Time Magazine Article Stating The America Of The Future Will Be Like Texas.....

[gimmethesimplelife]

The current copy of Time Magazine features an article to the effect that America in the future is going to look more and more like Texas. I'm seeing this as both positive and negative.

OTOH, Texas has low wages overall, over a million poor who will fall through the cracks of ObamaCare as Gov Rick Perry refuses to expand Medicaid, and a shredded and not especially noticeable social safety net. And the Mexican border cities facing Texas are overrun with cartels, so my health care solution of offshoring myself to Mexico for health care is not quite as appealing.....random gunfire at all hours of the day would make me think twice before crossing that border. So this option is out - or at least would be for me.

OTOH, Texas overall has low taxes and fairly sane costs of living and light regulation and an ease of starting a business with the state not constantly snooping over your shoulder. I can see that there is something to be said for this.

What do you think? America becoming more like Texas a good thing, a bad thing, maybe a little of both? Oh and I forgot, Texas is a strong jobs creator - though the quality of jobs could be debated - since the Recession officially ended, and there is work available there.

Rob

[SteveinMN]

A friend of mine retired to Texas after diabetes claimed a leg and he had trouble getting around in the snow and ice up here. He, too, liked the low cost of living. But he also constantly lamented the results of not spending money on people in Texas. Not just money spent on him, and not just "gummint" money, either. There are people who believe that, if government doesn't do it, people will support worthwhile causes by themselves. Well, if too many of them are making Walmart wages or less, that ain't happening. My wife, the social worker, knows from experience that the safety net in Texas has, shall we say, much wider gaps between the strands than in many other places. Texas may be a fine place to live -- if you're not old, physically handicapped, or developmentally disabled. Like one can do much about any of those things.

My feeling is that, if Texas is the future of America, I am sad for the future of America. JMHO, of course.

[Zoebird]

It's why I have an eye on financial security (best as I can) so that we won't have to worry overmuch about the social security net. one hopes.

[pinkytoe]

Just reading in our local paper this am (Austin) that our population growth of children under 18 for the last decade was around 28,000 and that 92% of that growth were poor and hispanic. They are provided free breakfast and lunch, a bilingual education and after-school care. Currently, our property taxes are at $7000 with a portion going to indigent health care and the lion's share for public schools. The kids from higher income homes go to private schools now. This kind of scares me because if this population growth continues, it will become completely unsustainable to pay for all of those who can't/don't care for themselves. Currently, our city is trying to pass an affordable housing bond which will require yet another layer of taxes. The negatives aside, people continue to arrive here daily because it is perceived as a land of innovation and endless opportunity and it is for those who are bright, creative and/or highly educated. I think the country as a whole will continue on this path - a small portion of haves and a huge portion of have-nots.

[SteveinMN]

pinkytoe, where are all those people coming from? Is the birth rate for already-poor Hispanics through the roof? Or are these people streaming in from elsewhere in Texas or from across the border?

[CathyA]

Isn't that a problem everywhere in the U.S............the number of people who are poor and in need of help is growing and growing?

[pinkytoe]

where are all those people coming from?
Wealthy newcomers are coming from both coasts mostly. The poor hispanics have a percentage of undocumented already living here or moving in from border areas. Since it is against the law to ask for citizenship proof in public schools and the fact that we are a "sanctuary city" it has turned into come one, come all. And humans being humans, we all look for opportunity.

[RosieTR]

Of course, the policies in TX with regards to reproductive choice do not bode well for the situation you describe, Pinkytoe. I would tend to think that people have lots of children for a few different reasons, but that access to birth control and competent medical advice on how to use it is a bigger factor than whether the school feeds them breakfast. I'm not trying to totally simplify-culture and religion and other things play a role as well; just that I don't think couples are sitting in bed thinking "yeah, let's do it so we can have the state feed the kids".
The culture of idiocy in some areas of TX scares me: shunning intelligence, logical thinking, and science is worrisome. I've seen this elsewhere but it seems, ha ha, bigger in Texas. And I did live in TX for a few years and continue to have friends there. This goes beyond the "debate" over teaching evolution and more deeply into an idea that the seemingly intelligent people should be ignored primarily because they are intelligent and articulate. Similar to many middle or high schools, I suppose.

[The Storyteller]

Where can I find this article?

I enjoy good fiction. :-)

[catherine]

Where can I find this article?

I enjoy good fiction. :-)

Here you go (http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2154995,00.html). Unfortunately, you have to subscribe/pay for the full article, but you can get a taste for it. It's a good article. Makes good points.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I'm also reading a book right now titled Average is Over - it's about the sweeping economic changes taking place and the overall lowering of the standard of living in America. In this book it states that more Americans will be seeking a lower cost of living in the future and this will propel folks to the Midwest and to Texas. Land costs lower than average, costs overall - with the exception of property taxes in Texas which surprised me but that's probably how they make up for the lack of state income tax there - anyway, costs overall lower than average. This book states that more and more people will start doing the math and pull up stakes to where their dollars stretch further - which makes total sense to me as I myself have made similar stretch the dollar decisions as to my health care and going to Mexico for this.

I think for better or worse the future is not going to resemble the past very much for millions and in some ways, that might not be such a bad thing - but in other ways, painful decisions to be made.

Rob