Cribbing from Hunter S. Thompson and his iconic book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, progressives bi-coastal war on property owner rights seems like a surreal descent into the fevered imagination of the new left: Capitalist boogeymen everywhere. Profit is theft. Amazon hurts small business and the working man. Their tired, left wing tropes are endless.
As such, a great, new internal migration is taking place. People, their businesses and their money are leaving those places where “progressive” governments seek to strip them of it and moving to locals where, “if you can earn it, you get to keep more of it.”
The fear of expropriation is real on the part of property owners. It is not something imagined or remote. Speaking with a New York client recently, he explained how he plans to sell all his rental properties before Mayor Bill de Blasio and his minions can, “seize their buildings and put them in the hands of a community nonprofit.”
De Blasio won a second term as Mayor of New York City in November 2017. In effectively calling for the abolition of private property, he clearly saved the best for last.
The New York mayor cannot run for a third term. If Nicolas Maduro can crush the opposition and hang on to power in Venezuela, maybe Bill can slide in as Mayor of Caracas. This way, he need not do all the yeoman’s work of destroying what capitalism builds. He can enjoy the fruits of others labor and immediately immerse himself in the poverty, hunger and privation that socialism inevitably brings in its wake.
With witless rhetoric like this being bandied about tell me it’s a coincidence that the Cato institute recently produced a document showing “of the 25 highest – tax states, 24 of them experienced net out-migration in 2016.” Are you listening New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, California and other democrat run states? Or does ideology still trump reality.
Oregon may be whistling pass the graveyard for now, sitting atop the most populous state in the nation. However, I believe as our legislature and governor heedlessly careen down the progressive path, it won’t last forever. Another of our clients selling his last commercial property in Portland said, “I’m getting out before this house of cards collapses again.” DSTs anyone?
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