Do you live in The American Redoubt? Be aware that you have some friends arriving soon. The great Redoubt Exodus has begun!
For the past two months the newspapers and electronic media all around the country have been filled with headlines such as these:
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- Florida adopts wide package of gun laws, while Washington stalls
- Three States Pushing Stricter Gun Laws After Parkland (Plus 2 States That Want to Make Gun Ownership Easier)
- Rhode Island adopts ‘red flag’ gun policy; other states close
- Federal judge upholds Massachusetts ban on AR-15, large capacity magazines
- Vermont Governor Signs Sweeping Anti-Gun Laws
- Bank of America will no longer lend to companies that make ‘military-style’ weapons
- Governors Cuomo, Malloy, Murphy and Raimondo Announce “States for Gun Safety” Coalition to Combat the Gun Violence Epidemic
- California gun raffle ban won’t keep the public safe
- Stalled Effort to Ban ‘Bump Stocks’ Illustrates Challenge of Changing State Gun Laws
Voting With Their Feet
The anti-gun rhetoric and legislation is almost certain to accelerate the already vigorous exodus to The American Redoubt. The political and social differences between the liberal coastal States and the conservative interior States are becoming more and more stark. These differences are now so great that traditional God-fearing and gun loving folks are no longer just considering relocating. Rather, they are making firm plans, reserving their U-Haul and Ryder trucks, and counting the days until their planned escape. This trend is particularly pronounced in Northern California.
From some anecdotal indications related to me by my friends, relatives, and consulting clients, the local buzz is: It is the liberal coastal Californians are planning to move to Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. But it is mostly the conservative inland ones who are planning to move to Idaho and Montana. A gun owner fleeing California’s civilian disarmament laws is not likely to flee to place like Colorado, which is becoming more restrictive. And a liberal one is not going to place that the liberal mass media has warned them is “hostile” to liberals, like Idaho. (Even though in truth it isn’t.)
This is all just common sense demographic settling–round pegs fitting in round holes, and square ones in square holes. For several years, it has become apparent that the American Redoubt internal migration movement has been catching on. But now the Redoubt Exodus will be getting into full swing. As the old saying goes: “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Extrapolating the current societal, media, and regulatory trends, it is now clear that living in the leftist-statist-collectivist States will soon become intolerable for many conservatives and libertarians. Most of these trends seem to pop up first in Europe, in California and in New York. Those are the bellwether locales.
Many Motivations
New gun laws will be the key motivators to flee the coastal States in the Redoubt Exodus wave. But there will be many more motivations. I predict that we will soon see most of the following trends emerge in nearly all of the heavily-populated coastal Democrat Majority States:
Higher taxes on America’s most productive citizens
Restrictions on gun shows
Bans on private party sales of used guns (So-called “Universal Background Check” laws.)
Special rights for squatters on both public and private property.
Assorted social engineering experiments
Blatantly leftist and pro-homosexual indoctrination through school curriculum
Rude and abusive urban police forces
Background checks for ammo purchases
Background checks for gun parts purchases
Bans on binary triggers and 3-Gun Match triggers
Registration or bans on pistols chambered for rifle cartridges
Bans on magazines over 10 round capacity
Restrictions on home-made firearms
Bans on a loosely-worded definition of “assault” weapons
Restrictions on rainwater gathering
Restrictions large scale gardening and off-grid living within city limits
TSA-style personal searches at urban concerts and other public events
More intense gender warring and political correctness
Illegal Alien Harboring laws (“Sanctuary” City and State laws for “Undocumented Immigrants”)
Disproportionately higher urban crime rates
“Arsenal” licenses for private citizens
Increasing AntiFa violence
Discriminatory restraining orders
A dizzying variety of new bans, fees, licenses, permits, zoning, and regulations
Public humiliation of people who hold traditional values and who practice fundamentalist Christianity
An even more intense surveillance state, with full vehicle and private aircraft tracking
Per-mile road taxes and city street taxes
Increasing attacks on traditional culture and morality
Censorship of anyone who is out of the leftist mainstream
Destruction of all war monuments–not just Confederate ones
Expansion of marriage and “civil union” laws to include plural marriage and even inter-species “marriage”
Lowering of Age of Consent laws in some coastal States
Restrictions on Home Churches
Abandonment of the Presumption of Innocence
Curtailed gun rights for senior citizens
Bans on male circumcision. (They Nanny Staters will surely start calling it: “Male genital mutilation.”)
