So this is a very special video for me,

所以這是一個對我來說很特別的視頻。

because as I'm sure many of you already know, I live in Texas, and have lived here for nearly my entire life.

因為我相信你們很多人都已經知道，我住在德克薩斯，而且在這裡住了將近一輩子。

So, naturally, I've always wondered what Texas would be like if it was actually its own independent country.

所以，我自然一直在想，如果德州真的是自己的獨立國家，會是什麼樣子。

It used to be one once for a quick point in history between 1836 and 1846

在1836年到1846年之間，它曾經是一個快速的歷史點。

before it got annexed by the United States.

在它被美國吞併之前。

But what would this independent Texas look like today if it ever happened?

但如果這一切發生，今天這個獨立的德州會是什麼樣子呢？

First of all, Texas basically gets second place in everything inside the U.S.

首先，在美國境內，德州基本上什麼都能拿到第二名。

It has the second largest population behind California,

它是僅次於加州的第二大人口。

the second largest economy, also behind California,

第二大經濟體，也僅次於加州。

and the second largest area behind Alaska.

也是僅次於阿拉斯加的第二大區域。

But that doesn't mean that Texas is small,

但這並不意味著德州小。

the Texan population stands at 28,305,000 people,

德州人口為2830.5萬人。

which would make it the 50th most populous country in the world, ahead of a lot bigger countries like Australia.

這將使其成為世界上人口最多的第50個國家，領先於澳洲等很多大國。

While Texas is much smaller than Australia in terms of land, it's much bigger than any country in Europe is except for Russia.

雖然德克薩斯的國土面積比澳洲小得多，但比歐洲除了俄羅斯之外的任何一個國家都要大得多。

Texas is so big on a European scale that you could fit all of Poland inside of it

德州在歐洲範圍內是如此之大，以至於你可以把整個波蘭都裝進去。

and still have room to drive around the edges.

並仍有餘力在邊緣行駛。

The town of Texarkana in the east is closer to Chicago, Illinois than to the city of El Paso on the western side of Texas.

東部的德克薩卡納鎮比德克薩斯州西部的埃爾帕索市更接近伊利諾伊州的芝加哥。

If it was independent, Texas would be the 39th largest country in the world in terms of land area.

如果獨立，按土地面積計算，德克薩斯將是世界上第39大國家。

But the final big thing about Texas is its economy.

但德州的最後一大特點是經濟。

The Texan economy stands currently at a GDP of 1.599 trillion U.S. dollars.

德州經濟目前的GDP為1.599萬億美元。

This is enormous and would make Texas the 11th largest economy in the world,

這是巨大的，將使德克薩斯成為世界第11大經濟體。

beating out other giant countries like South Korea, Russia, and Australia again.

又擊敗了韓國、俄羅斯、澳洲等其他巨頭國家。

Big companies like American Airlines, AT&T, Dell, and Exxon Mobil

美國航空公司、AT&T、戴爾和埃克森美孚等大公司。

all have headquarters currently located in Texas, which dramatically adds to this economic power.

目前，所有的總部都設在德州，這極大地增加了這種經濟實力。

Texas is probably one of the few U.S. states that actually could succeed as an independent country,

德克薩斯可能是美國為數不多的幾個真正能夠成功成為一個獨立國家的州之一。

and here are a few reasons why:

這裡有幾個原因。

First, it has a coast, and therefore access to the world's shipping routes.

首先，它有一個海岸，是以可以進入世界的航道。

Houston is the 8th busiest port in the United States and already has shipping routes connected with

休斯敦是美國第8大最繁忙的港口，已經有航運線路與

Brazil, the Netherlands, Germany, India, and China.

巴西、荷蘭、德國、印度和中國。

Second, Texas is what's called a Tax-Donor state,

其次，德州是所謂的捐稅州。

meaning that the Texan state government sends more money to the federal government

意思是說，德克薩斯州政府給聯邦政府送去更多的錢。

than it receives back in benefits.

比它收到的福利還多。

For every one dollar that Texas sends to Washington, it receives back just 94 cents.

德州每向華盛頓寄去一美元，它只收到94美分的回報。

This means that Texas could fund all of their current government expenditures

這意味著德克薩斯州可以為他們目前所有的政府開支提供資金。

and still have enough left over to generate a nice budget surplus.

並仍有足夠的剩餘來產生一個不錯的預算盈餘。

Compared with other states like Mississippi,

與密西西比等其他州相比。

who gets three dollars back from the federal government for every one dollar they send,

他們每送一美元，就能從聯邦政府那裡拿回三美元。

Texas would be in a great financial situation at first upon becoming independent.

德州獨立後，一開始的財政狀況會很好。

The final reason Texas would be self-sustainable is energy.

德州會自給自足的最後一個原因是能源。

Let's switch over to a map of the U.S. electrical grid to see how that's the case.

讓我們換成美國電網地圖來看看是怎麼一回事。

There are only three main power grids in the mainland United States that the U.S. operates:

美國大陸只有三個主要的電網，美國營運。

The western grid, the eastern grid, and the Texan grid.

西部電網、東部電網和德克士電網。

Texas has its own fully independent electrical grid that wouldn't be influenced by the rest of the U.S.

