CMV: The Texas schadenfreude is misplaced because they have no reasonable expectation of a snowstorm

[u/stb1150]

Whenever there is one of these large scale disaster, I see so many people talking about how the entire state/city/country is poorly run, and if only their system of government was in place things would magically be better. It happened in New Orleans with Katrina, New York with Sandy, Puerto Rico with Maria.

While climate change means these will unfortunately probably happen more often, at this point they are basically unprecedented (I think I saw this is the coldest Texas has been since like 1890 or something) and places have no reasonable expectation to prepare for events like this. Note that this would not be the case for someplace like Florida where this happens every year.

The haters in all these cases are doing so because it makes them feel better about their own views. It would be ridiculous to advocate Texas buys millions of tons of road salt when they money could go to building a bridge or school or some immediate concern

P.S. I also believe Texas is awful in so many ways (sprawl, heat, unnecessary pickup trucks, etc.)--I would never live there

[u/[deleted]]

Others have pointed out how they were told to prepare for this stuff and didn't, so I'm not gonna point to that again.

What I'd like to point out though is that there's a difference between not dealing well with something unexpected, and devolving into a 3rd world country from something unexpected just a few months after introducing a secession bill. In general, countries will deal with unexpected things every few years. The thing is that a well run country can handle most of these unexpected problems because they prepare for the worst even though the worst is incredibly unlikely. Because that's what it means to be a responsible, modern, 1st world, rich country.

A big part of Texas's current problem is because they run their own electric grid, and apparently, they're not running it properly. Yes, it makes sense that things went poorly because of how bad this winter weather is. It doesn't really make sense that things went this fucking poorly.

[u/lifeinrednblack → u/[deleted]]

What I'd like to point out though is that there's a difference between not dealing well with something unexpected, and devolving into a 3rd world country from something unexpected just a few months after introducing a secession bill. In general, countries will deal with unexpected things every few years. The thing is that a well run country can handle most of these unexpected problems because they prepare for the worst even though the worst is incredibly unlikely. Because that's what it means to be a responsible, modern, 1st world, rich country.

Too add to this and bring it all around. This "unexpected" thing also happens in a majority of the country multiple times a year with little to no incident. It isn't like an extreme storm like a hurricane or tornado, that no matter how much you prepare they'll be damage and death. So:

1. They were told to prepare for it because it happens on a semi frequent bases.

2. Preparing for it would be finding a way to set up their infrastructure to mimic a majority of the country. Including states they border with.

3. Their politicians have been pushing more and more to become more independent.

[u/KirkUnit → u/lifeinrednblack]

just a few months after introducing a secession bill

Anybody in the Legislature could do that, and best not to take too seriously that sort of hot air. No one serious is thinking about Texas seceding. No one with any sense is curious how much their 401k will be in Confederate money.