Tomlinson: Celebrate Independence Day with diverse ideas and independent thinking
Independence Day #IndependenceDay
Independence Day is when we celebrate the birth of a nation that prioritizes individual liberty over social conformity, which is why it’s so sad that so many Texans want to cleanse our state of politically diverse ideas.
“I have grown weary of your liberal bent. I have often had the same thought: Why don’t you move to a more liberal-friendly state?” Nancy Reese writes.
“If you really hate red Texas, might I suggest you move to a blue state?” Dan Barth asked.
“Hey Chris, move to California or New York,” Rennie Baker ordered.
Those are a sampling from the last few weeks. Never mind that my family has been here since 1849 or that I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Does it matter that I always carried a small Texas flag in my bag while traveling the world for good luck?
My years in the military, including one at Fort Hood, have apparently not earned me the right to live in the land of my birth while holding ideas that critique those in power.
This is not a question of “Texas: Love It or Leave It.” I love my state, and my journalism is born from a patriotic desire to improve my homeland. But critics argue I should kiss the king’s ring or get on a boat for another land.
Didn’t our nation’s founders revolt against that very idea?
The most ironic campaign slogan these days is “Don’t California My Texas,” when Gov. Greg Abbott and every chamber of commerce in the state are trying to recruit California businesses to relocate here. If you convince tens of thousands of Californians to move, don’t be surprised when they start asking why the public schools, universities and health system are so poor.
Wouldn’t it be inhospitable to ask them to leave so soon after we invited them into our home?
The exaltation of the nation, or a specific race, above the rights of the individual is called fascism. When you want to purge your community of anyone who does not fall into lockstep with your autocratic leader, you become a fascist.
Communist governments make similar demands of their citizenry and achieve similar results. The most infamous fascists, after all, called themselves National Socialists. Both systems establish command economies and state-owned industries to consolidate power within a homogenous group.
Diverse democracies have outperformed autocracies every time. By defending individual liberty and self-determination, the United States has defeated fascists and communists to create the world’s wealthiest and most powerful nation.
Diversity in thought and people is the key. Whether it’s gene pools or labor pools, diversity adds strength and resiliency. Whether in the board room or the research lab, diversity boosts performance and innovation.
The Texas economy weathered eight years of depressed oil prices because Republican and Democratic leaders had diversified the economy since the bust of the 1980s. The state’s population is growing while others are shrinking because we welcome immigrants from around the nation and the world who start more new businesses than native-born Texans.
A Texan’s political affiliations or leanings have little impact on their inventions, business plans, medical research or energy development. Every political party can claim a bevy of geniuses and billionaires. Your voting record does not determine your financial success in this country, at least not yet.
The truth be told, Americans care more about the new ethnic restaurant in their neighborhood than politics, anyway.
Texas and our nation are stronger when we treat those who are not like us with respect and even wonderment. We’re all a little wiser when we open our minds to understand why someone thinks differently than we do.
I’ve been lucky enough to live overseas and report from more than 30 countries. I have discussed economics with communists in South Sudan, debated genocide with war criminals in Congo and eaten dinner with al-Qaida leaders in Somalia. I disagreed with them, but I am better for listening to them.
This column will publish while I am visiting Tbilisi for the first time, learning about a remarkable nation at an important global crossroads. I’ll undoubtedly return home with new insights from speaking to Georgians about what it’s like to have Russian troops occupying part of their country.
Our nation is based on the free exchange of diverse ideas, which drives not only our politics but our businesses. This Independence Day, let’s celebrate independent thinking and tolerate the occasionally iconoclastic columnist.
Tomlinson writes commentary about money, politics and life in Texas.
twitter.com/cltomlinson
chris.tomlinson@chron.com