As a Texan who couldn't imagine leaving, it is a nightmare to watch those in power sell our state for parts. Watching how Elon is blowing up public beaches for his shitty rockets, professors getting fired for the most mildly inclusive syllabi, and especially to see the public schools that raised me to be enshittified. It just makes me want to remind everyone from the outside that there are many, many of us who can't stand this and are trying to save our communities in the face of these powerful, rich vampires. We have beautiful canyons and rivers and forests and beaches, diverse communities and rich cultures, and despite the political challenges, it is a wonderful place to live.
One of the reasons I moved out of North Texas is that the property tax burden was killing me, and I couldn't see continuing to pay $10k+ every year into retirement. From 2004, when I first moved there, to 2022, when I left, the state reduced its portion of school funding vs property tax funded from about 70%-30% to about 55%-45%. This was the main reason for soaring property taxes. The Republicans who control the state have always talked about reducing the property tax burden, but there is really no way to do that without drastically defunding the public schools or increasing the amount that the state pays in. They could also close tax loopholes that enable commercial property owners to drastically reduce their property tax burden, but as you note, they are part of the constituency that wants lower taxes and doesn't care much about public schools.
Yes-- and relatedly one of the reasons why teachers unions are so vital in red states in particular. They are often the strongest political force resisting the overwhelming incentive to defund schools in order to make the tax math work as Republicans want.
For a moment, with the New Deal, things were moving the other way. For a moment. A lot of folks in the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area) to this day vote Republican while clocking in at their jobs at the "bomb plant" and Fort Gordon/Eisenhower because they don't think the government can do anything right...
The problem is, the government can’t do anything right, when it is bought and paid for by monied interests. My grandmother, who lived through the Great Depression, never voted for a Republican in her life, because FDR, and the Democrats, brought electricity to her rural NC county. If the Dems want to build a super majority working class coalition, they have to turn their backs on corporate donors, and have given zero indication that they have any interest in doing so.
Still combatting Reconstruction. A lot of southern poor are black, and “heritage“ requires preserving slavery by any means necessary. Destroying the public sphere is one key way.
Hamilton Nolan is oh so right. In Arizona's drought, land and the precious water in the unrefillable aquifers below it, was sold to Saudi Arabia to grow thirsty alfalfa that's turned into hay and shipped to Arabia. All this while, the locals' land and crops go dry. https://floodlightnews.org/saudi-owned-corporate-farms-are-draining-arizonas-desert-dry/
Since I once worked at an elite college in the Northeast, I can attest that they have profited from this Southern strategy for a very long time. The 1,000 or so affluent families who ruled the South before the Civil War routinely sent their children to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, and other elite colleges to be educated. That's how so many of their buildings got named after Southern politicians and leaders. After being educated, the offspring would return to run their parents' plantation or business. Local poor whites and, of course, slaves suffered. This history has been coming to light in recent years, much to the chagrin and shame of these institutions.
The game is indeed long. What's going on in Texas, Florida, and other Southern states is only the 21st-century version.
A EXTREMA DIREITA FASCISTA LESA PÁTRIA DESTRÓI DEMOCRACIAS E A EDUCAÇÃO! NÃO VOTE MAIS! SALVEM SEU PAÍS ESTADUNIDENSES ANTES QUE SEJA TARDE! PAREM TRUMP! PAREM O M.A.G.A
In a burst of progressive thinking, my state, Washington, has approved a 9.9% tax on personal income above $1 million to take effect in 2028. Cue the predictable kvetching over millionaires fleeing the state and the Seahawks being hampered in their ability to lure quality free agents to play for them (Horrors!) I reply to these naysayers with Archie Bunker's time-tested aphorism: "Shut up you."
Since the 1950s, the top individual tax rate has dropped from 92% to 37%. The top corporate tax rate has dropped from 52% to 21%. Republican politicians work for the big money donors who finance their culture war political campaigns. The Republican base is simply used to provide the necessary votes.
As a Texan who couldn't imagine leaving, it is a nightmare to watch those in power sell our state for parts. Watching how Elon is blowing up public beaches for his shitty rockets, professors getting fired for the most mildly inclusive syllabi, and especially to see the public schools that raised me to be enshittified. It just makes me want to remind everyone from the outside that there are many, many of us who can't stand this and are trying to save our communities in the face of these powerful, rich vampires. We have beautiful canyons and rivers and forests and beaches, diverse communities and rich cultures, and despite the political challenges, it is a wonderful place to live.
