Calling All Texans
Folks, this is a bleg. I need help.
Preparing to interview Gov. Rick Perry for Uncommon Knowledge down in Austin next month, I keep finding the same question coming to mind: What makes Texas Texas?
While my beloved California has raised taxes, imposed onerous regulations, and run vast budget deficits--and all this under both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, demonstrating that dysfunction here in the Golden State has become bipartisan--while California has been doing all it could to drive business and enterprising citizens out of the state, Texas has welcomed business, keeping taxes low, imposing a relatively light and more or less sensible regulatory regime, and--this is Perry's personal accomplishment--enacting a tort reform that seems to have ended frivolous lawsuits against business. Of the jobs created in this country in the last few years, according to some estimates, the majority have been created in one state, the Lone Star State.
Pretty clearly, Texas is now deep into a virtuous cycle: Conservative policies have created jobs and wealth--and a hunger for more such policies. But how did the cycle get started? Does it all go back to Sam Houston and the hardy, self-reliant Anglos who moved into the state when it was still part of Mexico, then declared independence? Does it have something to do with the willingness of the business class to participate in politics? Whereas here in California loads of businesspeople shun politics--one of the proudest boasts of the Silicon Valley entrepreneur is that he refuses to have anything to do with politics--in Texas, I've noticed, they seem to play a more active role, helping to choose, and fund, good candidates.
The history of the place, the current business culture--what?
I repeat, What makes Texas Texas?
I'd be happy to hear from anyone who thinks he has an insight to offer, but, needless to say, I extend a particular invitation to the denizens of the Lone Star State. Honestly, I just can't figure it out. Say on!
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Comments:
Dec '11
Re: Calling All Texans
I've never lived in Texas but have been there on numerous business trips and my closest cadre of friends in college were from the "Big D."
My observation is that Texans truly believe in the early motto of the Continental Marines "Don't Tread On Me." Or to quote one of my favorite Dallas residents ... Leave me the h*ll alone; I can do it better myself.
May '10
Re: Calling All Texans
I'm calling dibs on this thread for Ricochet OutLoud.
Re: Calling All Texans
Just be sure to use your best Texas accent.
Nov '11
Re: Calling All Texans
The main diffence in the evolution of the two states is that in the 1980s California politics was captured by the trial lawyers and the public employee unions.
The wealth generated by the technology boom masked the diseases the trial lawyers and unions had injected into California politics and economics. California could afford to be generous to its "public servants." During that same period, we here in Texas struggled though shakeups in the oil biz, etc., and couldn't afford to be so generous.
Texas is a right-to-work state and our public employee unions are relatively well-restrained by statute. At the start of 1980s Texas state politics was still dominated by old-school good-old-boy Democrats, under whom the trial lawyers temporarily captured our state Supreme Court. The backlash to that court's decade of plaintiff-friendly excesses brought tort reform and contributed to the now-almost-complete transformation of Texas politics from Dem to Rep.
It's not liberals, as such, who are destroying California. It's the unions and trial lawyers. Get them under control, and Californians (who are more conservative than people might think) will manage their affairs well enough.
Dec '11
Re: Calling All Texans
Or better, the early Texas equivalent, "Come and Take It."
Dec '11
Re: Calling All Texans
I repeat, What makes Texas Texas?
Hard to believe, but I forgot to mention Nolan Ryan.
Apr '12
Re: Calling All Texans
My great great grandparents arrived in northeast Texas in 1851. From that family line came farmers, ranchers, teachers, one state legislator and lawyers. Being a Texan means pulling on your boots and getting the job done - whatever that job may be. It means character and ability. There will be a place at the table for anyone to participate who brings an attitude of can do and will do. Million dollar deals are still made with a handshake -- and the men and women who make those deals have honor inbred in them. To be a Texan is to have the desire and drive to live free, dream large and work hard.
May '10
Re: Calling All Texans
Peter Robinson
Just be sure to use your best Texas accent.
The challenge will be to subdue it. I can slur a sentence into a single word.
Mar '12
Re: Calling All Texans
I had the privilege of living in working in both San Diego and San Jose (the Silicon Valley) at the time of its explosive growth. I left and have since lived in Minnesota and in Georgia.
I loved California but honestly, I don't even want to go back. Golden California is now Rusty California. The wonder of that state has been replaced by wonder at that state and its drive to commit fiscal suicide.
Governor Moonbeam redux. Entrepreneurs departing the state in droves. The shriveling middle class. The San Andreas fault.
California's loss is everyone else's gain, including Texas. Maybe it will fall in the sea and we won't have to deal with its politics anymore.
Aug '11
Re: Calling All Texans
My mom's three sisters and her eldest brother emigrated to Texas after WWII from upstate NH. In the 1960's, to a kid from a small city outside Boston, my Texas relatives seemed a mystery. Much later, as a young staffer at Touche Ross in Boston, I was forced to take my mandatory summer vacation. I decided to trek across Texas with my cousin Jeff. I arrived at Houston and it was hot and humid enough to scald lobster. I was to meet Jeff at a dusty little bar just outside the city. I had the airport cabby stop at a little Western store on the way so I could buy a fine straw cowboy hat. Jeff, as expected, was waiting for me at the bar and we closed the place some ten hours later. After midnight in the parking lot, Jeff snuck up behind me, flicked off my hat, and stomped it. I chased him down and tackled him, but he saved himself. "I was just helping you," he said. "No self respecting Texan would let his cousin, even a Yankee like you, wear a hat like that." That's all you need to know about Texas.
