<p>NYSkins - That wasn’t me. The quote is from Austerity not Antarius</p>
<p>I lived in Houston</p>
<p>Rice is in a really nice area</p>
<p>However, being a New Yorker, I can tell you that living in Houston did take a lot of getting used to. At least back then, 30 years ago, it was a blue collar town, not a white collar town. And there were a lot of bible belters. And a lot of non college people.</p>
<p>Antarias:</p>
<p>While the Civil War from a practical standpoint settled the issue of leaving the Union, legally, the issue is not so clear cut. There was a book published once called “The South was right”, which was quite convincing.</p>
<p>Also, you might note that during the war of 1812, it was the northeastern states that wanted to leave the Union. And I don’t remember reading that people at that time argued that legally they couldn’t do it, but I am not sure about that. </p>
<p>And also, there is the argument that different rules apply to Texas, because it was a sovereign country for a couple years before it became a state.</p>
<p>Texas legally could secede as it is in the Texas constitution, could be a useful clause when or if something majorly unconstituitonal or immoral plagues itself in the Federal government. Rick Perry only stated that as a warning, showing that it was getting out of hand politcally at the time. The same way you’d say, “we can turn this car around”. Rice isn’t too southern, but you will find your share, two of my best friends are freshman there, and say that its diverse but you can sometimes feel that “southern vibe”. And ya’ll is a convient word, sounds a lot nice. Also Houston area has a little bit of a lean to the right politically standing, not sure about the college itself.</p>
<p>Antarius — my bad. I thought it was out of character for you to say something like that.</p>
<p>I would make the argument that Houston and Texas are two very different things. There are some ‘Texan’ aspects of Houston culture, but the two have a very different appeal. For example, as a Bostonian, I enjoy living in Houston. The same cannot be said for Lubbock, Waco, Beaumont etc. etc. </p>
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<p>How does morality factor into any of this??</p>
<p>As for Texas, they cannot legally secede. There is no provision in the Texas constitution (or any non-legal documents) that makes a mention of this. Texas does, in theory, have the right to partition itself into 5 different states. This, of course, was countered by Article IV, Section 3 of the US Constitution that states</p>
<p>*New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.</p>
<p>The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States;*</p>
<p>Texas leaving the union will be in direct violation of the United States constitution. So, as powerful and macho as Rick Perry thinks he is, he is grossly misinformed.</p>
<p>@Antarius: “When the governor of Texas believes that his state can secede from the United States, it is very challenging to take Texas seriously.”</p>
<p>If the average non-Texas resident were to assume that, due to the idiocy and hypocrisy of our governor, all Texans are not to be taken seriously, I believe it’d be hard to take their opinion into account. (I didn’t mean that as a passive-aggressive remark toward you, it was geared toward people in general.)</p>
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<li><p>Rick Perry is not serious about secession. I watch Texas politics closely, and the probable reason Rick Perry said that was to appeal to his conservative base, which was becoming discontented with his liberal stances on illegal immigration. Rick Perry started out as a Democrat in the State House. He switched when the conservative wing of the Democratic Party began to desert to the Republican Party. </p></li>
<li><p>Aside from the legality (or not) of secession, isn’t it an accepted principle that people have the right of choosing their government? South Sudan separated from Sudan this year. Everybody agrees they had a right to do it, if a referendum on the question passed. So, why shouldn’t Texans have the same rights as the South Sudanese? </p></li>
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<p>Lastly, when I said that “progressive” was a liberal term that meant the same as the conservative term “the melting pot”, I didn’t mean exactly the same. I meant that conservatives used to hate cultural diversity. Nowadays, progressives want everyone else in America to have the same progressive views, just like conservatives used to demand that everyone step in line with the mainstream culture. After all, if Rice was in Africa, would anyone ask if it had too much black culture? Of course not. I didn’t mean to offend anyone, I just wanted to point something out.</p>
<p>US would never let Texas secede. We don’t need to deal with any more oil-rich, gun-heavy foreign countries run by wackos. Got enough of those already.</p>
<p>Back to the topic. I think if we strip away the political correctness, the OP is asking if Rice is a comfortable place for Northerners, Jews, and other folks not common in the South. It’s a fair question.</p>
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</p></li>
<li><p>I would hope so. He just comes off as sounding misinformed. It is worrisome that people buy into this. (Note: This is entirely about the candidate Rick Perry and has nothing to do with the political parties on either side.)</p></li>
<li><p>The South Sudanese situation is very different. The conflict was based on ethnic lines and has been in constant conflict for the last 50 years. The southern USA has the same situation as the north; everyone can vote and is equally represented.</p></li>
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<p>Texas has the right to choose their government. They did. Some counties like Harris went blue in 2008 while many others were red. Competing and losing an election does not amount to “no representation”</p>
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<p>Absolutely. Rice and Houston are very diverse places.</p>
<p>Having lived in NY and DC for 25 years and then in Dallas for 25 years, from my experience there’s much more closed-mindedness and anti-Texas prejudice in the northeast than anti-liberalism or anti-progressivism or whatever you want to call it in Texas. Life does exist west of the Hudson.</p>
<p>I’ve had the same experience as avetxrs, also with 25 years in the northeast and 24 years in Texas.</p>
<p>On the positive side, that kind of prejudice can only exist as long as it is unchallenged. Mainstream progressives cannot defend a “Regionalist” position, because it is the opposite of progressivism. I think it is mostly ignorance of what the South is really like. If you don’t know what is really like, then it would be easy to assume it is still like the portrayals of the Jim Crow South of the Civil Rights Movement.</p>