Discouragement of Kosher meat butchering but concurrently encouragement of Halal meat butchering
Further restrictions on homeschooling
Antisemitic rhetoric
Anti-Christian rhetoric
Mandatory collection of sales taxes on out-of-state purchases
Forced registration under “Internet Signature” schemes, thus ending Internet posting privacy
Ubiquitous monitoring of social media and Internet fora.
Demonizing hunting
Demonizing pro-gun groups
Exit taxes on people selling homes and moving out of State
Legislation demanding ongoing in-State taxation of pension income for people moving out of State
Public humiliation of anyone who does not own a television or a smart phone, (i.e. if your child does not have a cell phone you’ll be charged with abuse/disadvantaging your child)
Demonizing people who transact their personal business with cash.
Criminalizing thought crimes
Pre-crime profiling and pre-crime policing with restraining orders and/or psychiatric holds that include gun confiscation with no due process. (Or, as Mr. Trump puts it “Due Process, After.”)
I suspect that many readers were nodding their heads when reading that list. But more than 70% of the SurvivalBlog readership still lives in the more heavily-populated States–mostly the Eastern Seaboard States, and California. It is just a matter of time until many folks reach the revulsion point, and finally decide to Get Out of Dodge.
Prepare to Receive Refugees–The Good Kind
I predict: In the next three years, the Redoubt Exodus will increase dramatically. The vast majority of those new arrivals will be politically conservative gun-owning Christians and Jews. Yes, Jews. And Messianics, too. Lots of them. With Big City America beginning to resemble 1930s Germany, who can blame them for becoming internal refugees? They have common sense and are perceptive about the accelerating changes in urban society. Oh, and most American Jews also have some painful family memories of Europe the 1930s and 1940s.
It is clear that many of the new gun laws and surveillance laws do not pass the Jews In The Attic test. Anyone who cannot see that is blind. I am convinced that Jews and Christians will both be persecuted in the 21st Century. Many of the Jewish newcomers will be Orthodox Jews from places like New York City (now more than 40% of NYC Jews are Orthodox), Baltimore, Maryland, and Toms River, New Jersey Which is majority Orthrodox. (The missing words on the “Don’t Sell” signs posted in Tom’s River are of course: “…To Jews”. Their antisemitism is only thinly veiled. )
We will welcome these Jewish refugees to the Redoubt with open arms. After all, we have a lot in common. At least with the Orthodox Jews and Russian Emigre Jews (both Orthodox and Reformed). Traditional values? Check. Distancing from popular culture? Check. Pro-Second Amendment? Check. Pro-Traditional Marriage? Check. Honoring elders? Check. Belief in moral absolutes? Check. Law-abiding? Check. Television-eschewing? Check. Politically conservative? Check. And what about Parochial Schools and Homeschooling? Check.
There has already been a huge growth in the Messianic Movement in the Redoubt. I’d say that that roughly one-third of the Home Churches in my area are Messianic or quasi-Messsianic. And the Home Church movement in general is gaining ground against the mainline Protestant denomination churches. There are also a lot of Traditional Catholics moving to the Redoubt region. Many of these folks are willing to drive long distances on Sundays, to be able to attend Tridentine (Latin Mass) churches.
I’m also making another fairly firm prediction:
Within five years Eastern Washington and then Eastern Oregon will both formally attempt to partition themselves to become new States within the Union. The folks east of the Cascades now have almost nothing in common with the Left Coasters. I’m hoping that they are successful in their partition campaigns. The Liberty State campaign in Eastern Washington is well underway.
The End Result
I can also predict that the end result of this Redoubt Exodus wave of mostly like-minded folks will be positive. Local economies will strengthen. A wider range of job opportunities will open up. The already conservative legislative majorities will get even stronger. Medical services will probably get closer by and more advanced. Our right to keep and bear arms will be firmly cemented. Democrat Governors will be sent packing. The 10th Amendment will be taken seriously. Road construction and maintenance taxes will decrease, since there will be more people living on each stretch of road. And we’ll probably get both faster Internet service and more complete cellular phone coverage, at lower prices.
The downside: The Redoubt Exodus will mean that land prices will surely rise. But the good news balancing that is that most counties in the Redoubt still have a lot of elbow room. When you take a county populated with seven people per square mile and amp it up to 12 people per square mile, it will still be a profoundly frontier-feeling rural county.
