[drnick1]

Where do you suggest we move to then, China?

[ryanisnan]

I think that's a bit of a false dichotomy. It should be possible to live in the US and resist the surveillance state. Keep fighting.

[hammock]

The countryside. Near-zero public surveillance, near-zero violent crime, and conservative sheriffs and juries who work to keep it that way.

[rootusrootus]

This is only true if you conform to social conservatism. Conservatives embrace authority and condone using it to enforce conformity. They only want less government when it comes to their own taxes & guns.

[hammock]

Everything has a tradeoff

[rootusrootus]

True. But I can get no surveillance and no crime by moving to a nice suburban neighborhood, too, without getting pressured into accepting the right wing attitudes. Nice thing about suburbia is it tends to be purple, there is not much ideology being inflicted by either side.

[drnick1]

My goat herding skills are rusty. How do I make a living in the countryside?

[hammock]

You have options. Doctors and nurses clean up, better pay than in a city. Work at a factory (either in the plant or in the office). Lawyers and financial advisors to the farmers who sold out to developers/energy/data centers. Or work remote

[titzer]

"Run to the hills" is a heckuva a way to deal with the breakdown of the rule of law.

[hammock]

I mean it’s what people have been doing for all of civilization. It’s that or war