The donut of Texas culture

[9nines]

"To give you an idea how backwards this place is, I went to Quaker Meetings here for a while and discovered one of the six "Friends" was a Prof. @ WT A&M and he created and studied cattle carcasses!!!!!! Quakers here are just "progressive Baptists". NO self respecting Quaker anywhere else would have been involved in such a field.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

 

I did not want the thread, from which this came, to go on a tangent but I wanted to post a subject that I find interesting. The cultures of Texas. Excluding that most urban areas are somewhat progressive, Texas is and has been for about 150 years, divided philosophically as a donut. The outer donut has traditionally been strict conservative Baptist in flavor with the economy built around extraction industries (larger crops and mineral extraction) using a caste system: you either owned much land and your family enjoyed its fruits or you did the work on those lands and got paid as little as you would aspect. These areas historically had no to poor public school systems (the land owners children were sent to North Eastern prep schools and colleges) and culture focused around Baptist church activities (no alcohol sold publicly etc.) The people were very bellicose in political views. You can still see this typical attitude in George W Bush - he fits that old society to a tee.

 

The middle of Texas, in contrast, was settled mostly by fairly progressive immigrants from Germany and other middle western European countries. Most of those immigrants were highly skilled tradesmen or artisans (blacksmiths, wood workers.) They cherished libraries and education and democratic governments (equal voices.) I heard a clever quote about contrasting these society on education. 100 years ago, in the average middle Texas home, one would find an extensive library that was read daily. The people woudl share books in public square libraries. In the outter circle of Texas, the only book you would find is the Bible and if you had or read any other book, no matter the subject, you were shunned by society.

 

Also the attitude of the people was very much different. For example, one was peaceful and cooperative and the other was war-like. The Apache (or maybe it was another tribe) would seasonally go through Texas. As that tribe went through the outer parts of Texas it was at constant war, with many lives on both sides lost. When it went through central Texas, they would use torches (lighting of torches, outside of Austin, is a current yearly celebration based on this), if at night, to let the settlers know they were coming because both sides were friendly toward each other and openly traded etc.

 

While not to the extreme of the past, you can still see attitudes etc. play-out as above, in the different parts of Texas.

[karlhubris]

Concerning G W Bush...he's NOT from Texas, nor is his family. He's 100% New Englander. Years ago when he ran for a Texas Senate seat he lost, in large part because he was called a "scalawag"...an opportunist yankee who comes to the South to take advantage of the poor defeated Confederates! He only came to Texas for business. Amazing how well he's been accepted once he learned to play the part of a good 'ol boy!

As for Texas Panhandle culture, you're absolutely wrong...it has no culture! At least nothing that should be considered culture

[willpeavy]

The German tradesman build good waterparks. Ever been to Schlitterbahn!

[9nines]

Concerning G W Bush...he's NOT from Texas, nor is his family. He's 100% New Englander.

 

He went to public schools, in Midland, until part of high school I believe.

[karlhubris]

Gw was born in Conneticut and went to Annover prep school, as far as I know he NEVER went to public school...he moved to Midland after college.and after a (uh hmmm) brief stint in the military...

I could be wrong as far as GW not being in Texas until then...George the 1st has always been considered old school New England conservative.

As for Schlitterbahn, where is that? I lived in Wiesbaden for 8 years and Bremerhaven for three...now Germany, there's a place where it would be hard to vegan!!! Do they make soy Wienerschnittzel?

[9nines]

Gw was born in Conneticut and went to Annover prep school, as far as I know he NEVER went to public school...he moved to Midland after college.

 

Quick search: found this on Whitehouse web site:

 

 

President Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas.

 

Elementary School

Sam Houston Elementary School in Midland, Texas

[karlhubris]

hmmmmm, curious. I wonder how long he spent in Midland. Like I said, I knew he was born in Conn., and he went to high school at Andover Prep, then Harvard & Yale...it surprises me that the grandson of Prescot Bush would attend public school. Like I said, they are from old school New England elite stock...Bush was raised Anglican but converted to Methodist due to Laura's influence, Anglicans are considered the Am. version of the Church of England, after the revolution it was unhealthy to be associated with anything British for a while ...do you know how long he was in Texas?

[karlhubris]

I checked out the bio on the whitehouse page...I'd be skeptical of the info on there...it states her served in the Air National guard, alot of people (including his commanding officer) would say that is false!

I wonder how long you have live somewhere to be considered "growing up" there. Like I said, when he ran for Senate he lost big time and was called a "scalawag"

[karlhubris]

busted....I should know better not to say I know something when I just have hint (and then put it in all caps) Bush lived in Texas from the time he was 2 until presumably the beginning of prep school in Andover Mass. I believe the prep school covered his high school education. I guess that doesn't prove he went to public school, there are plenty of private schools in Houston. But I am surprised he spent even that long in Texas. I mean I lived in Germany for 11 years but that doesn't make me German. (Although technically I am because I was born there and had dual citizenship)

[ronnie kray]

The German tradesman build good waterparks. Ever been to Schlitterbahn!

oh i love that place. it's a great big waterpark with tons of tube rides. it's awesome. as hot as it gets in this state, we need lots of swimming areas. it's a blast. havent been there in a few years, i know it's only gotten bigger. i need to visit this summer, after i do a few more hundred pushups.

[CollegeB]

Bush is just another one of these liberals from up north who comes to TX and automatically assumes they are conservative. It's funny because their values never change, just their party affiliation or to be fair its very true that the parties have different names but have the same views. But in the 20's the populists came from TX, now with the huge influx of Northerners Bush didnt even bother to campaign here, neither did Kerry, they accepted it was Bush country.