State Migration Trends, 1993-2008: From 'Blue' States to 'Red' States

[opebo]

Well, then the question is are these Republicans moving to more friendly turf or Democrats chasing the jobs?

Obviously people only move for economic reasons, but it is interesting to note that while most of the population losing states are terrible economic disasters, not all are, and quite a few of the gaining ones are now disaster areas as well: http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/mstrtcr1.gif

[opebo]

Folks with the courage to uproot themselves, and go far away to find work (and in a place with the most unfriendly social safety net perhaps in the nation), are not a random sample of the population. Folks are continuing to physically separate themselves by geography due to ideology, which is not healthy for this nation, but over time, it will all work out.

Courage isn't really relevant, Torie.  People move in two ways - 1) they're upper or upper-middle class and they choose from a wealth of options to make an easy move to get something they want, or 2) they move out of sheer desperation, because they're a step away from homelessness and starvation.  Ideology and other personal qualities have little importance in life - class and power do.

I won't say 'individual character' is absolute fantasy, but I will say it is the most exaggerated notion out there.