Steve Crosson

Businesspeople know that Texas is a great place for enterprise of all types. The explanation of why this is so includes the obvious (relatively low rates of taxation, the paucity of union influence, the pro-business stance of government, and so on). However, such explanations don’t go to the heart of what makes the Lone Star State unique.

There is definitely something special about Texas. I have heard this said throughout the United States, as well as in Asia and in Europe. Most recently, a rather droll shopkeeper in Prague became quite animated when I told him where I was from. His inquisitiveness about Texas was astonishing, as he asked question after question.

So how do we explain this “it” factor? I believe that “it” is attributable to the collective ethos of Texans. The archetypal Texan has a strong sense of independence, infinite possibility, and perseverance in the face of adversity. We view failure as evidence of a willingness to try, not as an irredeemable fault.

Texans have big hearts and a willingness to help others. However, they chafe at being forced to do so by governmental edict. Most important, the Texas ethos is one of individual responsibility.

All of us were required to read works of Ralph Waldo Emerson in school. I recommend a second reading, particularly his essay entitled, “Self-Reliance.” Although written in the style of an earlier time, it will resonate with Texans, particularly Texas businesspeople. An excerpt:

“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.”

I am not so naïve to belief that all Texas residents hold such views. Indeed, people from many places continue to migrate here in large numbers, bringing with them different experiences and viewpoints.

As a fourth generation Texan, I fervently hope that the “it” factor will not only survive but strengthen. “It” makes the state special. Emerson would wholeheartedly agree.

Steve Crosson is chairman and CEO of Crosson Dannis Inc., which provides real estate appraisal and consultation services. He also serves as chairman and editor in chief of The Appraiser Journal.