How America Is Fracturing Along Political lines

All ‘majority rule’ political systems suffer from the same problem. If you happen to have a minority political opinion in your state or community, you’re completely screwed, because even if you stand with 49% of the population, your voice can’t be heard. Ultimately, the people who live under these systems have only one way to assert themselves. They have to vote with their feet.

As you might expect, this kind of voting is becoming more common in the United States. The average American voter is highly invested in the left-right paradigm. Both sides of this (admittedly false) paradigm seek to impose their will against the other side by capturing the government through the democratic process. The side that fails to capture the government during an election, has to live under the government of the other side. This of course, leads the losers to move to places that are dominated by their own beliefs.

The latest evidence for this American migration comes from the IRS. Their records show that in recent years, thousands of Americans have been fleeing Democrat run states for Republican states.

In 2013, more than 200,000 people on net fled states with Democrat governors for ones run by Republicans, according to an analysis of newly released IRS data by Americans for Tax Reform.

“People move away from high tax states to low tax states. Every tax refugee is sending a powerful message to politicians,” said ATR President Grover Norquist. “They are voting with their feet. Leaders in Texas and Florida are listening. New York and California are not.”

That year, Democrat-run states lost a net 226,763 taxpayers, bringing with them nearly $15.7 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI). That same year, states with Republican governors gained nearly 220,000 new taxpayers, who brought more than $14.1 billion in AGI with them.

Only one-third of states with Democrat governors gained taxpayers, compared to three-fifths of states with Republican governors.

Of course, that’s only the most recent data, and it doesn’t really capture the whole picture. This trend has been ongoing for decades, and it involves both Democrats and Republicans. Americans have a very mobile culture. Many of us move away from our homes every few years, and when we do, we tend to move into neighborhoods that are home to like-minded people.

You can see the evidence of this trend in every election we’ve had since the 70’s. When President Carter was elected in 1976, 28.6% of Americans lived in landslide counties. That is, counties where at least 70% of the population voted for one candidate or the other. By 2004, that number grew to 48.3%. Today, it is surely above 50%.

On the one hand, you can’t blame people for doing this. We live under a system where the minority opinion always gets the shaft. People have every right to move to a place where their opinions will be respected and acted upon.

On the other hand, the left-right paradigm is a complete sham. No matter who gets elected, the government still grows at all levels while our freedoms continue to diminish. And the more these people self sort themselves into like-minded communities, the more entrenched their opinions become. They no longer face as much exposure to opposing opinions, and their own beliefs are rarely challenged. One could argue that this might explain why left-right politics are becoming more partisan as time goes on.

And exposure to opposing opinions can be a key ingredient in breaking people from the left-right paradigm. I can speak on this matter from experience. I grew up in a very Republican leaning family, but lived in an overwhelmingly Democratic community. Since I was exposed to both ideologies from a young age and was fairly open-minded, I had plenty of experience with sides. This helped me compare these camps in the real world, which helped me spot the inconsistencies and flaws in both sides of the argument. The constant exposure to Republicans and Democrats helped me realize that both sides were a trap.

As time goes on, fewer Americans will have this opportunity. Many of us may simply become even more dedicated to a false dichotomy that consistently hurts the freedom and prosperity of everyone. Surely, this will contribute to the decline of our civilization.