Deranged libertarianism is destroying Texas (Galveston, West: fit in, live, costs)

[supfromthesite]

Originally Posted by SCGAFL

So sit in NH and mind your own business. It's not up to you to arrogantly tell others how to live. If they don't like something, they will deal with it.

The irony here is that New Hampshire is home of the "free state project" which is a bunch of libertarians trying to move to a certain state to make it a "libertarian haven" (they chose New Hampshire for some reason)

[supfromthesite]

Originally Posted by malcorub16

Hard core libertarians even oppose social security and Medicare benefits.

Very true. Also, you don't have to be a libertarian to oppose those things.

[Veritas Vincit]

What hurt Texas really is the failure to put in costly safeguards for rare but inevitable events. That should not have been a choice left to energy providers to make but one mandated by the state. That's a problem not limited to Texas though..there's other examples too (see New Orleans levees, or earthquake/tsunami regulations in the PNW). There's just a lot of short-term thinking everywhere.

[jcp123]

Originally Posted by supfromthesite

I don't find this true at all. When it comes to taxes, Texas is middle of the road. It is like #18 out of 50. Socially, it is not libertarian at all. Texas was one of the last states to allow gay marriage afaik. It took Obama's EO.

Plus it’s pretty old-school on drugs and is more or less a law-and-order conservative type of place. Texas jurors sure loved to hand out death sentences...though now I think the latter is kind of moot for now.

[Winterfall8324]

Originally Posted by jcp123

I’m not sure if you have a hate case against libertarianism or something...but it’s a little weird to cherry pick one thing out of long-standing conservative politics, and make a case about something else.

You're from California.

This mind your own business mentality is the biggest problem Americans face.

We are discussing a problem, that is all.

[Winterfall8324]

Originally Posted by supfromthesite

The irony here is that New Hampshire is home of the "free state project" which is a bunch of libertarians trying to move to a certain state to make it a "libertarian haven" (they chose New Hampshire for some reason)

It's not working out for them.

Also, they are mostly an odd bunch of people who hang out with one another, not the "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" GOP type libertarianism.

[jcp123]

Originally Posted by Winterfall8324

You're from California.

This mind your own business mentality is the biggest problem Americans face.

We are discussing a problem, that is all.

It’s just a weird premise. I’ll have been here 16 years this summer and libertarian is certainly not a word I would pick to describe Texas. Well, maybe to some extent out in the ranch lands and some parts of West Texas, not to mention wide open spaces in a lot of America. The libertarianish attitude was born of necessity in those areas. But yeah...It’s certainly not a Texas thing, and not really an all of America thing either.

California is opposite Texas in many ways. While Texas fumbles with old attitudes about many things, California has fumbled again and again with inept state bureaucracies.

That’s a big part of why I actually am a libertarian - I’ve seen both models in California and Texas, and while Texas scores better than California on a lot of things, it’s still far from perfection.

As far as I can see, the current problems are related to a weather occurrence the likes of which it was probably not seen as being worth preparing for. Normally, we get snow here once per year or once every other year; further south, I’m not sure it’s even close to that often. When was the last time Houston even dealt with snow or ice? Having the equipment etc. to be fully prepared for this kind of thing would have been seen as a giant boondoggle. That’s not a libertarian thing, that’s simply not selling a Patek Philippe when the customers just asked for a humble Timex.

[Guineas]

Originally Posted by Veritas Vincit

That's a problem not limited to Texas though..there's other examples too, see earthquake/tsunami regulations in the PNW). There's just a lot of short-term thinking everywhere.

Apples and oranges. PNW wasn't known as as an earthquake or tsunami zone until the last two decades, the last such tsunami happened in 1700, before any written history. Newer construction are designed for large earthquakes and I know the city of Seattle has reinforced much of the brick construction in the city, especially in schools and fire stations. The downtown viaduct has been torn down and replaced with something more seismologically sound. More could be done though and there are timelines to retrofit buildings across Washington state.

Texas gets cold snaps at least every decade. It's at the mercy of the jetstream as there's no geographic barrier or large body of water from the Canadian Arctic down across the Great Plains to Texas.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Texas is not *EXACTLY* libertarian, but the state politics are just about libertarian as it gets in USA.

Originally Posted by supfromthesite

I don't find this true at all. When it comes to taxes, Texas is middle of the road. It is like #18 out of 50. Socially, it is not libertarian at all. Texas was one of the last states to allow gay marriage afaik. It took Obama's EO.

A long time has passed and there. Texas is a lot more libertarian now than it was then

[Foamposite]

Originally Posted by jcp123

Plus it’s pretty old-school on drugs and is more or less a law-and-order conservative type of place. Texas jurors sure loved to hand out death sentences...though now I think the latter is kind of moot for now.

Even on guns, Texas still doesn't have constitutional carry.

Plus alcohol laws are strict and there's not much gamblinf in Texas.