickly fallen apart. But Fear was used to keep the majority compliant, while the noncompliant minority could only watch helplessly and hope that they would not become victims of the mob.
I'm sorry, I took off on a tangent that I could take even further but I'll try to get back to my original point. Whatever you want to call it, Freedom, Democracy or something else entirely, We The People must do everything in our power to force our elected officials to do what WE want, and to only enact laws that do not infringe upon our rights. As Ben Franklin noted, trading some freedom for security leads to the loss of both. If we do not elect representatives who will do their job by following our wishes, and following the Constitution, we will certainly lose the country that was once the United States of America. We're already far closer to this than I like to think about.
I agree with all the nuances you've brought up. The beauty is that there are so many pieces of the puzzle that everyone can grab onto one that resonates with them or which they have a unique ability to impact, and they are a part of the larger solution. I can only hope and pray that more and more people will begin to view engagement and action as not just valuable but rewarding and enjoyable versus the "bread and circuses" being shoved in our faces constantly. What gives a person purpose? What makes a day a good day? What do we consider an accomplishment? Is it caretaking for ourselves alone or taking an action that has a dual benefit to self and others in the community or others who will inherit the land we live upon after we are gone? And so on...