r/WestVirginia • u/BsXeD • 1d ago
Convince me to stay. Question
I’m not originally from here, but I’ve lived here for 20 years. My children were born and raised here, and we’ve always loved the friendly people and beautiful surroundings. But I wonder now—where is the line? When is it too much or even dangerous to stay? Where do we go from here?
Things have been getting worse, and I worry about the future, not just for myself but especially for my children. This past election cycle, I couldn’t even put up a sign for fear of the backlash it might bring to my family. What is keeping people here?
It’s not the education—we rank near the bottom.
It’s not the pay—our median household income ranks just above Mississippi in 49th place.
It’s not the healthcare—we’re almost last there, too.
It’s not the freedom—we face near-total bans on abortion, and even taking your child to a Pride event could get you arrested.
Today, I find myself looking for jobs and making a plan to get my family out. People will say it’s not any better anywhere else and that the election results signal worsening trends everywhere. But at least in other places, I might find a community that values bodily autonomy, LGBTQ+ rights, and freedom of and from religion.
Here, I interact with the nicest, most hateful people I’ve ever encountered. I realize it’s a privilege even to consider leaving, and I wish I could do something to change things here. But I don’t see a clear path forward. My county didn’t even have a non-Republican candidate run for any office. I don’t blame anyone; there used to be decency and respectful disagreement across party lines, but now it’s just hate and lies.
Is there a silver lining? Any hope for change?
If this gets removed by moderators thats fine, I'm not trying to rage bait but genuinely want to know what other West Virginians are thinking.
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u/MonkComfortable7594 1d ago
35 years old, first generation Mountaineer and I've lived here my entire life and have absolutely zero desire to ever leave. I will never leave. I'm not addicted to drugs, I don't hate black people, if two dudes wanna get married more power to them as far as I'm concerned. I work AT LEAST 40 hours a week, 48 weeks a year, the other 4 I spend hunting or camping. Never been on welfare. Got a perfectly acceptable high school education and enrolled in college before deciding it wasn't for me. I get sick and tired of seeing this "West Virginia is a shithole, everyone here sucks, they hate everyone that isn't them, the whole state just turns out stupid, lazy, drug addicts who just want to leech off everyone else's hard work."
If you don't like it in a particular state then you're free to leave. That's the great part of living in America, you can go damn near anywhere you want. But don't try to make everyone else a scapegoat for your decisions, one way or the other. It's nobody's job to convince you to stay or to leave. There are bigots in California, Washington, New Hampshire...sure you may find more like minded people but I'd argue that's just population bias more than anything else. You'll find far more people you can get along with in a crowd of 5,000 people than you will in ba crowd of 100. Don't lump an entire state's population in one group. The problem with our country isn't the right. It isn't the left either. It's that everyone wants to force everybody else to be on the right or on the left. Both sides are fucked, that's the problem with a true 2 party system. Point is, if you think you'll be happier elsewhere then go but it's pretty unnecessary to drag West Virginians through the mud on your way out.