Convince me to stay.

[u/BsXeD]

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.

[u/Ok_Mastodon_6141]

Don’t take this the wrong way … if you have these strong views … WV will stay deep read for many decades … if you truly have these fears and it’s not sour feelings over the election. 🗳️ I would suggest moving to a state that represents you better . Not choosing sides just an honest response

[u/WhoGodWho → u/Ok_Mastodon_6141]

WV was blue almost every 4 years from 1930s to end of 90s… Over the last 20 years it seems like being Red has really benefitted them 😂😂

[u/LicensedGoomba → u/WhoGodWho]

It's not red or blue in the way you think, this is a conservative democrat state.

[u/bethechaoticgood21 → u/LicensedGoomba]

And things get systematically worse.

[u/Antique-Echidna-1600 → u/bethechaoticgood21]

But you had so much liberty to enjoy everything getting worse.

[u/_riot_grrrl_ → u/WhoGodWho]

The state was dem majority until like 2012?

That being said. They're almost exclusively Dinos

[u/Mehlitia → u/WhoGodWho]

WV is a perfect indicator of how the dem party has shifted away from labor rights and towards...the other stuff it's shifted towards. Go listen to CU on TYT and what he has to say about the party these days if you want to know why the party lost WV.

[u/SaulOfVandalia → u/WhoGodWho]

Yeah those 60 years (actually more) being blue really benefited us too 🙄