This is a continuation of the previous two blog-posts about Texas and white Texan’s extreme, delusional arrogance about how great it is to live in this hardcore Red state, particularly in the far suburban and rural areas and counties. By the way, just in the last two years or so Texas has surpassed Florida, Washington, Colorado, Nevada, and North Dakota as the third fastest growing population by state in the nation. Only Utah and Idaho are growing faster. As a result, Texas has for years now had very serious growing problems and they have not been improving.
As I alluded to in my previous post Best U.S. States to Reside, the Individual Median Income for Texans is $38,059 for a 2023 single-earner Texan. However, the sad disturbing statistical fact for Texans is that in 2021 the Average Cost of Living in Texas is $45,114 per year. I guarantee that cost has gone up noticeably. The largest cost for any Texan, by far and away, will be housing. A further breakdown of the average cost of living in various Texas cities compared to the national average can be found here.
Living conditions here are not improving, but instead will decline further over the next 5–10 years.
The other day I was waiting in line at my grocer’s pharmacy. I had to wait about 5-7 minutes because there was only one lady behind the counter/register for customers picking up their prescriptions. The gentleman she was helping was having issues with the man’s other missing prescription. This man causing the backup behind me was a white man, approximately 5’8″–5’9″ weighing maybe 220–230 lbs. with a large beer-gut, in kaki shorts, Walmart-brand sneakers, and wearing a black t-shirt. This is what the back of his t-shirt with a camouflaged square proudly advertised:
In my mind I was chuckling a lot, given my previous two blog-posts I just published at the end of last month full of actual facts and statistics about Texas and living here, not silly unfounded propaganda on t-shirts.
I thought, “Texas is only ‘great’ if…” you are of a very specific ethnicity and demographic, within a specific socioeconomic class like a business owner. Moreover, you have belonged to a specific political party your entire adult life in Texas or some likeminded state previously before moving here. Aside from this white man’s ridiculous t-shirt of arrogance, living here with the rocketing housing costs in Texas, it is about to get worse.
Today, Friday, September 1st, 2023, more than 770 new laws passed by the Texas Legislature, go into effect. The immediate effects and later ripple-effects of the new laws will impact untold millions of middle-class Texans in major urban and rural counties struggling financially during two straight years of hyper-inflation, let alone the lower-classes and disadvantaged Texans suffering the most. PBS station KERA of North Texas says more confusion and litigation is on the horizon:
“One example of this swirling confusion are rules in Dallas and Austin that that gives renters extra time to pay rent before a landlord can evict them. The ordinances ensure what some call a right for renters to “cure” the late rent before losing their home.
House Bill 2127, when it becomes law, blocks local governments from adopting, enforcing or maintaining any “ordinance, order, or rule regulating conduct….regulating evictions or otherwise prohibiting, restricting, or delaying” the eviction process. […]
At stake are countless city and county rules, ordinances, policies and practices, potentially including some humdrum policies that have been on the books for ages. That could include rules limiting fireworks, governing city and county contracts, water conservation and air quality efforts, payday lending limits, and more.”
— christopher connelly, kera (pbs) reporter for north Texas, august 29, 2023 for kera news
There are only two cities in Texas that offer the past COVID-19 counter measure called Right To Cure: Dallas and Austin. These have been city eviction regulations giving low-income or struggling renters a grace period to pay their rent and late fees before their landlord can start the eviction process. Ben Martin from Texas Housers, a low-income housing information service, says “These “right-to-cure” provisions are the norm in a majority of U.S. states.” Not so in Texas. House Bill 2127 went into effect today. To read more of Connelly’s reporting click here. What is essentially assured for struggling Texans is their protections for fair housing and a noticeably higher risk of becoming homeless after costly unforeseen events, disasters, or joblessness occur.
In other Texas and national political news, Texas is one of six (6) states at highest risk of Breakout of National Election Denialism in 2024’s Presidential election according to MAP. What are the two primary causes for this in Texas?
- Texas has no risk limiting audits after elections
- Majority of Texas voters cannot use secure voting machines
Given all the facts and stats about living in Texas over the last several decades and most of the 774 new legislative laws going into effect today, that man at the H-E-B pharmacy should’ve worn a t-shirt that said this:
Try to Live Safe – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Alot More
The Professor’s Convatorium © 2023 by Professor Taboo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
The Professor's Convatorium 
Curious, PT … I have two granddaughters living in Texas. One is in DeKalb (very small town) and the other one lives in Texarkana (Zip 71854). Is all that you write about the “Great State of Texas” true everywhere … or is it more prevalent in certain areas?