Fear not, folks. Friends are on the way. – JWR
An excellent and largely (I believe) accurate predictions. However, I feel it far more likely that, rather than the two Eastern halves of Washington and Oregon successfully partitioning themselves (I just don’t think it’s likely in the current climate. Do we really believe that the left will stand for an additional 4 senators from reliably conservative states?), I believe the residents of these areas will outmigrate into Idaho and Montana, further consolidating the conservative majority. IMHO, Washington and Oregon are lost causes.
That being said, I fairly recently moved from KS to Tennessee (could not find work in my field in the Redoubt), and I see, here, a similar conscious retreat to this conservative state with no income tax, low personal property taxes (relatively), excellent firearm laws, a strong sense of Christian values in the culture and plenty of cheap, agrarian land. Conservative policies have created an economic boom in the state, and jobs are plentiful. If you’re like me, and can’t find work in the Redoubt, or are hesitant to move so far from where you are now, but want out of the liberal bastions on the Coast, consider Tennessee. Granted, it’s not the Redoubt, but it beats the heck out of Maryland or some other such pit.
As a 10 year transplant to Tennessee, I agree with your reasons to move to the Volunteer state, but as you know things are rapidly changing, especially in Eastern Tennessee. Unfortunately, the liberty minded don’t have a monopoly on migration. The zero state income tax policy is attracting a fair amount of attention from the recently retired and often ultra-liberal Boomers from Illinois, Ohio, and Northeastern states. Nashville is becoming overrun by the “trendy” of all age groups and the wealthy musical celebrities push their liberal pet causes at every opportunity. As the elderly base of the Christian right dies off and the opioid epidemic overtakes and replaces the meth labs that were so prevelant several years ago, I fear for our beloved state on every front.
I agree there are concerns, but no place is immune from drug addictions and the nightmare that creates. Now, if all of the folks I see coming here, I’ve yet to meet anyone other than a Conservative Christian. I live in Middle Tenn in a very rural county bordering KY, perhaps 1.5 hours from Nashville. And so far as Nashville is concerned, while they are largely urban and certainly more purple than red, I wouldn’t call Nashville “Progressive” by any means. Conservative politics run deep in Country Music. I agree TN has it points of concern, outside of Montana, Idaho, or Wyoming, there’s no state Inwould choose to live in besides this one.
Perhaps it is my view from the suburbs of Knoxville and Chattanooga that has me concerned for the future in spite of our present. The nature of my industry (luxury boat sales and service) demands that I travel the lakes and rivers from Center Hill and Percy Priest to Dale Hollow and Chickamauga and many others in between. Believe me when I say that the majority of the buyers of $80,000 pontoons and $140,000 wake-board boats for their grandkids to water ski behind during their 2-week summer visit from Chicago are not John and Betty Baptist. You are indeed fortunate if your area is made up entirely of conservative Christians.
With a 75% majority in the state house, it may be some time before the right is pushed out of power even if an influx of wealthy Leftists continues, but isn’t that how it always happens; slowly, then all at once. Encourage your like-minded friends and neighbors to remain vigilant and participate in their local government.
Just different views of the same state I guess. Truths probably somewhere in between
I know a lot of people in the northeast. For the last thirty years, they have been moving primarily to the Carolinas, with a little spillover into Virginia and Georgia. (Those who move to Florida are primarily retirees, or young people who can’t get their lives together, and bounce back and forth from there to here, not getting much of anywhere.)
Now almost all the people I know who are thinking of moving are looking at Tennessee. One is already there, others are location hunting.
Jason, DD and JMW have it right. No locations are perfect, but Middle Tennessee is a very practical alternative to the Mountain West Redoubt for all the reasons they adroitly stated. The Cumberland Plateau area of the Appalachian Redoubt is particularly attractive for many homesteaders and preparedness-minded folks seeking a secure, practical retreat location. Real estate pricing remains very reasonable on the Plateau and decent agricultural or forested lands are plentiful.
OPSEC-minded sellers appear to avoid the commercial MLS and other Realtor sites, so you’ll probably need to look for unique DIY websites that are becoming more common. Survivalblog archives have several good articles on what to look for. And don’t discount the possibility of finding an aging Boomer family (without like-minded heirs) selling their existing off grid retreat as aging takes its inevitable toll. Tennessee has a lot to offer for self-sufficiency-minded homesteaders; it’s not a bunch of rednecks and porch goobers as some would have you believe.
Since I agree that the liberals will not allow more conservative senators an idea might be for Idaho to try an annex eastern Washington and Oregon, not sure if it’s even possible just an idea.