德州有自己完全獨立的電網，不會受到美國其他地區的影響。

If another state like, say, New Mexico decided to leave

如果另一個州，比如說，新墨西哥州決定離開。

the rest of the U.S. could just shut off that part of the grid and deny them electrical access.

美國其他地區可以直接關閉這部分電網，不讓他們用電。

Not so with Texas. But here's the really interesting part:

德州就不一樣了。但這裡是真正有趣的部分。

Back in 1840, Texas used to be a lot bigger,

在1840年的時候，德克薩斯曾經大了很多。

back then, it claimed about half of modern New Mexico,

當年，它佔據了現代新墨西哥州的一半。

and also chunks of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and even as far north as Wyoming.

還有俄克拉荷馬州、堪薩斯州、科羅拉多州，甚至最北邊的懷俄明州的大塊地區。

If, for some reason, the modern Texas was expanded back to this territory today

如果因為某種原因，現代的德州又被擴大到了今天這塊領土上。

it wouldn't really add as much as you think.

它不會真的增加那麼多，因為你認為。

The population would only go up by a little over 1.2 million people,

人口只會增加120多萬人。

because besides the towns of Santa Fe in New Mexico and Pueblo in Colorado,

因為除了新墨西哥州的聖菲鎮和科羅拉多州的普埃布洛鎮之外。

most of this extra land is pretty rural.

這些額外的土地大多是相當農村。

But back in 1840, the entirety of Texas was even more rural.

但在1840年的時候，整個德克薩斯更是農村。

Back then, the entire population of Texas was an incredible 70,000 people,

當年，整個德州的人口竟然有7萬人。

basically the size of a small suburb of either Dallas or Houston is today.

基本上相當於今天達拉斯或休斯頓的一個小郊區的大小。

The only settlements you can see on maps from back then

你能在當時的地圖上看到的唯一的定居點

were San Antonio, Houston, and Santa Fe, which were all basically islands of people

是聖安東尼奧、休斯敦和聖菲，它們基本上都是人的島嶼

separated by hundreds, or thousands of kilometers of open and unpopulated land.

被幾百公里、甚至幾千公里的開闊地和沒有人煙的土地所分隔。

Texas has changed dramatically since then in just a little over one and a half centuries,

從那時起，德州在短短一個半世紀的時間裡發生了巨大的變化。

from a rural backwater on the fringes of the world to an economic powerhouse home to tens of millions.

從一個地處世界邊緣的農村落後地區發展成為擁有數千萬人口的經濟強國。

But there's one more thing that we haven't touched on yet, and that's if Texas could actually legally do this.

但還有一件事我們還沒有觸及，那就是德州是否真的可以合法地做這件事。

The answer is a definitive no.

答案是肯定的否定的。

The U.S. government has made it explicitly clear that no states can ever leave the union

美國政府已經明確表示，任何一個州都不能脫離聯邦。

since the last time that was tried didn't really go over so well.

因為上一次試過了，並沒有真正的去那麼好。

This includes Texas, who can never ever hope to compete with the U.S. military.

包括德州在內，他們永遠都無法奢望與美軍抗衡。

Texas does have a pretty weird clause though in its consitution that allows the state to, at any time,

德州確實有一個很奇怪的條款，雖然在它的憲法中，允許州政府在任何時候：

divide itself into five different, smaller states.

分為五個不同的、較小的國家。

Texas doesn't need permission from the U.S. congress to do this,

德州不需要美國國會的許可就能做到這一點。

and it would immediately quintuple their own power in the U.S. senate

並將立即使自己在美國參議院的權力增加五倍。

from having two senators up to ten senators.

從兩名參議員到十名參議員；

This could enable Texas to influence the U.S. government more heavily,

這可以使德克薩斯對美國政府產生更大的影響。

but likely wouldn't help it to achieve independence.

但很可能不會幫助它實現獨立。

The vast majority of people living inside of Texas don't want independence anyway,

反正絕大多數生活在德州里面的人都不希望獨立。

but it's always just fun to speculate.

但它總是隻是有趣的猜測。

The secession of Texas is just one of the many themes of one of my all-time favorites games: Deus Ex.

德州的分離只是我最喜歡的遊戲之一的眾多主題之一。Deus Ex.

It's about a grim future where humans can be technologically enhanced

它講述的是一個殘酷的未來，人類可以在技術上得到增強。

and where every conspiracy theory is more or less true.

而在這裡，每一個陰謀論都或多或少是真實的。

My friends over at Wisecrack just released a video exploring the philosophy of the whole series,

我在Wisecrack的朋友們剛剛發佈了一段視頻，探討了整個系列的理念。

which explores how paranoia and chaos operate in society,

其中探討了偏執和混亂如何在社會中運作。

and whether or not we should all be excited about becoming cyborgs.

以及我們是否都應該為成為網絡人而興奮。

So check it out by clicking here, and tell them that RealLifeLore sent you.

所以點擊這裡查看，並告訴他們RealLifeLore讓你來。

Don't forget to subscribe, and I'll see you next friday for another brand new video then.

不要忘了訂閱，我們下週五再見，屆時會有另一個全新的視頻。