Long have political theorists argued that people naturally congregate with the similarly-minded. We haven’t seen yet a large-scale, purposeful internal migration based primarily upon cultural and religious beliefs, but in our current polarized society, overwhelmed with growing social chaos, it appears that we are about to.

As Americans, we are accustomed to a variety of contemporary migration patterns.

Business owners in blue states often sell their businesses and then retire to Florida’s more friendly tax environment. For those blue-state business owners who are tired of high taxes but still have a desire to keep growing and flourishing, they often move their companies or significant portions of them to states such as Texas, Georgia, or the Dakotas.

Meanwhile, border states like California and Arizona have become numb to decades of legal and illegal migration from Latin America. A steady flow of immigrants from the Middle East and Africa has also become a norm in the last few decades.

In Minneapolis and other cities plagued with riots and exponential increases in violent crime, we’re starting to see the core cities abandoned by businesses and individuals of all stripes. People are fleeing for safety.

What we haven’t seen yet is large-scale, purposeful internal migration based primarily upon cultural and religious beliefs, not economic interests. In our current polarized society, overwhelmed with growing social chaos, it appears that we are about to see it.

Earlier this week my wife and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary by taking a short trip out to Rapid City, South Dakota and the Black Hills. I always enjoy speaking with the locals and finding out what’s happening in an area. You can learn a lot and often patterns become visible if you speak with enough people.

One priest reported to me that he has been contacted by dozens of families looking to flee blue-state metros and their cultures to what they believe will be safer territory for them to raise their families as conservatives and Christians. So far, twenty of those families are committed to the move, coming primarily from Minnesota, Illinois, and Washington.

He wasn’t alone in reporting the changes. Servers at restaurants, cashiers, people on the street, a police officer, and a realtor all reported to me that there is a significant influx of political and religious refugees coming to South Dakota.

The point was thoroughly hammered home when my wife and I met up with a college buddy from Washington state who happened to be in the area. He wasn’t there for tourism; he was there to scout a possible move from the chaos of Seattle and the political forces dominating Washington state.

Moving isn’t easy. Uprooting your family and moving to a new area is even harder. Nonetheless, the discussions taking place among many conservatives and Christians seem to indicate that the costs and sacrifices involved in such a move are worth it.

Long have political philosophers and conservative theorists argued that people naturally congregate with similarly minded people—birds of a feather flock together. Quite often they also argued that America would eventually see people of like minds purposefully clustering together as social chaos grows and the managerial state increases its power. It may very well be that their prophetic warnings are about to come true in the coming years.

Godspeed!

Republished with gracious permission from Intellectual Takeout (July 2020).

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