A surprising percentage of Americans side with the narrative that some things cannot and should not be thought about or acted on. Guns, including automatic firing capability, should not be controlled. If God allows dozens of crazy men to shoot 20 people at a time, who are we to object? A minority of Americans (about 25%) are against stricter gun control and routinely offer their thoughts and prayers after a mass shooting event.
Likewise, with the weather. Between 15 and 25% of Americans do not believe in global climate change; instead, they slavishly repeat the narrative that America should drill, baby, drill.
As an aside, isn’t it interesting that so many economic and societal issues are controlled by extremist minorities of 15 to 25% of the population?
No one with a normal, healthy limbic system celebrates tragedy. [However, some hate-filled people celebrate when “those other people” suffer.] As of July 15, 2025, the official statistics for the Texas flooding are 101 missing and 133 deaths. The July 4th Guadalupe River flood was horrific, but not entirely random or unforeseen. Nevertheless, we should do everything possible to help those in need. Moreover, we should expect government and non-profit agencies to perform the tasks for which they are funded.
The Guadalupe River has a history of major floods, including notable events in 1936, 1952, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1987, 1991, and 1997. Debates about minimizing the danger to people and property have been ongoing for decades within impacted Texas counties and the Texas legislature.
In 2016, Kerr County officials proposed installing a flood warning system for the river. The estimated cost was $800,000, which is less than a single week’s lobbying expenses for Texas oil companies. However, the Republican-controlled Texas legislature failed to act. They let the bill die.
Implicit in the Texas legislature’s decision is that the lives of rural families were less critical than the State’s apparent inability to control crime. The most significant increase in Texas spending on the budgets between 2024 and 2026 was 43.8% for public safety and criminal justice. The next highest increase in the period was 17.2% for higher education.
The Texas legislature was not the only governmental entity failing to do anything about the loss of life along the Guadalupe River. Kerr County, the center of the flooding, could have voted for warning sirens many times. Moreover, the American Rescue Plan Act, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Biden, provided Kerr County with $10 million to address its flooding issues. Was the problem solved?
Not only was the problem not solved, but the County leaders were urged to reject the funds. Kerr County citizens said the following:
“I’m here to ask this court today to send this money back to the Biden administration, which I consider to be the most criminal, treasonous communist government ever to hold the White House.“
“We don’t want to be bought by the federal government, thank you very much.”
Despite being implored to send the $10 million back to the Federal Government, the county accepted the money…wait for it…wait for it…to spend money on crime suppression (public safety communications and sheriff’s office salaries increases.) Kerr County, like the State of Texas, places a higher priority on fighting crime than saving lives caused by predictable flooding.
I have noticed an interesting trend in states that worry about crime, particularly property crime. Areas with a bimodal population, based on personal wealth, tend to have higher rates of property crime. This is commonsense and well-documented in studies (you can verify this by inputting the following into a good AI: Is there a correlation between a region with a bimodal population, characterized by a high concentration of both rich and poor individuals, and property crime?) I first noticed this phenomenon in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This lovely, idyllic city attracts many wealthy people who are attracted to its ambiance and culture. However, Santa Fe lacks a robust middle class. Instead, it has lots of low-income people who either serve the wealthy or prey on them.
I understand the need to control property crime. However, simply increasing the crime suppression budget by 43.8% is not the answer. The wealthy property owners who control the state legislature and the county government need to find ways to move people from poverty to the laboring and middle classes. They also need to improve public infrastructure and services to enable their citizens to live without fear of unexpected floods, Dust Bowl events, and other weather-related disasters.
Richer, more powerful people currently control the Federal government. Although the current regime came into power by microscopic margins in the US Senate and House, they won because rural areas, like Kerr County, voted for the new MAGA-branded Republican Party. Texas Republicans will undoubtedly tell their supporters that the flooding was “God’s will” and that no one should blame anyone. They will deflect by saying, as they do after every mass shooting, “We should not blame anyone or act rashly. We should offer our thoughts and prayers.“
As uncomfortable as it might be to admit, but Houston, we have a problem. While America took us to the moon, America’s inability to solve simple problems, such as flood alerts and rising property crime, will result in America Becoming Second-Rate Again. Our class structure becomes more unbalanced every day, as more people fall out of the middle class. Those Americans born after 2000 perceive this decline more accurately than older generations who benefited from America’s public goods and services before Reagan, Bush, and Trump.
America has many problems, and they will continue to worsen if a small cadre of wealthy individuals continues to exploit rural America with resentment politics and vapid promises. I end with a blunt quote from one of America’s wealthiest capitalists:
“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Warren Buffett
The truth about the July 4 floods is that many Texans could have been saved if only America valued ordinary people as much as billionaires.
Those who can only see the world starkly in black or white terms will cry, “That’s communism.” No, it is not communism. I benefited from the Texas of the 1950s and 1960s. America, as a whole, was, in comparison to today, great. There was a growing and vibrant middle class. Working-class children could aspire to the middle class.
Today, young people from the middle class struggle to maintain their parents’ social status. Lower-class individuals, both young and old, are primarily concerned about food and housing. In the meantime, the wealthy classes do not worry about anything but expanding their power and wealth. They no longer pay their fair share of taxes, and they are not constrained in the quest to control the country.
Bullseye! Truer words have never been spoken! It’s really sad that money sent to Kerr county for an alarm system was wasted after fueling paranoia about crime. Unfortunately the state has often done the same with this type of federal funding lately often wanting to spend it on a worthless wall.