This was not Lincoln’s only trip to the makeshift shooting range near the White House. One of his private secretaries, William O. Stoddard, recalled accompanying Lincoln on similar occasions: “On the grounds near the Potomac, south of the White House, was a huge pile of old lumber, not to be damaged by balls, and a good many mornings I have been out there with the President, by previous appointment, to try such rifles as were sent in. There was no danger of hitting any one, and the President, who was a very good shot, enjoyed the relaxation very much.” Another secretary, John Hay, reported that on these excursions Lincoln “used to quote with much merriment the solemn dictum of one rural inventor that ‘a gun ought not to rekyle; if it rekyled at all, it ought to rekyle a little forrid.’”=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/19/target-practice-with-mr-lincoln/
Im not understanding this comment?
Read the story: Google “Target Practice with Mr Lincoln”. Go to Kentucky the “true” land of Lincoln!
But what does this have to do with the article?
I believe every thing you are predicting will come true. I am currently trying to relocate to Texas (from Kalifornia) and I have learned that I can not mention that I am from Kalifornia without getting rude or concerned looks. (I don’t blame them). Nobody wants a bunch of liberals invading their home state. Until I get a chance to explain that I have the same views as them, I just say that I am from the Mohave Desert. It is truly sad that I am ashamed to admit I am a resident of the place I was born. But I understand peoples concern with liberals invading their state.
Yup. Born in SoCal, moved to Kingman, AZ (19 years), then was drug back to Norcal for 10 years until I could bail for the Redoubt. I tell people I’m from AZ, NEVER from Ca.
I retired from the CA criminal justice field….moving to Idaho 3 years ago was tantamount to a 35% instant pay raise, as well as a much better quality of life.
We have plans to move when the wife retires to the Prescott Arizona foothills, not the main town. We looked at the Redoubt but the wife isn’t big on a real Winter experience. Prescott is overall pretty even to where we live at the moment which yes by the way is Northern California.
It’s a dirty shame what has happened to this state which once was truly one of the best. We can’t wait to get out and have already started the planning to do so.
I took a look at Prescott when I was looking around. My memory is the zoning laws were a little too personal for my taste. Basically, you couldn’t do anything without permission, and I was left with the impression that (for example) things like straw bale construction, or anything that was not standard construction, would be frowned on. This was many years back, and my memory could be faulty, but zoning and building code research should be part of any planned move. There are so many things to look at, big moves are very complicated. This may not be an issue for everyone, but I have a problem with government telling me what I can do on my property.
I’m living in North Carolina dreaming of going to Idaho for this very reason. It’s amazing to hear your stories from other parts of the country.
I related to the part in the article about “counting the days.” My retirement date was set for a Friday, moving van all day Saturday, and I left SoCal for far-northern Idaho at 6:30 am on the Sunday in a pouring rainstorm (of course). I was so happy and relieved, it felt like the Hallelujah Chorus inside my heart. Friends of mine also moved from SoCal to the area a few weeks later. They literally picked up their child on a Friday afternoon last day of school in their U-haul van and left from there. As a native Californian, my only hesitation about moving to Idaho was the winters, but it ended up being quite beautiful and restful; I didn’t mind it at all and am very happy with my excellent choice of location. Now that spring has sprung, I can’t wait for full speed ahead on the garden! I have lived in many places and traveled the world; I can honestly say that I finally feel at home up here. Being around a community of like minded, liberty-loving people is peaceful and relaxing. I can just be myself. Can’t wait to welcome our brothers and sisters!
Having been an Okie for well over sixty years I maintain that there is not a more conservative state in America than Oklahoma. We have more freedoms which mean less government interference in our private lives and there’s just about a church on every corner. Folks are friendly, guns are common place and we have a lot of really pretty places to live. We’re probably one of the most backward states but in this day and age of political correctness and liberal perversions being a bit backward is IMO a good thing. Those wishing to flee Kalifornia should at least give Oklahoma a look.
Have traveled through Big Sky country and was captivated by its beauty. Looks like a great place to live however it does lack one thing, costal property.
Might not seem like a big thing to a native of that area but when you grow up with the salt air in your lungs the ocean is something that becomes near and dear.
The other problem is the wife and I still have a few “earning years” left and most likely will have to stay here in the Northeast. Have floated the idea of relocating to the redoubt and it always goes over like a lead balloon.
Think your predictions will definitely come true and perhaps then the wife will consider relocating. Right now she is still enjoying the metropolitan life.
