Just because Ted Cruz is a galactic-scale asshole doesn't mean that Texas doesn't need help.

I see people describing a massive statewide power outage as "inconvenient".

When we lost power during fire season for a week because of PG&E's ineptitude, that was inconvenient. It was hot, smoky, and generally bad. But, we could drive a bit and get warm food and cell service.

It's a different thing when it's cold. If you live in Austin or Houston, it's below freezing and the roads are iced over. You're not going anywhere. If you don't have a fireplace and firewood, you're sitting in a cold, dark house, praying for the power to come back on.

If the power doesn't come back soon, in the next 24-48 hours, the backups for cell towers will start going offline.

Theree will be a lot of people, trapped in their houses, desperately trying to stay warm, waiting for power with no idea when it will come back.

If you haven't had it happen to you, the feeling you get when previously reliable infrastructure fails not just you, but everyone around you, is really, really bad.

When it's because of a natural disaster, that feels bad too, but you can see everyone working together to fix it.

This isn't a natural disaster or a technological failure. This is an economic, ideological, and political failure. And millions of people are at risk because of it.

More avoidable disasters of this scale are coming if we don't start addressing the failings of the 20th century.

TLDR: It's time to tax the shit out of the wealthy to pay for all the stuff we've been neglecting for the last 40 years. Infrastructure, education, health care, and a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting.