Dude...I'm a New Englander...grew up in RI and moved to MA a few years ago.

I'm on my last of nine nights in Texas...2 in Houston, 3 in Austin, 2 in Dallas, and then 2 more in Houston. Drove (by EV) between all three.

I...kind of get it. Like, historically, the south had essentially only had slavers, the church, and oil barons, as their leaders. All three clearly have an agenda. Very little in the realm of esteemed intellectuals or prestigious universities that call the region "home" (compared to RI and MA who have several Ivy Leagues between them).

That's centuries of ignorance to breed in. And I kind of get how it even continues these days. There's a spot in Houston where there's a "#1 Most Trusted News" billboard for The Epoch Times on the highway, about a mile and a half away from the Joel Osteen megachurch. They are continuing to be brainwashed by bad actors seeking to control them, and it remains effective due to still having little counterbalance. And Houston as a whole is a dystopian hell scape when it comes to the concrete jungle of a highway and the sheer number of billboard and signage. There was a stretch where I was seriously overstimulated by the sheer quantity of them in sight.

In fact, I wouldn't doubt if the current economic disparity, combined with many communities and cities now being majority-minority and fueled by said bad actors, is largely responsible for the "return to the good ol' days" style of conservative racism.

I've got some hope. I visited some amazing museums (honestly HMNS and the Perot are now some of the most impressive museums I've ever been to). This has been the most educational vacation we've ever been on - the aforementioned museums, plus Space Museum, the Vintage Toy Museum in Austin, some of the art displays around Austin (like this badass), and the Houston Zoo (and their historical posters in the educational building near the meerkats, that shows off how animal treatment at the zoo had evolved since it's founding). Hell even though we had our kids with us, my wife still got a chance to experience Austin nightlife on her own, walking ~15 minutes (alone at night and feeling totally safe) to a gay bar. Even saw signs for drag shows/brunch (albeit in Austin and Deep Ennis).

And in all the driving between the cities, although it was mostly highway, I only spotted one property with Trump signage. I don't think I saw a single bumper sticker or flag (or pseudo-maga like Thin Blue Line or Let's go Brandon), which is even more than I can say about RI and MA.

Yeah, it sucks that there's about a 75 mile stretch between Huntsville and Houston where you can't find a CCS fast charger within spitting distance of the highway (there's a Buc-ees but it only has Tesla Superchargers)..or that they are almost always in the most distant parking spots and completely uncovered (despite Texas's quite intense weather). But at least the whole drive was doable without much stress.

And it sucks that Buc-ees and Road Ranger are both still using Styrofoam cups at their soda fountains. I honestly didn't even think they still made those. No wonder they are so upset about paper straws... Those legitimately suck, even I, a liberal vegan yank, hate them. But they are still using Styrofoam.

But I've still got hope. And I'm a little infatuated with the idea of moving to Austin.