Hopefully by then the redoubt will have a few more amenities like recreation and advanced, easily accessible healthcare for us older types 🙂
( have not traveled through recently so those concerns may be moot )
Just to set the record on this and not to be “elbowing” you, but the Federal government is not confiscating beach front property under the banner of conservation. The most amount of land that is conserved for future generations to enjoy is right in the American Redoubt. It is the most beautiful place on the planet and the night skies you’ll see the heavens.
I’m an X. People’s Republic of Californian myself and now living in the Redoubt. If you’re from the NE then the winters shouldn’t be an issue for you and the wife. Healthcare is on par with any major city as long as you can get to a major city for treatment. There are wide open spaces and what gives you that peace of mind of freedom.
Lastly, as the real estate agent told me “when the rapture of the church happens it will happen 30 years later in the Redoubt.” We like this area to be about 30 years behind the times and don’t really want the new age “nonsense” of blending Liberal lines with Conservative lines and calling it a “collective” society.
Please get your stake now in the redoubt… prices are going up!
Some people think about moving here, and then they think about it some more. Others are irresistibly drawn and there is nothing that will stop them from achieving their goal as fast as humanly possible. It’s an internal knowing; logical persuasion hasn’t worked on either my friends or family. For me, it was a Herculean effort to move here (northern Idaho), alone and in my golden years. I just knew I was supposed to be here, and here I am.
Well logic is how the world goes round and viable decisions are made. It’s how corporate budgets are formed, Corporate teams are constructed, metrics used for planning family affairs, and whether we go to war as a nation. Ben Shapiro said it elequently “Conservatives use facts and Liberals use feelings to assess a situation.”
I hope you’re not implying that I sound like a liberal; I would take that as an insult. You would be hard pressed to find someone more logical and analytical than myself. I fully understand that logic has its place in the decision making process. However, it’s been my experience that people usually end up doing what they want to do, no matter the logic. I have wasted a lot of time trying to convince people of the logical path, only to have them do what they want. The sample pool includes highly intelligent conservatives.
If you think having a mass influx of all these people from those Liberal States is a good thing you are dreaming. Just look around an you can see that the more populace a state becomes the more Liberal it becomes. It still amazes me that Idaho being so beautiful and having a rather mild climate and being so close to California hasn’t been over run by Libs. If I was a Real Estate whore I’d be cheering for a in-pouring of Californians. Hope the Cold and Wind of Wyoming keeps those Left Coast people west of the Rockies. Trekker Out
I’ve lived in the American redoubt (Mostly Eastern WA ) for the better part of 30 years, The wife and I bought homes in Rural North Idaho and Eastern WA. about 3.5 hrs apart I love the flexibility of being a contractor and working in both States, But I don’t trust the political climate in Washington, so I ditched my Washington drivers license and became an Idaho resident . I also moved all my guns and a great deal of my preps over to Idaho. ..
..Years ago, I got quite a nice welcome from the gent at the Idaho contractors board. After getting my certificate, and getting my State income tax info, he shook my hand and said ” Welcome to Idaho ” He said, ‘ you will find doing business a little easier here, and the staff friendly’
He couldn’t have been more right. I find myself wanting to spend the majority of my time In Idaho, But I can’t seem to let go of my business contacts in Washington, The money is better in Washington, But the people and the quality of life in Idaho is better.. I suppose I’ll keep going back and forth until the Wife puts a stop to it, But for now, I’m enjoying the contrast.
I fear your prediction is right on the mark Jim. The mass migration to the redoubt has been steadily gaining steam, the farmland replaced by subdivisions to make room for the Liberals. Clearly I don’t share your optimism that we’re getting like minded, god fearing, respectful, people who hope only to raise their family with honor and integrity without destroying or “improving” the land to resemble the very place they moved away from. Here in Montana the results of the influx are real estate prices that have doubled or tripled in the last 20 years, disappearing farmland, new homes the size of mini mansions popping up everywhere, and the general attitude that Montana is their new personal playground to develop and exploit however they see fit. They aren’t moving up here to blend in, unplug, and deprogram Jim; they’re moving up to buy us out and then fence us out. Call me a pessimistic mountain man if you will but thats the way I see it. Fidel
This is called self-ghettoisation,retreating to a corner and hoping DC will leave you alone is a false hope. The only real answer is to have a escape from the clutches of DC, a foreign country that hasn’t been overcome by “Elites” who want to run your life for you because they “know what is better for you”. Just ask a jew from Germany,get out while the getting is good.