this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2026
169 points (99.4% liked)
Progressive Politics
4752 readers
423 users here now
Welcome to Progressive Politics! A place for news updates and political discussion from a left perspective. Conservatives and centrists are welcome just try and keep it civil :)
(Sidebar still a work in progress post recommendations if you have them such as reading lists)
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
What I don’t get is why leftists don’t support states’ rights the way conservatives do. Shouldn’t you go all-in on states’ rights do you can build your socialist paradises on the coasts? Why do you care at all about what happens in flyover country?
Wasn't 'states rights' all about owning slaves?
I like the idea of embracing the "laboratories of democracy" approach, but it can only really work if there's some kind of federally funded relocation program. States rights sound great until you're born a broodmare in a theocratic state.
You can’t have it both ways though. If you’re going to insist on a strong federal government, you have to accept the risk that you end up living under a broodmare theocratic federal government. States’ rights would protect you from that.
They protect the blue state eloi who have never cared about anyone other than themselves, sure. But good people in red states get fucked. Which you're HAPPY with.
No, those people move from red states to blue states. That migration has been going on for a long time. It’s one of many reasons why the states are so polarized.
The ones who can afford to, yes. Funny thing about states' rights. When blue states raise their minimum wage, their voters stop caring about raising wages nationwide.
Because a lot of us saw how that worked with the minimum wage, abortion, cannabis, and a host of other things where blue states stopped trying as soon as they got theirs.
I think it's because they are overrepresented federally which erodes states' rights in the long term.