Remember the chorus of Hollywood bien-pensants who publicly avowed that they would leave the country if Trump won the election in 2016? To the surprise of virtually no one, none of the stars abandoned their mansions and fled to the ‘beacons of freedom’ like Canada.

But now, curiously, with their man Joe Biden in power, and their party controlling both the House and the Senate, many of the almost exclusively Democratic partisan Hollywood elites are fleeing the most progressive of blue states, California.

The latest to announce such a move is actor Rob Schneider, who publicised his relocation to Arizona this month, saying that he doesn’t want the Democratic Party to run his life. Hot on his heels is Mark Wahlberg, who is abandoning his $90m LA mansion, is moving to Nevada to give his family a ‘better life’.

Perhaps Wahlberg, who has young children, is talking about the bizarre schooling offered in his state? Halloween has come and gone with angry parents lambasting the Encinitas Union School District school board in San Diego for advertising a ‘family friendly’ drag show as part of a children’s Halloween party. This was sponsored by a San Francisco gender reassignment surgery center. Hypersexualized elements, for reasons I dare not contemplate, have been something that the ultra-progressives are keen to cram into young children’s education.

This exodus is not only of individuals. Netflix and NBC Universal have moved to New Mexico. Other major corporations like Apple, Chevron, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Oracle, Tesla, and American Airlines have abandoned California, many of which moving their headquarters to Texas, Arizona, and Florida.

This is not surprising. California has some of the highest tax rates in the US, including the highest state sales tax, highest gasoline tax, highest personal income tax, and highest corporate income tax in Western US. It also has the most draconian lockdown measures, soaring crime rates, and possibly the most hypocritical governor in Gavin Newsom. As a result, California has been experiencing negative population growth for the first time in its history.

This phenomenon is by no means limited to California. Other blue states with the most progressive policies are seeing ‘leftugees’ who have moved to red states, despite the best efforts of the Census Bureau.

Entire counties are also trying to escape the clutches of progressive policies. Two counties in east Oregon are preparing to vote in November on possibly seceding the state and joining Republican-run Idaho.

Even Tulsi Gabbard, who, only two years ago, was running to be the Democratic candidate for the presidency, quit the party. On the surface, she is the perfect progressive politician – an ethnic and religious minority, a woman, a veteran, and a charismatic person. But she committed the one irremissible sin – she dared to think for herself.

And, as Gabbard has realised, here is the crux – the Democratic Party is completely recalcitrant. Its chief and only interest seems to be clinging to power. In this pursuit, it has committed all manner of hypocrisies. And this criticism is not confined to the US left, but leftist parties across the Western world, who have imbibed a similar tactic of ignoring reality in their pig-headed pursuit of radical, dangerous, and provably unworkable ideas, not to enrich the lives of those they govern, but to ensure that they will stay in power. While doing so, they are inclined to use all manners of authoritarian tactics to avoid confrontations with criticisms and responsibility.

What is desperately needed is for more people to judge those in the political sphere by their actions rather than by their reputations. And when more people do this, they will realise the true nature of progressivism, which is aptly described by the words of the US abolitionist Frederick Douglass: ‘Here we have religion and robbery the allies of each other – devils dressed in angels’ robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise.’