(Lone Star Hypocrisy)
I spent thirty-three years of my life in Texas – a state born from a spirit of independent rebellion against Mexico. That independent spirit remains in the form of its flag motto: The Lone Star State – the state that stands alone. When I was growing up Texas history was more important than American history. And, in my mind, Texas did not join the Union until WWII. After that it still remained haughty and independent in attitude despite this new sense of attachment demanded by patriotic and economic necessity.
Texas has always been run by economic imperialists – entrepreneurs and politicians for whom making a profit is their highest value and who see democracy as the servant of capitalism – Robber Barons. The first group was cattle barons. The second group was oil barons. The current group is a conglomerate of Republican corporate and political barons with multiple financial interests.
These barons, while advocating against Big Government, which is their euphemism for industry regulation, have always relied on Big government to rescue them when their own failures and excesses threatened their well-being or when some natural catastrophe posed a threat. And, as in the month of February 2021 deep freeze crisis, their own greed and political chicanery sabotaged the systems that would have prevented electric grid failure. They could have been ready but deliberately chose not to be.
In 2011 Texas had cold weather induced blackouts due to unreliable equipment. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Reliability Corporation urged Texas to upgrade and winterize its grid to prevent a future fiasco. Texas leadership ignored the warning and removed its electrical power grid from federal regulation in order to maximize profit. Those responsible for and supportive of this decision are totally at fault for the death, misery, and financial loss of this current disaster. But they will expect the federal government to bail them out of this crisis and pick up the tab. Despite the crisis being their fault, they will hide behind subterfuge, particularly blaming Green Energy.
We do not know how much federal funding Texas will get from Big Government due to this current self-created fiasco. However, it was allotted over 31 billion dollars for hurricane Harvey and it has received countless billions from its 206 requests for emergency aid since 1953. In addition it normally gets over 42 billion for Medicare, Medicaid and other federal programs annually. Its industries receive billions of dollars in federal subsidies. There is also the steady income of over 50 billion a year from military installations run by the federal government along with the profit made by businesses that piggy-back on these installations. Add to this all the normal financial benefits that states and citizens receive from the federal government for roads, parks, education, water control, etc. What do you think the economic status of Texas would be if the largess of Big Government were to disappear off its financial radar? Texas lives the illusion of independence. It is much like a nephew faring well economically because of the generosity of a rich Uncle while displaying an attitude of arrogant self-reliance.
The hypocrisy of Texas is that it extends the open palm of one hand toward Big Government requesting costly benefits and bail-outs. With the other hand it extends its bird finger toward that same government with many of its Republican politicians and citizens denying democratic process, itself, by refusing to acknowledge the valid election of Joe Biden as the nation’s president.
Don’t Mess With Texas is a slogan that dares its citizens to throw trash on their highways without paying a penalty. Perhaps the United States government should have the same slogan with threatened penalties for states that refuse to abide by regulations geared to the common good:
DON’T MESS WITH AMERICA
Perhaps there should be more severe penalties for violating the covenant that holds the nation together:
We the People of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the General Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.
Voluntarily securing this more perfect union with its solidarity benefits requires all the states to participate in those regulations that assure its well-being. Obviously, Texas is not interested in abiding by this constitutional spirit. Its rejection of federal regulations not only precipitated its current crisis it allowed its fossil fuel companies to release 337,000 pounds of deadly pollutants in the air to protect its industry equipment. The health of its citizens remains secondary to economic profit for its current leadership.
Here are two options available to Texas:
- Rather than ask the other states, via the federal government, to pick up the tab for Texas negligence, the citizenry can sue for financial compensation from the Republican Party, the Texas Railroad Commission, and the ERCOT that are responsible for its current crisis. Then, they can elect political leadership that will put the citizenry’s common-good before greed-motivated profiteers. Texas could actually join the democratic union of American states.
- Texas can continue down the path of being an independent Lone Star among a nation of forty-nine other Stars. If it chooses to do so then let it be more than just its current sham independence. Remove all federal projects from its soil, stop the billions of dollars in annual subsidies to its wealthy industries, refuse to pay for any federal programs, and fund no more bailouts for disaster relief. In a few years, if pauper Texas wishes to rejoin the union then let it do so with all the same legally binding regulations as the other states and make decisions in favor of the common-good rather than just the good of Texas economic imperialist corporations and their lackey politicians.
But Texas has a far bigger problem than being screwed over by a bunch of undemocratic despotic greedy economic imperialists. Farming, raising cattle in feed lots, and manufacturing fossil fuel products are major contributors to disrupting the planet’s atmosphere with greenhouse gases – producing a climate change which portents the death of earth’s ecology and the end of the human venture. If you screw with Mother Nature she will screw with you.
Texas would be much better served if she took down all the Don’t Mess with Texas signs and replaced them with:
DON’T MESS WITH MOTHER NATURE
Perhaps such would be the educational experience Texas needs to wake up to its own peril.
PS: And, yes, this applies to all the states of America and all the countries of the world and not just Texas. But Texas could be a leader.
Robert
mythinglink.com
