reportbywilson: The failed state: Texas’s power crisis is the result of decades of free market
reportbywilson: The failed state: Texas’s power crisis is the result of decades of free market policies I was born and raised in Texas, and I’ve never seen anything quite like the winter storm that froze my home state last week. A blanket of snow and ice covered my neighborhood and for most of the week the roads remained undrivable. Everything from grocery stores to public schools was shut down, and even public services such as garbage collection and mail delivery came to a halt – so much for the US Postal Service’s motto.I was fortunate, and avoided the worst impacts of the storms’ affect on the state’s infrastructure. My home only lost power a few times, while millions of Texans lost power for days, and my water service was relatively unaffected, while more than 8 million Texans remain this week under boil water notices.It wasn’t just the amount of snow and ice or the days of sub-freezing temperatures, but the feeling of isolation that was the result of constantly changing information and the uncertainty of when and for how long you might lose power.There are many myths about Texas, and some are more true than others.Among the most common is that Texans are naturally independent and free spirited, which has also been reinterpreted to mean that Texans are naturally politically libertarian and distrustful of government.Texan Republicans have used that myth to promote another conservative myth: that deregulation and privatization will result in more efficient and less expensive services. From the deregulation of college tuition and environmental protections to the privatization of prisons and child welfare services, the myth of free markets have always cost Texans.Read more here. -- source link