... UPDATE: Thoughtful comment by Wyoming Doc:
I guess I would chime in on this post as a family that has already left the big urban cities behind.
My wife and I lived in one of our largest urban areas for decades. I was a professor of medicine at one of our best medical universities – and my wife, an engineer, was the project manager for one of the largest infrastructure projects in this country.
Then we had kids.
Before the kids ever came, we had noted that all of our neighbor’s kids were on amphetamines – and the parents instead of being ashamed were actually proud of it – it was a badge of honor. We noted that the parks and streets were completely emptied of kids playing; rather, the kids were in their houses playing video games all day. We went to the absolute best pre-schools in our city for our interviews and the first questions asked in ALL THREE – “What gender are you raising your kids?”.
I had impending doom that my career as an academic physician would soon be over (despite having been given 7 teaching awards through the years by the student body) when I was severely chastised by the “diversity dean” that I was not using pronouns correctly. Very soon thereafter, a patient of mine discussed with me that the public school where her 7 year old 2nd grade son was enrolled had actually proceeded with gender transition psychological therapy after diagnosing him with rapid gender dysphoria. They had told neither parent a word – and they found out about it only after 6 months of counseling had already occurred. They had to be notified because the “doctor” had decided the child needed intense hormone therapy. When asked what I thought – I informed her gently that they were setting their family up for a life of tears. She refused the therapy – and the “doctor” turned me in to the “diversity dean” at the university. She decided she had had enough of me – and began making my life miserable.
THIS ALL OCCURRED IN A MAJOR UNIVERSITY IN ONE OF OUR “RED STATES”.
My wife and I decided to leave. We both left our careers that we had worked so hard to achieve. We moved into a very rural area – and have never looked back. Our kids are both thriving. They are very involved in sports and outdoor activites. We are actually heavily involved in the community in our little town – and are very amazed at how completely different are the priorities. As one of the few physicians in town, I know that the use of stimulants is basically non-existent. The kids seem much more robust and healthy than I ever saw back home. My wife and I certainly are orders of magnitude more healthy than we have been since our youth – living out here requires lots of labor – and that has been shown to me to be a very good thing. We grow more than 2/3 of our own food. The neighbors are constantly looking out for one another – and we have never been more involved with our neighbors and all the community activities.
I would tell your readers, do not fear leaving a big urban area. You may be very pleasantly surprised at what you find out in flyover country. At this point – a few years into this – none of my family have any desire whatsoever to go back.
We look at what is going on in our old place – looting, rioting, blood in the streets and just shake our heads. Three times this week I have been informed of old colleagues who have been injured, attacked, or looted in the city. The deluge of physicians leaving urban areas and moving to rural areas has now made the national news several times.
We feel that we are free for the first time in a long time. However, there is great concern for our country. We know we cannot escape – but what we as a nation are doing now is completely unsustainable.
https://www.theamericanconservative....nedict-option/