The Future is Texas

The Economist ^ | 12-18-2002 | Economist

[dead]

Does this mean we all have to wear those goofy hats?

[Mister Magoo]

Don't Mess WIth Texas, baby

[DoSomethingAboutIt]

Fort Hood, near Waco, is the army's second-largest base

Ahem, 2nd? Could someone tell me the largest then?

[Republic of Texas]

No. I live in Dallas. This:

" from the high-rises of Dallas, where businessmen wear cowboy boots and string ties, ",

proves this idiot has never been to Dallas. I see those outfits at costume parties, and that's about it.

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

I always heard it was the largest in the free world, second only to some monster over in old USSR.

[Dog Gone]

Can it tame its fearsome and often barbaric prison system?

Gosh, I hope not.

[kms61]

I would guess either Fort Bragg or Fort Lewis.

Anyone care to guess how long before the neoconfederates show up and jump on the on the one paragraph in the whole article that mentions the Confederacy unfavorably?

[Poohbah]

Probably White Sands Missile Range. That's big enough to be a state all by its lonesome.

[austingirl]

I don't think this yahoo has ever been to Texas. The state is largely urban??? Sure we have a few big cities, but a lot of open land. Don't get me started on all the misinformation - but that's fine - it will serve to keep his kind out.

God bless Texas.

[Republic of Texas]

So, all by himself, this writer determined that Texas, has some good, and some not-so-good facets. Like every other, state/government/business/person/entity on Earth. Amazing.

[LasVegasMac]

Good BB-Q, too!

LVM

[Clara Lou]

My father in-law came from Texas to visit us in Alaska. While out hiking a short scenic trail, he met a KAL pilot also hiking. In his friendly Texas way, my father in-law introduced himself. Upon hearing the pilot tell where he was from, my father in-law said, "Well, now you can tell people you've met a Texan."

[DoSomethingAboutIt]

So did I. There is a lot I don't like about that place, but if we are the biggest than I want credit for being the biggest.

[princess leah]

It could be Ft. Benning, Georgia (over 25,000 troops - my brother-in-law was stationed there ~ it's huge!)

[HusbandMan]

Michael Lind, a fellow of the New America Foundation, a think-tank, and the author of a forthcoming book on his native state, says that Texas is transforming itself from Mississippi into California.

I guess Texas is in real trouble then....

[denydenydeny]

In spite of the author's prejudices, I found this article relentlessly positive.

If Texas is the future of America, I say hurry up with it.

[Republic of Texas]

" If Texas is generous to the successful, it is equally hard on the unfortunate. This is a land of low taxes, weak trade unions, a shrivelled public sector and a paltry welfare state, all of which ensure that plenty co-exists with poverty. Houston's shimmering towers and malls sit next to festering slums, with unpaved streets and shot-gun shacks; the city's world-class medical centre squats atop a health-care system that fails to reach the state's poorest citizens. The University of Texas boasts a star-studied faculty and the second-largest endowment after Harvard, with 21m acres of oil-fields to its name. But Texas also has some of the worst schools in the country. "

The answer to these problems? Lower taxes, weaker trade unions, smaller public sector and welfare state. Give us a few years, we'll get it straightened out.

[luckystarmom]

I think this was written by a Californian, trying to understand Texas. He'll never "get" it.

Only real Texans understand Texas.

[austingirl]

I will say that too many Kalifornians have moved to Austin -you can tell them by the way they drive and their attitude that they have landed in a place they don't like. They can go back anytime.