Opinion | The Trade-Offs of the South’s ‘Yellowstone’-ification

I also want to say that part of the allure of the South as a cultural object, and this is getting back to what Tressie said earlier about cost of living, is not simply that things might be cheaper, but that you have an opportunity to use your wealth, for lack of a better term, to dominate other people. You can have a big compound in the middle of Texas and drive a gigantic vehicle and use all the resources you like and boss people around. And that is —— It’s the “Yellowstone”-ification of the country, Jamelle. Yes, yes. And that aspect of it cannot, you can’t — there’s nothing — there’s no policy you can do to compete with that, I guess. Because what a place that California is offering — the trade-off is it’s going to be more expensive to live here. You won’t be able to — unless you are in the highest echelon of income earners. You’re not going to be able to hire someone to look after your house for dirt cheap, right. You won’t be able to exploit someone so easily. But you are going to live in this multicultural, cosmopolitan place where people are going to exist at least like culturally, at least on some plane of equality. And if you like that, if you like that kind of life and experience, that’s what you’re here in L.A. for. That’s what you’re here in New York for. That’s what you’re here in Chicago for. And all the places that are kind of their own places but offer a smaller, more manageable version of that thing. People are going to want to choose that and are going to make the sacrifices necessary to choose that. And then the people who want to be able to live the “Yellowstone” life are going to choose that, which also comes with its own set of sacrifices.