# Would Texas ever separate from America?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-texas-ever-separate-from-america/580324
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [April 30, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-texas-ever-separate-from-america/580324 "2011-04-30T22:58:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 8
### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-texas-ever-separate-from-america/580324/141 "2011-05-06T20:51:40Z")
> [@Wilson](#):
>
> The Longhorns are in the SEC?
Cute- well, Florida, Alabama and Louisiana aren’t going anywhere, either. There isn’t any secessionist movement anywhere in the USA worth taking seriously.
Even the most conservative Southerners know they have a good deal. Even Bible-toting little old Church Ladies want their Social Security checks, and will turn viciously on any politician who puts them in jeopardy.
Even redneck farmers like getting their subsidy checks.
EVERYBODY gets “stuff” (to use George Carlin’s word) from the government, and nobody is eager to give any of that up.
The South ain’t going anywhere, so all this strategizing about how to put down a nonexistent insurrection is utterly pointless.
---
### Author:  [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-texas-ever-separate-from-america/580324/142 "2011-05-06T21:39:45Z")
> [@Wilson](#):
>
> The Longhorns are in the SEC?
Offered without comment.
Longhorns’ record against SEC teams.
```auto
Team Win Loss Tie
Alabama 7 1 1
Arkansas 56 21 0
Auburn 5 3 0
Florida 2 0 1
Georgia 3 1 0
Kentucky 3 1 0
LSU 9 7 1
Mississippi 5 1 0
Mississippi St. 2 2 0
South Carolina 0 1 0
Tennessee 2 1 0
Vanderbilt 3 8 1
Total 95 46 4
```
Winning Percentage: 66.9%
---
### Author:  [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-texas-ever-separate-from-america/580324/143 "2011-05-06T22:40:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Of course I know all of that. Again, that’s a reason why a high percentage rural would lead to poor academic performance. It still isn’t a reason why a high _absolute number_ of rural folks would lead to poor performance. Put it this way: Compare Texas to the rest of the country combined. The rest of the country combined has far more rural people than Texas, and yet, also has significantly better academic performance than Texas. Why is that?
Here’s a free lesson in the art of communication. You have found a point that you disagree with me on: my statement that a high rural population is one factor explaining Texas’s education difficulties. You should state your disagreement somewhere along the lines of, “while it is true that Texas has the largest number of rural people, it is not one of the states with the largest percentage of rural people. Therefore, I do not believe that this is a contributing factor in why Texas has poor education rankings.” This would get your point across immediately in clear, unambiguous language and then we could debate it. Your communication style is incredibly tedious. Telling me that Texas doesn’t have the highest rural population when in fact it does is not a valid way of stating that you believe percentage of rural population is a more appropriate number to look at.
I’ll certainly concede that the percentage is more meaningful than aggregate number, which I would have done so immediately since it is not something I need to be convinced of. I would certainly also state that I believe the actual population total is meaningful on its own though as are a host of other ways of looking at the rural population of a state. For example, I’d say the average income level, percentage of minorities, proximity to urban areas, sprawl of the population, cultural background, etc (all specific to the rural populations of one state versus another) are all additional factors to consider when comparing the rural population numbers from one state to another; simply put, 10 rural people from State A could be drastically different than 10 rural people from State B.
Now, if you truly believe that the size of a population is not meaningful in any way, then we simply disagree. I’m not really interested in debating that point as it’s not really an interesting topic of discussion for me. If instead you actually believe that percentage is just more meaningful then we have agreed this entire time, but we are talking past each other because you are challenging absolute factual statements that I have made and I am, of course, defending those. Either way, I’m done talking about this incredibly boring subject.
---
### Author:  [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-texas-ever-separate-from-america/580324/144 "2011-05-06T22:58:54Z")
> [@Le\_Jacquelope](#):
>
> And you seem fairly ignorant of the fact that I was responding to the scenario of a war. Talk of armies and all that stuff. I was just going with the premise.
Understood. I am saying that the U.S. would never engage in a river damming tactic as part of their war strategy. It’s preposterous.
> [@Le\_Jacquelope](#):
>
> Whoooo, now you’re talking desalinization. That requires a ton of resources. A ton. Texas would have a hard time acquiring that, much less coming up with the money to pay for it, especially if they break off from the US. It would take years to build even one, and mere seconds to blow it up.
>
> Just a question: how much does one desalinization plant cost in time and years vs one cruise missile?
My statement about desalination was in reference to my inference that you believe Texas is facing some sort of imminent water crises. That is also the reason I made my statement (point “d”) regarding the long-term water planning for Texas. Perhaps I am incorrect, and you simply meant to talk about water as part of a way to fight a war against Texas, but the fact that you made three successive posts about water led me to infer you believe Texas has a water problem irrespective of any hypothetical war from Texas.
I have absolutely no idea how much a desalination plant costs versus a cruise missile. If I haven’t made it crystal clear already, I think that the U.S. would annihilate Texas without needing to resort to attacking the water supply of the citizens of the state.
> [@Le\_Jacquelope](#):
>
> The severe amount of sun they get is part of their problem, in case you haven’t noticed over the last few months.
And here I thought it was actually a combination of the El Nino from last year (contributing to extreme grass growth) and the La Nina this year (contributing to this year’s drought) that is causing the wildfires.
> [@Le\_Jacquelope](#):
>
> But really, I mean let’s get real for a second and quit fracking around. What politician is going to be able to drum up support for cutting off Texas’s water? Texas ain’t gonna secede. Ergo we’re not going to send any army against them. Ergo they ain’t getting their water cut off.
Agreed.
---
### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-texas-ever-separate-from-america/580324/145 "2011-05-07T00:19:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Would Texas ever separate from America?
HOOORAY!
We lose Texas **and** bin Ladin, in the same month!
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-texas-ever-separate-from-america/580324.md?page=7)