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Well, unless your two granddaughters are at least 3rd- or 4th-generation Texans, they will not see, hear, or read this kind of stuff simply being “formally shallow” with other 3rd–9th generation Texans, nor will they fully understand this arrogance.
First-time Texans, maybe second, will not get into these types of deep detailed discussions due to customary “social etiquette” traditions, which are most certainly an “endangered social habit” these days. That said, yes… there are certain huge/large areas, counties in Texas that are indeed radical arrogant propagandists. 🙂
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Fyi Nan, if you’re interested…
According to most indexes and Salary.com, * the Cost of Living in De Kalb, TX, the CoL there went up 1.2% from last year (2022), with the largest increases in transportation, food, and housing, exactly what I am referencing in my three blog-posts about Texas. In Texarkana the exact same increases since both locations are so near to each other.
But didn’t both of your granddaughters move here MOSTLY for religious reasons? Are they the family members I remember you referring to several months ago who were wanting to move here for those reasons?
* Source link — https://www.salary.com/research/cost-of-living/texarkana-tx … for both locations.
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I don’t recall ever saying it was for religious reasons … ?? I suppose it could have played a role, but I don’t think it was the primary one.
Both girls went to Texarkana College (one was a star soccer player there) and I think they just stayed in that part of the U.S. because it had become “home.” Actually, the younger one was living in Colorado Springs for awhile and got married there. However, since the CoL was much more appealing in Texas, they relocated.
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Okay, I just sort of (vaguely) remember you mentioning to me that one or some of your family members awhile back were considering moving here primarily for religious reasons and that Oregon or the upper Northwest of the U.S. was too liberal and progressive to live there and Texas was the prime state for those types.
Maybe it was your daughter or other family members, but you explained to me Texas was their first choice/location. 🤷♂️ Or maybe I am hallucinating. 😄
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Shouldn’t you be benefitting from this? 😀
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Yes Pink, one would think that my Mom and I would be “benefitting” from the numerous advantages afforded to middle middle-class white Texans with undergrad educations—myself with post-grad—and my Mom a retiree of ExxonMobil Oil and Southwest Airlines with her SSI benefits, and myself with a small (tiny) teacher/educators retirement benefits…BUT those are all very FIXED ‘incomes.’
With two straight years of hyper-inflation and DEflation not happening, probably never will because the private sector corporations who dictate SO MUCH of our quality of life here & the cost of living, very high sales tax rates, minimum wage STILL fossilized at $7.25/hour, won’t return consumer prices BACK to 2019-2020 pre-COVID pre-Ukraine invasion levels. And 7th- (Mom) and 8th generation (myself) Texans, and all the other factual stats and rankings I shared in my previous two blog-posts… no Pink, we cannot benefit any from being white, well-educated Texans in our 60’s and Mom her 80’s. 🤷♂️
The state of Texas is an enormous part of the problem and its dominant political party bought-off by lobbyists and super wealthy CPAC’s, individual voting Texans are essentially ignored. Period. And that/they are just the start of a long, long list of exacerbating chronic problems here!
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So, technically, you’re bad white people; or bad at being white people 🤣🤣🤣
Bad! Bad, white people!
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😆 Yes, apparently we are because at our geriatric ages we can no longer contribute to the highly hectic, profitable economy here as private business owners and/or extravagant Republican campaign donors. And btw, Texas’ economy is the ONLY QoL index we consistently rank high in.
Yep, we are useless, unwanted BAD BAD white Texans. 😉
P.S. And if it is hard right now for us, imagine what it is like for non-whites here who aren’t even Republicans! 😳😬
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Yes, perhaps hallucinating. 😈
Seriously, what I most likely said was that my daughter was considering a move to Arkansas when she retires but I don’t think I mentioned religion (??). More likely, I was talking about my granddaughters since they both live in Texas … and at least one of them is very religious.
(Sidenote — as it so happens, my daughter & hubby actually bought a home in ARKANSAS, but now they’re getting a divorce so he took over the house. She still plans to move back there when she retires, but she will be buying her OWN place.)
None of my family has ever lived in Oregon — I’m the only one. (And I LOVE that it’s LIBERAL!!)
I hope we’re on the same page now. 😊
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Sorry for the delay in my reply Nan. My Mom has had 2-3 pretty bad days & nights with her severe dementia/E-Alzh. I’ve been exhausted this weekend. Still am.
It must have been that one granddaughter then.
