We Get Comments... (#3)
Amidst the ramp-up of the US presidential debate of 2016, we're getting a steadily increasing flow of inquiries about the "plans" for an independent Texas. These are sincerely submitted questions about the structure of government, logistics, economics, and even a query as to what will be done to restore the sadly decaying battleship USS Texas, moored at the Houston Ship Channel.
We've tried to offer polite and informative responses to these inquiries, all of which ran pretty much as follows:
Let's not get the cart before the horse. There's really not much point in asking an entity promoting an independent Texas to describe in detail what that independence will look like. Most decisions about political and civil infrastructure will of necessity be products of some form of political process. Nobody can say in advance what the ultimate decisions will be. The people of Texas will have to ponder and approve them. It's not for any of us to declare — pre-secession — what post-secession Texas will look like.
It's understandable that folks have concerns about keeping corrupt Washington-style politicians out of the equation, and not repeating many of the mistakes made by Washington. But let's be realistic. The people of Texas have to be trusted to do the right things when fleshing out their newly liberated republic (if that's what it remains post-secession), including its political and civil infrastructure, etc.
To ask a proponent of Texas secession to define the nature of post-secession Texas is a bit like asking a bachelor to describe the routine and character of his household after he has married. Sure, certain preferences may be described, but asking him for such a description, particularly in the absence of a prospective bride's input, and well before the household has actually been established and its principles and routines hammered out, is both unrealistic and excessively demanding.
Let us instead occupy ourselves, for the time being, with the goal of informing others about the viability and potential benefits of an independent Texas. As a critical mass of secession-minded Texans emerges, there will no doubt be think tanks and interest groups calling for various elements to be woven into the fabric of the freshly liberated republic. Let's wait to voice our preferences about such details until success seems much closer to the horizon.
We've tried to offer polite and informative responses to these inquiries, all of which ran pretty much as follows:
Let's not get the cart before the horse. There's really not much point in asking an entity promoting an independent Texas to describe in detail what that independence will look like. Most decisions about political and civil infrastructure will of necessity be products of some form of political process. Nobody can say in advance what the ultimate decisions will be. The people of Texas will have to ponder and approve them. It's not for any of us to declare — pre-secession — what post-secession Texas will look like.
It's understandable that folks have concerns about keeping corrupt Washington-style politicians out of the equation, and not repeating many of the mistakes made by Washington. But let's be realistic. The people of Texas have to be trusted to do the right things when fleshing out their newly liberated republic (if that's what it remains post-secession), including its political and civil infrastructure, etc.
To ask a proponent of Texas secession to define the nature of post-secession Texas is a bit like asking a bachelor to describe the routine and character of his household after he has married. Sure, certain preferences may be described, but asking him for such a description, particularly in the absence of a prospective bride's input, and well before the household has actually been established and its principles and routines hammered out, is both unrealistic and excessively demanding.
Let us instead occupy ourselves, for the time being, with the goal of informing others about the viability and potential benefits of an independent Texas. As a critical mass of secession-minded Texans emerges, there will no doubt be think tanks and interest groups calling for various elements to be woven into the fabric of the freshly liberated republic. Let's wait to voice our preferences about such details until success seems much closer to the horizon.
posted by Mudrostovich at
10:26 AM
