You Can Never Leave...

America's structure of states overseen by a federal government is a wonderful thing. It gives people an opportunity to self-sort to some degree and it keeps government power "closer to home." Government should be as local as possible. That which can be managed by a city should not be managed by a state. That which can be managed by a state should not be managed by the Feds. This enables new ideas to be "tested" more nimbly, e.g. dozens of major cities can each try different ideas, and can copy those that work well and eschew those that don't. At the state-vs-Federal level, it's called federalism.

I've long wondered why our political Left doesn't embrace federalism. Why it prioritizes fighting to institute its policies nationally, where it has to battle the see-saw of Congressional majorities, alternating White House denizens, and vast swathes of conservatives, moderates, and radical libertarians, rather than focusing on those states where it has large majorities and supportive populaces. It'd face far fewer headwinds and thus achieve much more of its agenda.

The reason, as most recently evinced in Oakland, is the first thing I mentioned - self-sorting. The Left's policies are so wonderful at the state and local level that people are leaving in droves.

Oakland's teachers are on strike. Normally, teachers' strikes aren't that notable, especially when a city ranks 45th in population, but this one is revelatory. As reported at WSJ, the Oakland school district has lost students for five consecutive years, forcing it to close schools to reduce costs. Yet, it's still offering the teachers a fat raise and a bonus.

Not good enough. The teachers' demands go beyond money and working conditions. They want the shuttered schools to be converted to homeless housing. They want reparations paid to black students. They want a Climate Justice Day on the school calendar. They want drought-resistant trees planted. They want ‘woke,’ at, as always, other people’s expense.

Next time some pro-teachers'-union types say "for the children!," please laugh in their faces.

This harkens back to the hue-and-cry over the capping of the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction that was part of the Trump tax reform package. Despite that deduction being overwhelmingly of benefit to the "rich," blue state politicians squawked, table-pounded, and chest-thumped. Why? Because that change was expected to hurt the squeeze they put on the rich living in their states.

We are in the midst of a phenomenon dubbed the "Blue State Exodus." People have been moving out of NY, CA, NJ, PA, MI, OR, MA, MN and LA, to FL, TX, NC, GA, AR, SC, TN, WA, UT, and ID. Excepting Washington State (which in truth is a large swathe of red dominated by a smaller concentration of blue), this is a Blue-to-Red migration, and one that had substantial implications in the last Congressional reapportionment.

Unlike the old Iron Curtain nations, blue states cannot put up walls and fences, or create mine-field buffers to keep their residents in. Though not for trying - California is toying with the idea of an "exit tax," a wealth tax that would apply for several years after someone moved out. Sounds mighty unconstitutional, but we all know the Constitution offends our Best-and-Brightest to their core when it keeps them from doing what they want.

So, the Left, rather than contenting itself with dwindling but ideologically purer populations on its home turf, seeks to push its policies at a level where escape is not an option. Barring a trivial number of "expat" types moving to Costa Rica or other such havens, Americans can't escape policies instituted at the Federal level.

This brings us to the second part of the reason the Left doesn't simply govern itself and leave the rest alone.

I have a couple acquaintances who are not only very liberal (as in always at the ready) in their proffering of advice, but who get mad if their advice is not heeded. They'll push their way, even if you tell them "thank you but I want to go a different way" or "I tried that already and it didn't work out for me." The intrusiveness is as bad as the certitude. Especially if you're the sort who doesn't like to be told "you must do this my way," which is a very common American trait (we are very open to suggestions, we are very resistant to demands). There is a wealth of observations from conservative and libertarian quarters about how bad an idea it is to give power to people who desperately want to be in charge, and a collectivist caterwaul from the Left that the only way society can get better is to give them total control and follow it up with silence and submission.

This is why we don't see the Left embracing federalism. It's not in their DNA. Like H.L. Mencken's Puritans,

they cannot abide the notion that someone, somewhere, might not behave as they demand.

So, they fight to impose their will on the rest of us, rather than leaving us to wallow in the squalor and misery that, absent their beneficent hand, would be our end state.

---

Don Henley, and Glenn Frey spoke of Hotel California as a place where “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” Q.E.D.