Oh, yes… I know how outstanding Oregon is with its consistent high rankings in progressive quality of life tallies compared to the other 49 states. You Oregonians usually rank in AT LEAST the Top 10 of almost every category in quality of live indices every year. I envy you up there Ma’am. 😉
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My family doctor from years ago was lured to move her practice to Texas with all kinds of monetary promises. I haven’t talked to ger since, but I see she is back 8n Canada. Obviously all the promises weren’t enough to keep her there…
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Sorry for the delay in my reply rawgod. As I was telling Nan, my Mom has had 2-3 pretty bad days & nights with her severe dementia/E-Alzh. I’ve been exhausted this weekend. Still am.
That is a very common story down here in central rural Texas. It has been for about 8-yrs(?) now. For several reasons and variables—I can only guess about 1-3 reasons—it is EXTREMELY difficult to find various doctors, specialists, etc, mostly as a “new patient.” I hear this from friends & acquaintances all the time! It was also true for me personally last year after having moved BACK here in August 2021.
My PCP back in Dallas/Plano, TX could not keep doing Zoom/Skype appointments for me so I was forced to find a new doctor last year. Get this… his office is over 30 miles away. I was unable to find ANY doctor in Kerrville accepting new patients. No one. Nada. ZIP! Many MANY small rural towns, even as large as Kerrville is for “towns,” lots of doctors (specialists especially) are leaving rural areas. Those who stay join massively large ‘medical groups’ and almost overnight are hitting their maximum patient limits—which is why I could never find a local PCP here for myself.
I also know, as you may have read in my earlier blog-post “Best U.S. States to Reside,” that Texas ranks quite poorly in the category of healthcare, #32 to be exact, which involves 1) healthcare quality, 2) public health & safety, and 3) no surprise here: healthcare access. Hah. Imagine that! 😒
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When I first moved to the small town I am living in way up North, 3500 population, we had one General Practitioner and a medical clinic. The GP was a real piece of work, 10 minute appts, and gone no matter what was going on, and a real bitch to boot. All business, no small talk, and one complaint per visit. That was useless for me who has multiple co-morbidities, and everything affects something else.
My other choice was the clinic where there were no permanent doctors, just locums — travelling doctors from other countries who were working towar?ds getting their Canadian medical licences. They had 3 month contracts and then they had to leave the country. It was impossible for them to get to know their patients. I ended up getting a PCP as you call them in a town 300 kilometres away. At least I could see him fairly easily when I needed him but the travel was next to impossible.
Finally after 4 years they started to get full-time doctors, but they were either brand new doctors fresh out of med school, or old timers near retirement who wanted a change in their lives.
I was here 6 years before I could get a knowledgeable doctor who had any idea how my various issues worked together, or complicated each other. We had 9 years together until they forced him to retire because he was making too much to afford him, and they could get three young doctors for what he earned. Now I am in the process of breaking in a new doctor, but it isn’t easy. In med school they don’t teach co-morbidities. A patient is only allowed to have one issue at a time. But we have public health care here, and our government wants us to go private, so they don’t have to invest so much money in healthcare, most of which they get from the feds anyway. For 40 years they have been trying to make our system so bad we refuse to use it, but they don’t understand that we don’t want private doctors. They will all go to the cities if we get them, hardly anyone wants to live in a small Northern town as it is. Most of our doctors are still from other countries, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, and they have to do 5 year stints in rural communities before they can go to the cities. Only 1 out of 5 has moved here permanently, and she takes a one month vacation twice a year. The rest are gone as soon as their 5 years are up.
The cities have good healthcare, but especially up North it comes and goes. But we like it up here, far from the madding crowds. My partner and I may as well be living in Texas, we are surrounded by red necks, but the location can’t be beat. Though being threatened by wildfires every year now is no fun.
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VSorry to hear about your mother. Dementia is not easy to deal with, no matter what kind. You are to be commended for sticking it out. Do they have respite care where you live, a place where she can go for a week or two, or where someone will live in for awhile while you take a vacation? It helps to recharge the batteries.
But I guess, given private healthcare, that would cost a fortune…
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Hah! No, no respite care the way you speak of it. There is a monthly Dementia Caregivers Support Group here that meets for 2-hrs every second Wednesday of the month, but in two years I have NEVER gone. Because there is no one here to stay with Mom while I’m gone for 2.5 hrs, not even to check on her after 1-hr alone.
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I’m sorry, PT, but that is a ridiculous situation, and so very American do-it-yourself-ish. There are some things a person cannot do by themselves, and self-care at a time like yours is one of them. It is impossible to take proper care of someone else if you cannot take proper care of yourself. If you have no family to reach out to, seek out a social worker to come to your house and talk to you. I am not saying this will happen soon, but you are going to burn out if nothing changes. Please, find help. The Hat Burglar would require this for you.