Edited on May 27, 2012 at 9:24pmDec '10
Re: Calling All Texans
Terry Mott
And the brats in New Braunfels. And the steak (from prime rib to chicken fried) and tex-mex...most anywhere. · 16 hours ago
Edited 16 hours ago
We're going to be in the New Braunfels area the first week of June. Please, do tell, where should we go for the best brats?
Dec '10
Re: Calling All Texans
Blue Yeti: I'll jump in here to let you all know that this interview will be taped in front of a live audience on June 13th at 11AM in Austin as part of an event being put on by The Texas Public Policy Institute. We are in the process of securing a number of tickets for Ricochet members. We'll have more information about that next week. We'd also be interested in having an informal Ricochet meetup in Austin on the evening of June 12th. · 14 hours ago
Edited 14 hours ago
Missed it by that much!
We're taking our first vacation in Texas Hill Country the first week of June and leaving for home on the 10th. Dang! "Got here as fast as I could" has become "got here a week too early."
Edited on May 27, 2012 at 9:43pmDec '10
Re: Calling All Texans
Aaron Miller
Peter Robinson
Just be sure to use your best Texas accent.
The challenge will be to subdue it. I can slur a sentence into a single word. · 1 hour ago
Yes, but can you take a one syllable, three letter word like the diet soda "Tab" and turn it into a two syllable exotic sounding S&M cocktail like "Tie-up?" That's the true test.
May '10
Re: Calling All Texans
When I was a teenager, we called city boys dressed in fancy boots and cowboy hats "kickers."
Western Chauvinist
Missed it by that much! ....
Don't feel bad. I've lived in Texas almost non-stop for thirty years, but I'll probably be in Bama when they come. Them's the breaks.
Apr '11
Re: Calling All Texans
In re Texans of all political stripes feeling pride about being Texan, I offer a couple of examples. Austin's own Mike Judge created King of the Hill, a loving and gently satirical homage to the citizens of this great state. One of my all-time favorite episodes involves Hank Hill taking extreme umbrage at Bobby's Texas History textbook, which featured a virtually no information on the Alamo. Hank comes off as the good guy, and the PC school system looks self-righteously risible. Here's a link.
Another example of Texans' ability to lovingly self-parody is a song from the satirical bluegrass band the Austin Lounge Lizards. Peter, if you want to know what makes Texas Texas, listen to the song, "Stupid Texas Song." It summarizes many of the points made on this thread, its opening line being "Texas is a big state, north to south, east to west, Alaska doesn't really count, we're bigger than the rest..."
In light of these examples, I would add that the other essential element of being a Texan is the ability to laugh at oneself.
Edited on May 27, 2012 at 10:09pmApr '11
Re: Calling All Texans
P.S. -- I'd be happy to help organize the meet-up in Austin. We're so happy (and proud, of course) to welcome you here, Peter!
May '10
Re: Calling All Texans
Western Chauvinist
Aaron Miller
Peter Robinson
Just be sure to use your best Texas accent.
The challenge will be to subdue it. I can slur a sentence into a single word.
Yes, but can you take a one syllable, three letter word like the diet soda "Tab" and turn it into a two syllable exotic sounding S&M cocktail like "Tie-up?" That's the true test.
How about "tire" like "tie" + "are"?
If you can work "slide" into a sentence, I can drag out the vowel for a good thirty seconds. ;)
I'm beginning to realize this Ricochet OutLoud might be the longest ever.
May '10
Re: Calling All Texans
Another interesting tidbit, from a newsletter I just received from my Congressman, Ted Poe:
Edited on May 27, 2012 at 10:48pmAug '11
Re: Calling All Texans
One other thing: there are no self-loathing Texans.
And one more: Texans expect other Texans to take care of themselves and their own (as opposed to Yankees.)
Oh, the last thing, I swear: Texans don't abide fools nor do they expect honesty, but they don't begrudge a smack in the mouth if caught being dishonest or foolish.
Humor me one more time: It's OK to stand out in Texas - none of this Calvinist prep-school false modesty; got it? Flaunt it.
OK, I promise, the last one: Texans like BIG. Big hair, big voices, big hats, big stadiums, big bars, big, big, big - bigger is better.
Out.
Edited on May 27, 2012 at 11:11pmMay '10
Re: Calling All Texans
"Pride goeth before the fall." Texas is a wonderful place and my preferred destination should I ever leave California. My brother married a native Texan and they lived in Houston until a few months ago. But, all you Texans, remember this: California is a cautionary tale. California was, albeit briefly, a republic that rebelled from Mexico. When I was younger and in college, other Americans almost worshipped me as a demigod. And later, when I lived and travelled throughout Europe, it was, if anything, even worse. California was the Golden Land, not just the Golden State. I am inclined to think that the single most important reason for Texas' current success is California's demise coupled with the Texas legislature's very brief legislative sessions. Our half-witted legislators also spend six weeks every two years doing productive work ..... but they spend another 98 weeks making mischief at taxpayers' expense.