Depressingly bang on.
Greed paves the road to idiocracy.
Marvellous piece, Hamilton. Should be distributed on pamphlets in the south.
One of the reasons I moved out of North Texas is that the property tax burden was killing me, and I couldn't see continuing to pay $10k+ every year into retirement. From 2004, when I first moved there, to 2022, when I left, the state reduced its portion of school funding vs property tax funded from about 70%-30% to about 55%-45%. This was the main reason for soaring property taxes. The Republicans who control the state have always talked about reducing the property tax burden, but there is really no way to do that without drastically defunding the public schools or increasing the amount that the state pays in. They could also close tax loopholes that enable commercial property owners to drastically reduce their property tax burden, but as you note, they are part of the constituency that wants lower taxes and doesn't care much about public schools.
Yes-- and relatedly one of the reasons why teachers unions are so vital in red states in particular. They are often the strongest political force resisting the overwhelming incentive to defund schools in order to make the tax math work as Republicans want.
Plantation Nation.
For a moment, with the New Deal, things were moving the other way. For a moment. A lot of folks in the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area) to this day vote Republican while clocking in at their jobs at the "bomb plant" and Fort Gordon/Eisenhower because they don't think the government can do anything right...
The problem is, the government can’t do anything right, when it is bought and paid for by monied interests. My grandmother, who lived through the Great Depression, never voted for a Republican in her life, because FDR, and the Democrats, brought electricity to her rural NC county. If the Dems want to build a super majority working class coalition, they have to turn their backs on corporate donors, and have given zero indication that they have any interest in doing so.
I don't want to forge the interstates the drive on while we're at it.
The title of this post would good for a business card
Still combatting Reconstruction. A lot of southern poor are black, and “heritage“ requires preserving slavery by any means necessary. Destroying the public sphere is one key way.
EXACTLY what my red-ass state, Tennessee, has done/is doing!!
This reminds me of Jews in Germany straightening out organizational problems for their German captors in the concentration camps!!! Gaghhh!
Hamilton Nolan is oh so right. In Arizona's drought, land and the precious water in the unrefillable aquifers below it, was sold to Saudi Arabia to grow thirsty alfalfa that's turned into hay and shipped to Arabia. All this while, the locals' land and crops go dry. https://floodlightnews.org/saudi-owned-corporate-farms-are-draining-arizonas-desert-dry/
Since I once worked at an elite college in the Northeast, I can attest that they have profited from this Southern strategy for a very long time. The 1,000 or so affluent families who ruled the South before the Civil War routinely sent their children to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, and other elite colleges to be educated. That's how so many of their buildings got named after Southern politicians and leaders. After being educated, the offspring would return to run their parents' plantation or business. Local poor whites and, of course, slaves suffered. This history has been coming to light in recent years, much to the chagrin and shame of these institutions.
The game is indeed long. What's going on in Texas, Florida, and other Southern states is only the 21st-century version.
A EXTREMA DIREITA FASCISTA LESA PÁTRIA DESTRÓI DEMOCRACIAS E A EDUCAÇÃO! NÃO VOTE MAIS! SALVEM SEU PAÍS ESTADUNIDENSES ANTES QUE SEJA TARDE! PAREM TRUMP! PAREM O M.A.G.A
Don’t worry, World War III, will give you something else to worry about, such as drinking water.
In a burst of progressive thinking, my state, Washington, has approved a 9.9% tax on personal income above $1 million to take effect in 2028. Cue the predictable kvetching over millionaires fleeing the state and the Seahawks being hampered in their ability to lure quality free agents to play for them (Horrors!) I reply to these naysayers with Archie Bunker's time-tested aphorism: "Shut up you."
Since the 1950s, the top individual tax rate has dropped from 92% to 37%. The top corporate tax rate has dropped from 52% to 21%. Republican politicians work for the big money donors who finance their culture war political campaigns. The Republican base is simply used to provide the necessary votes.
Its not sustainable, so we'll see how it falls apart, which it will