Down, Tex. Down, boy. Stay. STAY!

I absolutely love my state.

Granted— and this has been a point of personal, inner-struggling contention with myself for the past year or so— I have never lived anywhere else. But for my age and economic means, I've done a fair bit of traveling ("abroad" in Texas can practically mean just crossing state lines, but I've been abroad actually, too, several times.)

My conclusion remains: whether I'm here for life or not, Texas is pretty incredible. From the blessing of dozens of diverse ecosystems to live, work, and romp in (just take 600 mile drive across I-10 or drive down 35; the changes are amazing), to the superior blessing of the best grocery store in the world (all hail HEB,) to a wealth of culture and humanity and technology and large-and-small scale agribusiness that can only come with the sheer population, land space, and money that Texas and Texans have to offer. We enjoy our image as a rebellious place with any number of last frontiers (I promise you; I have lived there: see Brewster County, TX) and cowboys and an assload of firearms and cows and oil rigs and, quite literally, much of what you see in the average Western film of silver screen glory days.

All that said, we are severely — severely lacking in areas because of a lack of efficient government or, in some cases, pure political apathy and ultra-socially conservative ideas. For example, when compared with the other Forty-Nine:

1. We are 50th when it comes to the percentage of eligible voters who actually turn out and vote.
2. We are 1st in air pollution emissions— and toxic chemical emissions to water— and carbon dioxide emissions.. oh, and cancer-causing carcinogen emissions to the air.
3. We're 1st in teenage birth rate levels.
4. Also 1st in the percentage of individuals over 25 without a high school diploma.
5. And 1st in the percentage of uninsured individuals.
6. Insofar as education goes, we rank 46th in SAT scores for graduating high school seniors.
7. .. and the list goes on. (according to Eliot Shapleigh, state senator from El Paso, who spends much of his time apparently compiling a report on all the things we suck at as a state.)

Clearly, we are not the shining beacons of efficient modern industry that we were, say, when somebody got around to inventing barbed wire and we went fence-happy on the prarieland.

With these facts standing indisputably to light, and with the nationwide political climate (and, oh yeah, that Wall Street / economy deal?!) in as flux of a state as it is (total sidenote— do you know about Fluxus? fascinatingly weird and seems very pre-Hipster kid to me) what does Rick Perry chose to offhandedly mention? Oh yes. Secession.

Let me share with you some of the wisdom of the TexasSecede.org FAQ:

Q: Is Texas really ripe for a secession movement? [BACK TO TOP]
A: Probably not (yet). Texans generally aren't the rugged, independent, liberty-conscious folks they once were. Like most Americans, they happily acquiesce to the U.S. government's steady theft of their rights and property via unlawful statutes, programs, and activities.

Unfamiliar with historical or legal details, being largely products of public (i.e., government) "education," today's Texans easily adopt the "politically correct" myths that litter the landscape of American popular opinion. Many don't even know what the word secede means, and believe that the United States is a "democracy" (hint: it's not)[8].

But public opinion and ignorance won't stop us from suggesting that secession is still a good idea for people who value their rights and personal liberty more highly than the temporal affluence, comfort, and false security provided by the U.S. welfare/warfare state. By raising public awareness of even the concept of secession, we hope they might plant seeds that will some day yield a new resolve among Texans for liberty and self-government.


Q: How would Texas—and Texans—benefit from secession? [BACK TO TOP]
A: In many ways. Over the past century-and-a-half the United States government has awarded itself ever more power (but not the lawful authority) to meddle with the lives, liberty, and property of the People of Texas (as well as those of the other States).

Sapping Texans' wealth into a myriad of bureaucratic, socialist schemes both in the U.S. and abroad, the bipartisan despots in Washington persist in expanding the federal debt and budget deficits every year. Texans would indeed gain much by reclaiming control of their State, their property, their liberty, and their very lives, by refusing to participate further in the fraud perpetrated by the Washington politicians and bureaucrats.

By restoring Texas to an independent republic, Texans would truly reclaim a treasure for themselves and their progeny.

Ah. Right. It's The Socialists! All these new Socialists in the White House, and their Little Marxist Dog, too! Since we do so incredibly well ourselves at regulating our own education system (raise your hand if you are young enough to recall /believe that the TAKS was absolutely absurd?,) paying our teachers (I forgot to mention— 49th in the nation!) and monitoring our own welfare and health via medical coverage and truckloads of free radical carcinogens, it's time to think about our break from the 'States.

How absurd is this? Absurd enough to get a nod from our brilliant and efficient Governor, Rick Perry. Extremist? Yes. What's interesting is the short amount of time it took conservatives to switch hats and become the patron saints of rebel-rousing and this twisted brand of community activism. (The general purpose being to destroy the central community, but ah, details, right?)

I think James Moore's Huffington Post article is invaluable to read for Texans. I'll leave you with my favorite excerpt:

..Perry blatantly suggested during the Fox News National Tea-Bagging Festival that Texans are about ready to leave the union because they are sick of Washington. In one cartoonish moment, the Republican standard bearer in this state insulted our entire democracy and every man or woman from Texas who has served under the Stars and Stripes. What is it they fought and died for governor? Was it so you could leave the union when people who had different politics than you were in the majority? I think we had that horror already in our history and, if you read when you were growing up out in Paint Rock, you would know that it was called the Civil War.

If a governor of a Democratic state had suggested such a thing during the administration of the previous president then you and every Republican in the land would have been demanding he or she be tried for treason. Suddenly, you fancy yourself a folk hero leading a band of revolutionaries. Turn around for a minute, pull back the hair from your forehead, and take a good look at who's following you. They are the 2009 version of Rick McLaren's wingnuts.

Oh, and finally—
The Future of the Lone Star Republic! (In case you wanted the spoiler edition before we all slash and rope our way to freedom with our Bowie knives.)