How could I, a Native Texan, have missed this blog entry? Fortunately, Sarah saw it and now you can, too.
Vinod lives in Frisco–California, not Texas. But he obviously spent some of his youth, at least during high school, in Houston. He has an interesting take on my (our) home state:
I’ve always noted that Texans have a curious mix of intellectualism, anti-intellectualism, classical, and romantic. It’s a state where for every Truck driver who barely speaks English, there’s one who can engage in serious discussion of how rent control has destroyed Yankee cities and why it will never happen in Texas (an actual conversation I’ve had…).
The near absolute faith in individual freedom and personal responsibility produce a healthy skepticism for many intellectual fashions du jour (often portrayed as originating from the badlands of the Northeast or California; or even worse, their intellectual parents in Europe). One would have to imagine that the lifespan of a of an overly loud Chomsky-ite at the Texas A&M campus would be nasty, brutish, and short.
My brilliant son-in-law, Bogey, is an intellectual hairy New-Yorker (at least that’s how I always introduce him). But he is quick to say he got to Texas as fast as he could. I think much of that is with tongue firmly in cheek. They live in Austin and seem to be very happy about their location. He’s also a phenomenal guitarist, and far better on mandolin than I ever could be on guitar after some forty years of trying. He epitomizes exactly what Vinod is talking about. Bogey can play head-banger, Dylan, or bluegrass–your choice. He’s also a techno-geek. And he’s not out of place anywhere in Austin. In fact, the people of Texas are all pretty diverse, and he fits right in.
My favorite Texas-ism — every can of Lone Star beer is brandished with the motto “the National beer of Texas.” I also recall reading that Texas is the most popular place cited in Music (due in no small part to the sheer volume of country music out there).
I prefer Shiner Bock, myself. I’m not much of one for clear beer.
For those of you who think you understand those of us in the Red States, take a look at what Vinod had to say about Texans. I’m sure the folks in the rest of fly-over country feel their homes are similar, and people there have the same kind of diversity and values.
Almost.
It certainly is odd being referred to as “intellectual” or “brilliant” by anyone, but I’ll take it. I was always just, to use a tired cliché, book smart. High grades and test scores usually came with little or no effort, and even though (owing to the nature of my work) I’m a decent problem solver these days, I still don’t consider myself much of a thinker. I appreciate the compliments, though, particularly the musical ones! I’m not quite sure how I “epitomize exactly what Vinod is talking about,” though… I certainly hope that I demonstrate the “faith in individual freedom and personal responsibility,” because that’s how I really feel at the heart of things. And it’s something I definitely love about Texas.
I’m really put off, though, by the absolute disdain for academia that I see as an intrinsic part of the Republican message these days. Smells dangerous. That statement of Vinod’s about skepticism for “intellectual fashions du jour” seems innocuous, but I’m concerned that this kind of label is used to dismiss established facts or other perfectly reasonable points of view for political convenience.
Comment by Bogey — December 3, 2004 @ 12:51 pm
BTW, how come you got rid of the link back to the homepage wrapped around your header graphic? It’s gone as of a few days ago.
Comment by Bogey — December 3, 2004 @ 1:19 pm
Don’t know…I did the auto-upgrade of WP, and the template reverted back to their default. I had to put in a little effort last night straightening out links, etc, last night, and that’s something I missed.
“faith in individual freedom and personal responsibility” is a good thing, something lacking in the academic world in many ways–to answer another of your points. I feel fortunate to have been in an engineering program where the professors were experienced in something other than education. A world-view is missing from the halls of colleges in many areas. Yes, there are definitely fine professors out there. And there are many more who take advantage of their position. And they can, because there is no danger to them–kinda like any other government employment. Once in, always in.
Comment by Bunker — December 3, 2004 @ 3:32 pm
All perfectly valid points, but the problem I’m seeing is that the attitude that’s being thrown around is along the lines of “no academic types have anything of value to add to any discussion, ever.” You are willing to state that there are fine professors out there, but a whole herd of other bloggers don’t seem to be.
Comment by Bogey — December 3, 2004 @ 4:22 pm
Perhaps you’re right about other bloggers. Excuse the fog my brain is in right now but I’ve been trying to get a test cell correlated all day, and deal with visitor issues and contracting! I intend to write something on this topic this evening.
By the way, you are pretty brilliant–in a liberal Yankee sort of way!
Comment by Bunker — December 3, 2004 @ 5:08 pm
I think the reason that people are so incensed about the role of liberal acedemia these days is that there is a blanket of hypocracy that is becoming ever more noticeable. While proclaiming to be enlightened to all points of view on every subject, it is amazing how many professors try to stifle any dissenting discussion. Not just in the classroom, but at campus speaking events. They encourage students to often times vandalize or steal things to prevent other views from being expressed. One problem is that there is little disciplinary action taken against such people, and sometimes the administrations seem to encourage such “dissent.”
As a young conservative on a liberal arts campus enrolled in the education department, I saw my share of this (too many examples to list here). My wife was almost driven out of a womyn’s study class because she thought there was value in an educated woman staying at home with her children. (I have to brag a little bit on her and say that she has proven herself more than right on that subject with our son.) But clearly, I had a great number of liberal professors who kept political statements to themselves when they were teaching–including a socialist Franco-phile history professor–and limited it to speaking events on specific subjects arranged by on-campus groups.
I think the real problem arises when professors in art class discuss the plight of Palestinians, etc. In effect students are paying for their time (thanks, Bunker, for mine) and should receive the instruction they are paying for.
Comment by Slice — December 3, 2004 @ 5:29 pm
Other bloggers and, more importantly, Republican politicians… looking forward to seeing what you write about it tonight or this weekend.
Anyway, I still have to wonder what gets you calling me liberal. You might say I’m a social liberal, but I’d rather just call that side of my worldview libertarian. And I don’t think you can’t call me a fiscal liberal at all, especially if you look at federal-level stuff. I think I’m more like you in that I’d much rather see a federal govt that does exactly what the Constitution says it does and not one thing more… Which would mean the complete elimination of a whole lot of federal agencies and a lot of spending that I don’t think is the government’s responsibility.
As for being a Yankee, well, I didn’t have any more control over where I was born than I did over to whom I was born!
Comment by Bogey — December 3, 2004 @ 5:46 pm
Whoops, unintentional double negative.
Comment by Bogey — December 3, 2004 @ 5:48 pm
Almost hate to interfere in a family conversation, but my husband & I have to 2nd Bogey’s sentiment, “We got here as soon as we could!”
Excellent sites, Bunker. Thanks for the link. Shared it with a pal in SoCal who is tired of living amongst the kooks and is getting ready to retire!
Comment by DagneyT — December 3, 2004 @ 5:49 pm
Slice’s comment got caught up in moderation during a storm of spam. Now in play.
You’re welcome, son.
Comment by Bunker — December 3, 2004 @ 6:57 pm
Great comment, Slice. It’s nice to see some of the points backed up with real experience. I guess this is where all the difference in our perspectives lies:
Comment by Bogey — December 4, 2004 @ 9:16 am
Ya’ll used so pretty damn big words up in here. All I can say is “God bless Texas”.
Comment by Birdie — December 4, 2004 @ 6:54 pm