This is something I’ve been saying about New York City pretty much all year without even a hint of irony. Get out if you have the means to do so. And while it may come up less often, much the same can be said for Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay region. Or, if you prefer, the entire state of California for that matter. It turns out that this is some advice that Daily Wire co-founder and editor Ben Shapiro has taken to heart. This week, Shapiro announced that his operation will be moving from California to Nashville, Tennessee, in the hopes of living under a somewhat less insane system of governance. His parting words to his native state should serve as a warning to the citizens who keep electing the same batch of self-destructive liberals over and over again. ‘Terrible governance has consequences‘ (The Hill)

The Daily Wire is moving its headquarters from Los Angeles to Nashville, Tenn. later this year, the conservative media company, which was co-founded by Ben Shapiro, announced on Tuesday.

“We’ve been asked over and over and over again when we would leave California. The answer: now. See you in Nashville, gang!” Shapiro wrote to his more than 3.1 million followers on Twitter.

“I’ve lived my entire life in California. Within weeks, we’ll be taking our 75 jobs and leaving. We’re not the first. And we certainly won’t be the last. Terrible governance has consequences,” he added in a subsequent post.

We've been asked over and over and over again when we would leave California. The answer: now. See you in Nashville, gang! https://t.co/CP0ZErmSEM

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 16, 2020

Why leave California, Ben? I mean… the weather is so awesome!

Ben does give a nod to the pleasant weather in his soon-to-be-former home state, but declares that nice weather isn’t enough to overcome the rest of the tragedy that the Golden State has become. Insane policies that shut down businesses in the gig economy, actually promote wildfires rather than retarding them, and restrict the free speech rights of anyone who is deemed insufficiently woke are only the beginning. Outrageous taxes being put to outrageous uses, along with a continually rising cost of living have been increasing the incentive for people to abandon the beaches and head east.

Shapiro’s company may only employ 75 people so the net effect on the state’s total economy won’t be a death blow, but the problem for Gavin Newsom is that Ben is hardly the only business operator making this decision. We recently learned that Joe Rogan, the host of what is arguably the most popular podcast in the world, is similarly packing his bags and heading to Texas. Rogan’s politics are bit harder to discern than Shapiro’s, having a decidedly more libertarian flavor, but that only goes to demonstrate that this isn’t really a partisan issue. It’s a matter of survival of the fittest, or at least the survival of those smart enough to get out of the road when there’s a figurative T-Rex about to eat the back half of your Jeep.

These events are only some of the more high-profile examples of a trend that’s been growing for a while now, whether you’re talking about businesses or individuals. Last year was the first time in recent memory that more people left California than moved there. And that was before the plague hit. One of the same markers that was observed in the New York City to Connecticut exodus this summer has shown up on the west coast. U-Haul prices and waiting times to rent trucks and trailers have spiked over the summer.

We won’t know the final numbers until some time later in the winter, but it’s a fairly solid guess that the California exodus is going to continue for a while. Sooner or later it’s going to start costing them congressional seats. And all of this is based on the assumption that there will be enough of the state left after the fires to rebuild the place. Good luck, Ben. I’ve never lived in Nashville, but I’ve spent a lot of time in Chattanooga and I can tell you that you’ll meet some nice people in those parts.