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Hah. It IS so very American DIY-ish! You are spot-on there rawgod. That’s always what all American “rags-to-riches” entrepreneurial Americans proclaim, like LeBron James or Oprah Winfrey or Dolly Parton or Halle Berry, just to name four. BUT… BUT… they don’t always give the deserved tons of credit to all those many colleagues, friends, or family members who HELPED them achieve the spectacular “success” toward the American Dream. There is no such thing as a self-made millionaire/billionaire!
Though Mom has always LOVED the rural country-style living—how she grew up in the 1930s thru 1950s here around Austin—all those friends and family members are deceased now and she hardly EVER leaves the apartment other than to walk over to the mailbox every 2nd or 3rd day. Otherwise, it’s only her bedroom, kitchen (a whole lot), and the living room couch 18-19/7, 365 days per year that she moves back-n-forth to. Nothing more because her dementia won’t allow her to stay focused on any one ‘beneficial task.’ Television is the primary brain stimulate for her.
Family to call on? Nope. If they are not already deceased, they all live over 4–12 hours away. My sister (only sibling) is a 47+ year chronically relapsing drug addict; totally unreliable. And she must work more than full-time here and there at retail jobs (she hates) at $14/hr at the most, to payback the never-ending debts she has accumulated with many Halfway Houses here, other people in AA/NA, friends, a few drug rehab clinics out the wahzoo, etc, etc, she must payback… she’ll NEVER earn enough money to have a stable life due to her 8 prior felonies. Texas is utterly BRUTAL on felons here for the rest of their lives as well as most all decent paying employers/companies.
Yes, my darling Hat Burglar (Jodi) told me/demanded I do two things in preparation of WHEN my situation reached critical: 1) make a “Hurricane Box.” When I would need to flee immediately in less than 1-2 days from this situation, and 2) make a list of “Deal Breakers” for both my sister (mainly) and my Mom when they did or pushed for anything that would FURTHER damage my already very declining physical, emotional, and mental health. She and I never got to do either of those two tasks together. Since her death July 2nd, I have had no motivation in the least to do this.
Oh, and a social worker in the capacity you speak about I have attempted twice now. They are 1) TOO expensive, and 2) all state or private healthcare as you alluded to, rejected our claims because Mom is not severe enough—plus, her pride in those medical assessments, prevent her from admitting the TRUTH of how digressed she has become. She’s of that generation where you HIDE all those things from public view/knowledge in locked closets and PRETEND your life and health is hunky-dory. I’ve watched her LIE through her teeth with this sort of thing many MANY times. 😞
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I forgot your social workers are as capitalistic as your medical professionals. As a retired Canadian social worker, we were able to help all who needed us. This pisses me off. How can people say they are caregivers when they only give care to those who can afford it. The ones who really need us can seldom afford to pay anyone, such as your sister.
Self-care is a necessity, PT. I know your motivation is low right now, and you are probably grieving, but keep in mind you are not dead yet. I know you want to be there for your mother. I doubt you are ready to give up. So whst comes next? Where are you going from here?
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Once again rawgod, you are spot-on. 🎯 And one must remember that over the last 2-3 decades Texas has sadly become increasingly hardcore radical (MAGA?) Republican—traditional platform(?): 1) NO BIG GOVERNMENT!!! In other words, no or small/tiny public health programs and access cuz that means more spending, cut cut CUT, except military spending. And 2) DIY to the hilt, as you alluded to earlier.
But once those wealthy 25–55 yr old Texans contributing IMMENSELY to the state economy near retirement, what will they do when they begin hitting their geriatric years? The three Memory Care Assisted Living facilities we toured back in June this year averaged a cost per month of $4,700 to $7,000… the latter price range was for more daily, specialized attentive care for residents with Early-Alzheimer’s to full on bad Alzheimer’s. Mom MIGHT manage between $4,500–$4,700, but that’s for patients/residents without severe dementia. 🤷♂️ And the ONLY way Mom can/could afford that lower range is merely because of her late husband’s WW2 veteran U.S. Navy benefits for her!
So… as you might guess, all the resident/patients we witnessed at those 3 facilities were of ONE very specific demographic of Texans. 💵💰💵💰 Surprise surprise, right? And furthermore, all three facilities had several various sized rooms available, vacant!!! Wow! Imagine that! The 3rd fastest growing and 2nd largest(?) state in the U.S. and yet they have vacancies at most all facilities!!! Riddle me that one. 🤔 (that’s rhetorical, btw)
My sister and I FINALLY agree that Mom needs to be in a 24/7 Memory Care Assisted Living facility. The rest? TBD; in progress at the moment.
