'White trash' Texas town written off by a professor

Daily Telegraph ^ | February 22, 2004 | Julian Coman in Washington

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Over the years, Texans have been the butt of many cruel jokes. Opponents of President George W. Bush, who grew up in Midland, Texas, love to lampoon his folksy cowboy language.

But no one has been quite as insulting as Dr Larry Sechrest, a university professor in the Texan town of Alpine.

Last month, he published a 7,000-word essay entitled "A strange little town in Texas", in a small-circulation magazine based in Washington state. Unfortunately, a couple of subscribers who live in Alpine read his indictment of his 5,000 neighbours, two of whom have responded with death threats.

"The secret problem here," Dr Sechrest wrote in the introduction, "is that the students and more generally the long-term residents of the entire area are appallingly ignorant, irrational, anti-intellectual and well, just plain stupid."

The diatribe, which appeared in Liberty, an obscure libertarian journal, was apparently inspired by a letter from a student. On reading the words "Thank you for all your patients", an exasperated Dr Sechrest put pen to paper. "Here, one has poor white trash and poor Mexican trash socialising with each other," he wrote. "Here, the lowest common denominators get together to pro-create."

There was more. "Many of the kids are only a notch above retardation," he said. "The students here are among the worst... anywhere. I am prepared to defend to the death the proposition that this area of Texas generally is the proud home of some of the dumbest clods on the planet."

As an economics professor, Dr Sechrest had tried to interest the residents in theories of capital markets but most were interested only in "football, beer, sex and church".

Now he says: "The article was a Mark Twain sort of thing. I can't believe there's such anger."

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The "clever" professor decided to feed the loony left idea that Bush is dumb by slandering an entire town.

[Tall_Texan]

He resents that the folks there think only about "football, beer, sex and church" because he probably hasn't had any - except maybe the beer.

[kcvl]

Dr. Sechrest, a tenured professor who has taught at the university for 13 years

In a recent interview, Dr. Sechrest said he never expected the people in Alpine to read the article, nor did he expect such violent reaction.

[kcvl]

lol!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

....another drop in his income.

How long will it be before his LIBERAL buddies start screaming his freeed of speech is being trampled?

To which I answer, he can speak all he wants and the market will respond.

[kcvl]

Larry J. Sechrest is a research fellow at The Independent Institute (http://www.independent.org/) in Oakland, California, and a professor of economics at Sul Ross State University. He is the author of the Independent Institute Working Paper, Privateering and National Defense, and a contributing author to the forthcoming book, "The Myth of National Defense" (Ludwig von Mises Institute).

[ApplegateRanch]

>he never expected the people in Alpine to read the article<

Of course not; he thinks they're all illiterate.

>nor did he expect such violent reaction.<

13 years in a west Texas town, and he hasn't learned a thing about the people around him. Looks like "educated idiot" precisely fit the good (fer nuthin') professor.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

With apologies to the prof. freeed = freedom.

[kcvl]

Hayek's Rejection of Reason by Larry Sechrest, Ph.D.

F.A. Hayek's model of a spontaneous social order based on evolutionary rules is a famous and influential model. Professor Sechrest will describe Hayek's theory and contrast it with Ayn Rand's vision of a moral social order based on reason and individual rights.

Professor Sechrest is director of the Free Enterprise Institute and Assistant Professor of Economics in the Department of Business Administration at Sul Ross State University. He is an Adjunct Scholar of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

[blackbart.223]

"He resents that the folks there think only about "football, beer, sex and church" because he probably hasn't had any - except maybe the beer."

You miss the point here. He has a title(proffessor)so he imagines himself superior to the rest of us. This is the problem with pseudo intellectual types such as Bill, Hillary and Kerry.

[ApplegateRanch]

I can't help wondering if it was a SPELL CHECKER error, to correct a typo in the student's letter? Granted, it should be caught on proof reading, but who hasn't been caught?

This guy is definitely one of the jackasses to which my tag refers.

[melsec]

This sounds like the sort of countryside I would like to live in. Gee I bet these people actually look after each other when there are problems and go to church on Sunday etc. I doesn't take knowlege to get things right only wisdom and I have met more wise yokels in my time than University Professors (and I work at a University)

Mel

[ApplegateRanch]

Just proves the 'educated idiot' theorem. Never said he doesn't know his subject; he just doesn't know anything ELSE.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

In sum, the armed forces of the U.S. government are not the only option for President Bush to defeat bin Laden, his al Qaeda network, and “every terrorist group with a global reach.” The U.S. military is not necessarily even the best option. Let’s bring back the spirit of the privateers. By letting profits and justice once more go hand-in-hand, victims and their champions can have an abundance of both, rather than a paucity of either. Let Privateers Troll for Bin Laden - By Larry J. Sechrest*

[jpsb]

I must be really dumb, I only think about beer and sex.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

This sounds like the sort of countryside I would like to live in.

It's fly-over country, the rock solid center of the U.S. that LIBERALS hate.

[kcvl]

He is obviously crazy.

[blackbart.223]

"I must be really dumb, I only think about beer and sex."

You left out whiskey! What the hell's wrong with you?

[MARTIAL MONK]

There are a lot of places in west Texas where Sechrest would be right but Alpine isn't one of them. The schools seem to be high average, even with a Hispanic majority.

Cowboy culture is a study in understatement. The idea is to think fast and talk slow.

[jpsb]

I screwed up, please be patient with me.