A conservative business environment, one that favors the growth and expansion of tech businesses should not be confused with a conservative social environment. A conservative business environment is one where government intervention in businesses through regulation is minimized. Government intervention in the affairs of businesses should be limited to action necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. Failure to regulate effectively can produce catastrophic results. The failure of the ERCOT power grid in February 2021 is a perfect example of the failure of Abbott to plan and guard against just such an occurrence. The catastrophe of February 2021 could have been avoided had Abbott only headed the warnings given him when he first took office. Failure to take action to protect Texas agriculture from a repeat of the drought of 2011 is another catastrophe in the making. The high-tech industry does not offer up the same risk to the health, safety and welfare of the public as the ERCOT grid (or even Texas agriculture) does. Intrusive government regulation should be discouraged. This would be a conservative business environment and one that I support. A conservative social environment on the other hand leads to restrictions on individuals. Consider individuals that make up the high-tech work force. A conservative social environment, like one found in Saudi Arabia, would draw significant protests from high tech workers should a high-tech company announce a move there. One of Texas’ strengths is that it is a conservative state. But, by enacting laws that are socially restrictive, the blue and white collar workers in the high-tech industry are likely to become disgruntled. It’s not like moving to Saudia Arabia, but you get the point. The most significant concern is that the legislation signed into law were overt acts of restrictions on individuals. The attack on women’s rights and on voting rights. Couple those actions with the ridiculous claims by right wing extremists, as well as radical right members of the Texas House and Senate attacking the presidential election results of 2020 and you get a clear signal that individual’s liberties are at risk. None of those actions by the elected republicans, was taken for the health, safety or welfare of the public, they were taken merely to further their conservative agenda against individuals. These actions lead to unhappy workers, unhappy workers lead to unhappy employers. This is not good for the Texas economy or the Texas blue and white collar middle class.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.