Lone Star Nation

The author begins his story in the late 80’s; a college student with few job prospects in San Antonio, he drives east, then north. In 2000, he comes back, and it’s booming. Parker illustrates the story of Texas as having internal as well as out-of-state migrations, both in the 80’s, when he left, and present day, when people are moving in. Texas has always attracted migrants, for cattle, oil, and agriculture. Even by the 1970’s, Texas had great cities, like Dallas, which housed Fortune 500 companies. Yet even with the wealthy cities, the state’s record on education, crime, health, and race relations were lousy. He blames it in part on the migrations.

Parker writes that in the 1980’s, former rust belters came to Texas, and strengthened the GOP’s position. Fast forward to 2015 however, and the famous Republican hold on Texas is fading. The new Texans are young, better educated, entrepreneurial, and often non-white, and they’re less dependent on oil, cattle, and agriculture. There are fewer Fortune 500 jobs, but lots of little ones. Not surprising, given that CD stores have closed, Blockbuster is finished, Circuit City and Best Buy have downsized.

One change that the writer explores is how the state’s attitude towards Gay Americans has changed. Houston, for instance, elected Annise Parker as its mayor, and I guarantee that 20 years ago this would not have happened. The first things she dealt with were typical city problems; clearing ditches, unblocking sewers, and though she can’t take credit for the building boom, nobody want to do business in a city that’s filthy. She even proposed a law banning discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace. Her following among women voters, gay voters, and minorities is powerful.

Texas has always had a dependence on large-scale business, like agriculture and oil, to sustain its economy. The problem was that the these industries were somewhat anti-technology, and it’s not surprising, given that solar and wind power would’ve cut into big oil’s market. The 2013 drought hit the agricultural sector hard, and the farmers, certain that they were fool-proof, had no water-savvy irrigation technology that the Israelis use. Corn fields withered, cattle died, deer had to eat oleander leaves to survive and it killed them off, and coyotes were so desperate that they started killing and eating cats. Conservative Texans in the George Bush mold were not into technology and innovation, and they ended up losing.

Parker is not, however, without his criticism of the new Texas. In order not to raise taxes, Texas raised tuition rates for state and local colleges (up to $50,000) which makes it harder for lower-income students, often minorities. There are ways to alleviate the problem, however; tuition can be lowered for majors that the state needs, like nursing, physical therapy, early child education, and criminal justice.

I always imagined Texas the way I saw it on Dallas; a state full of gruff, loud, conservative businessmen, dead set against any kind of change. The state’s death row would be working overtime, executing multiple convicts daily, and the schools, when not paddling the kids, would be checking to make sure nobody was teaching evolution. The change, however, has arrived, not by force, but through the “old guard” dying out.

Call it “intelligent design,” I suppose.