I arrived in Muleshoe in 1991 at age 28. The changes to rural Texas have been drastic and rapid. Many of those changes impact both rural and urban areas.
For instance, demographic shifts, declining volunteerism, political division and religious disinterest impact all of society. However, some changes are unique to rural life. Many of these changes are unintended consequences.
Unintended consequences arise from societal choices, legislation, technological advances and more. They may be positive, neutral or negative.
For instance, the invention and proliferation of the cell phone enabled greater freedom in communication and data. An unintended consequence was the loss of privacy.
As Lee Child wrote: “Imagine the uproar if the Federal government tried to make everyone wear a radio transmitter around their neck so we can keep track of their movements. But people happily carry their cell phones in their purses and pockets” (A Wanted Man).
Unintended consequences come in all shapes and sizes.
I want to give you a small sample of the effects of unintended consequences faced in rural living. The issues I describe are not unique to rural Texas, but to rural America.
Speed
I am grateful for the 75 mph speed limit. Most of my hospital visits are 70 miles to the southeast and 100 miles to the northeast. I remember making those trips at 55 mph.
Sen. Phil Gramm argued in favor of raising the speed limit: “Most people traveling from Dallas to Lubbock give up before they get there.”
I am thankful for the additional speed. Higher speed limits allow people and goods to move from population center to population center more quickly. However, the 75 mph speed limit had unintended consequences that radically reshaped rural living.
The 75 mph speed limit allows people to live in urban areas but make a rural living. Farmers and dairymen now can live 100 miles or more from their land. Their families gain the advantage of a variety of shopping and dining, easier access to medical care, private school choices, access to university events and more.
However, a rural community deeply feels the loss of every family that moves to the city. The school system loses good students and involved parents, merchants lose valuable customers and churches lose good members. The 75 mph speed limit enables all of it.
Mechanization
When rural America was settled, there was a family on every 40 acres. As mechanized farming gained traction, fewer people were required to farm the same number of acres. Since the 1960s, the size and scope of farm implements have grown exponentially.
Before performing a funeral in a rural community, a proud deacon gave me a tour of their facility.
“This church was overbuilt the day it was completed. Eight-row equipment changed this part of the country,” he said.
Today, farmers use 24-row equipment. Satellite and cellular technology enable farmers to manage sprinkler systems from anywhere, allowing farmers to live away from their land.
The advances in agriculture feed and clothe billions of people but require fewer workers. Factory and dock workers worry about losing jobs to automation. Those unintended consequences came to the farm decades ago.
Health care
A topic too complicated for this brief article is rural health care. The perils of rural health care are covered extensively in regional and national media.
Rural hospitals struggle daily to provide care and cover expenses. The health professionals who serve rural patients are to be commended for their dedication.
Education
The Texas state legislature is debating a policy called “school choice.” For the last few years, the rural legislators have taken the blame for gumming up the works and denying “school choice.”
Rural school systems will feel the changes in student enrollment quickly. Rural districts are concerned by the potential loss of a valued student and a loss in funding. Every remaining student will feel that loss.
In a city filled with 6-A school systems, there might appear to be an endless supply of students to accommodate every educational circumstance. But in rural America, where every student makes a difference and contributes to the life of the school, the “school choice” debate is personal and will be filled with unintended consequences.
Community
I never would suggest rural challenges are more significant than urban challenges. They’re simply different.
If you gather rural pastors, they will speak of these issues and others. There is a strong commitment and calling among rural pastors. Christ is neither an urban nor rural Savior.
As I write this, I plan to have dinner with a young couple creating a path in the cattle industry. Their life choices are rural choices. They will raise and educate their children, encourage others and serve their Lord in our community. Our job is to ensure they have the fellowship of a Texas Baptist church that nurtures them along the way.
One unintended consequence of their choice is they never will be required to leave early because of the traffic. They may leave early because of snow, but never traffic.
Stacy Conner is pastor of First Baptist Church in Muleshoe. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.
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