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PT, I think I speak for many of us when I say that my fingers are crossed and I’m sending good thoughts that things will work out to the advantage of everyone concerning your mom. ❤
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Thank you so very much Nan. I know you genuinely mean that. You put a good-sized smile on my face Madame. 🥰❤️ A hundred gracious thank you’s to you!
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I will be waiting to hear what’s in store? A move to another state, perhaps? Not easy after 8-generations, but surely other states do things differently. Texas is not the state it once was…
A facility with vacancies? That speaks of poor service or too high costs — probably both. If directorship is intent on using up a person’s retirement funds, they don’t sound too concerned about people.
On an aside, an elderly folk’s home I worked at put me on midnight shift and told me the next morning was bacon morning. Every second Sunday morning. We had 30 residents, so I figured at least 60 slices of bacon, right? I thawed a couple packages of bacon and cooked it up. I got rave reviews from the residents, and a severe talking from management. Their fault, as far as I was concerned, they didn’t tell me their rules. One package, cut in half before frying, so the residents would think they were getting two slices each, but only getting one. How could I think they could afford to serve two full slices of bacon each??? So I started watching the regular cooks’ meals. She skimped on everything. No wonder the residents enjoyed my breakfast, I let them eat. Most meals were watered down and stretched somehow. Food costs must have been a pittance. I got fired after less than a month. I tried to make the residents happy, however I could. According to their policies, happiness was only for management! And they were passing government standards!
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No, Texas is not AT ALL what it once was prior to 1995 and the exit of Gov. Ann Richards! Nothing close! Take it from me, an 8th-generation Texan, it is NOT, despite the dominant political party in power here bragging & boasting incessantly about our “Rainy Day Fund” surplus of $27-billion extra for 2023 on top of a surplus of $32.7-billion in the biennium coffers! The 2024-25 expected balance? An extraordinary $188.2 billion available in general revenue! * This Texas Repub arrogance is only ONE lens, one component of a much deeper, more complex machine of “other tax revenues” on Texas residents—e.g. in the last 10-yrs we have seen multiple toll roads/highways built for drivers who can afford to escape all the traffic congestion in all our major metroplexes. Sales taxes here are outrageous! These are just two of multitudes of other revenue channels Repubs have intentionally designed/constructed for a VERY specific demographic of Texans.
Facility vacancies? Yes rawgod, BOTH. Definitely very high costs.
That right there speaks volumes! The middle-class and lower-class of the Texas’ socioeconomic spectrum are merely cannon-fodder with either a GOOD return-on-investment monetary value… or useless as a BAD return-on-investment and are ignored in a supposedly democratic Republic where ALL voices are heard with equality, liberty, and the right to a decent standard/quality of life for ALL Texans. NO! The reality is… that is not the truth today in Texas. Period!
———————————
* Source: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/01/09/texas-budget-revenue-estimate/
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Was going to mention earlier too rawgod, that this morning about 8:30am, she had a fairly serious fall near her bed and bathroom. I had to go in and lift her up to the floor to her feet. She cleaned herself up, but she will likely be sore for the next two days/nights or more. I’ll be keeping a close eye on her that she didn’t suffer a hairline fracture(s) anywhere. I asked her this soon after her fall. Her patented answer?
There’s that/her generational pretend attitude again, all is “hunky-dory.” 🙄🤦♂️ In my psych-clinical experience that is called (diagnosed as) D-E-N-I-A-L. Ugh. 😖
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It’s hard.. I know. But you cannot let bones go untested. At her age a broken hip can kill her. Fallscare bnever good.
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👍 Agreed Sir.
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I have family living in TX, in fact it seems like most of my family is moving to either TX or TN. I don’t get it but on the other hand, there’s plenty of MAGA idiots here in WNY. One thing I hear about homelessness is that it’s a “choice” & states like CA, TX & FL have a lot of homeless because of the “warm weather”. Like homelessness is a kind of lifelong camping trip.
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The two biggest reasons out-of-staters move here SAQ are 1) job-career opportunities from mega-corporations moving HQ’s, Operations, plants, etc, to Texas (super friendly on corporate taxes and laws with little government interference/regulations), and 2) typically traditionally cheaper home prices by national comparisons (emphasis on “homes,” not housing or renting)… and OF COURSE (ultra) “Conservative values” both socially and politically—or what I call Bronze Age based values. 😉
I guess out-of-staters just don’t care about ALL the other many QoL indices or they never do their full homework first. Who knows. 🤷♂️ But clearly we DESERVE our #35 ranking if not worse.
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