I used to live right across the state border from Portland, Oregon, through the 1990s, and while the place was always considered a bit of a haven for washout hippies, reject grunge bands and limp-wristed, wine-sipping progressives, the city was still relatively clean and well-kept and peaceful. You rarely heard of crime, poverty or unrest; those were problems reserved for California, a state where the inner rot was just becoming visible on the surface.
I can’t recall any moment during that time when people said they felt “unsafe” in Portland, or when they were desperate to leave Oregon for greener pastures. It used to be a decent place to start a life. Well, a lot has changed since then…
As the political left and the Democratic Party have become increasingly militant in their Marxist ideology and collectivist underpinnings the states these people control have become increasingly dismal financial and constitutional failures. Perhaps it was always there under the skin, but in the past few years the cancer has grown terminal. I really have no interest in ever going back and no one I know has any interest in visiting the place either. When I research local news in the region, this is what consistently pops up.
The place is now a homeless tent city with walls of garbage in the streets and riots on a regular basis. Portland has reported a 2,000 percent rise in homicides, specifically after taking measures to defund local police precincts. Oregon also has a total debt of around $43 billion, which is dramatically higher than red-state neighbors like Idaho and Montana. Data for 2020 to 2021 poverty and homeless rates have not been released yet, partially because cities like Portland sought to stall the federally mandated count back in January.
But it’s not just the economic decline that is the issue in Oregon, it’s also the rampant suppression of individual rights through medical tyranny, along with the special government treatment of Marxist extremist groups like Antifa and BLM. Thousands of businesses have closed in the state because of pointless lockdowns which did nothing to stop the natural spread of COVID, and the businesses that try to defy the mandates in order to survive get harassed or fined into oblivion by state health officials. At the same time, local politicians have barely lifted a finger to stop leftist civil unrest; some people say they are too weak to take action, but I suspect they want the riots, at least to a certain extent.
The future implications of all of this are disturbing, but this is the inevitable result when leftists and collectivists are allowed to gather political and social power. As I have noted many times this year, leftists are the only subset of the population seeking and supporting government dominion over American lives. Not only that, but they have consistently partnered with global corporations that they supposedly despise. They are the only people supporting mass censorship, mob intimidation of those with different political views, mass violence against innocent people and businesses, they supported government lockdowns and extensive violations of the Bill of Rights, and now they are supporting vaccine passports which would destroy all personal liberty in this country for all time.
If you think I am falling into a “left/right” paradigm trap, then consider this: let us compare Montana, the leading Red State in COVID legislation vs. Oregon, which I would now consider the leading Blue State in COVID mandates. Who are the real fascists? Leftists or conservatives?
Oregon is still under “partial” lockdown, mandates are enforced using bureaucracy and fear instead of law and voter participation and the largest city in the state is awash in poverty and crime. Things have gotten so bad that at least five counties in Eastern Oregon have voted to leave the state and join conservative Idaho.
In Montana, the state government has passed multiple laws and set multiple precedents which now protect the public against COVID restrictions. These include:
Court orders which prevent local health departments from forcing businesses to require that customers wear masks. (Five businesses took a stand in Flathead County and the courts sided with them).
A law has been passed which protects businesses from lawsuits related to COVID if a business does not enforce mandates. A similar law is being forwarded which also protects government buildings and health care facilities.
Executive orders by Governor Gianforte are being established which stop city governments from enforcing mandates while the state government has lifted them.
Montana has seen a rush of people relocating to the state and seeking to escape the suffocating restrictions. I have spoken with many of the people that have moved to my area and most of them are conservatives that can no longer tolerate the path to Marxism that their original states are following.
As it stands right now, Montana, a majority conservative state, is one of the freest states in the U.S. Oregon is one of the most oppressive states. The fact of the matter is the left/right paradigm is a reality. The political elites at the top of the pyramid have no loyalties to either side, but the regular people at the bottom of the pyramid are indelibly separated. The political left wants tyranny, and conservatives want freedom. There is no debating this. The proof is in the actions of blue states vs. red states.
Perhaps there are many Democrats out there who do not necessarily agree with the cultism of social justice warriors and the insane thirst for power of the virtue signalers, but if there are, they are not saying much about it out loud. The time for sitting on the fence is over; one side is clearly right, and the other side is clearly wrong. Conservatives are for freedom, and leftists are not. Which side are you on?
Brandon Smith
