some excerpts:

At some point, throughout middle America, the population [in the United States] hemorrhage stopped, bottomed out.

But not here, in North Dakota. North Dakota has continued to lose people. And it didn’t have that many to begin with. In 1930, its population peaked at 680,845. In 2000, it was down to 642,200, and by 2004, the last year for which statistics are available, it had dropped to 634,366. (By comparison, the national population more than DOUBLED, to 294 million from 123 million, during the same period.) Of the 25 counties nationwide that lost the largest portions of their populations in the 1990′s, 12 were in North Dakota.

commenting on drivin around parts of the state,

You won’t pass many cars; depending upon where you’re driving, and when, you may not pass any at all for a half-hour or more. What you will pass, in no small numbers, are the things left behind in the exodus: Abandoned houses. Empty stores. Churches without congregations. Community buildings gone dark. Closed schools, never to reopen.

Wry North Dakotans have suggested that such sights are now so common that they should perhaps be represented in the state seal

While I want to move to North Dakota it seems college educated professionals within North Dakota can’t wait to get out. I don’t really get it and want to know whether there is a perfectly rational explanation for it.

R108, whatever. As I said, I doubt a union worker would be willing to give up their negotiated wage and benefits package.

I don’t believe unions institute inefficient rules…companies do.

Featherbedding, you can’t get rid of the non-productive, you can’t reward the productive etc etc etc.