as a texan i cannot help but wonder what the hell happened to my state after the polycrisis
2030s: declare independence from crumbling federal government. your first act as an independent nation: declare war on Mexico. You quickly learn that the Polycrisis was mostly an American thing and Mexico's actually doing okay. Watch in horror as the Free Texan Army is ground down to a nub in the Davis mountains, constantly harassed by both better-organized and better-equipped Mexican soldiers and a strong network of irregulars using a combination of local geographical knowledge and high-tech drone ambush tactics. In response, you open a second front to the North and start invading former USAmerican territory.
2040s: The second front actually goes pretty well and you expand until you once again reach fierce resistance from both the Kingdom of Acadiana-Orleans in the northeast and Greater Dinetah in the northwest. Sue for peace, gaining northern territory but also forced to cede southwestern territory to create the new buffer state of the Rio Bravo Republic. Oh well, now you can focus on expanding your economy and-
2050s: so the oil wells have dried up and your agricultural sector has been ravaged by global warming. but enough of your technology and high-tech manufacturing sectors have survived that you're able to keep the lights on through sheer inertia.
2060s: Become a founding member of the Usonian Union despite half of your population says the UU is a globalist conspiracy to turn the USA into atheist communists and half of the population is buying Sunny Roosevelt sissy hypno ASMR (it's the same half in both cases). Your current state governor is Nimby Slim, whose top political priority is "the Muslims have built a secret base on the moon." When asked to send a representative to the Usonian neo-congress, he sent a Ram 3500.