To the editor:

As millions of people were shivering in the dark after an Arctic blast knocked out much of the Lone Star State’s power system, Mayor Tim Boyd of Colorado City had choice words for his fellow Texans.

“No one owes you or your family anything. … I’m sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout. … Think outside the box to survive.” Individuals who camped out in their frigid homes waiting for help were “lazy.”

For Boyd, the big freeze was survival of the fittest, which no doubt included “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” Sen. Ted Cruz, who went to Mexico with his daughters. Makes you wonder why everyone in Texas didn’t head to a Mexican resort to sit out the storm, a margarita or Corona in hand.

There were few complaints from Texas power companies that have long neglected updating the grid to withstand severe weather conditions. These companies are attempting to recoup lost revenue by raising utility prices on consumers with variable-rate plans who didn’t lose power. One individual who noted his monthly power bill is usually about $660, received a $17,000 bill for the first two weeks of February. As energy rates skyrocketed, one power company executive said the big freeze “was like hitting the jackpot.”

Former governor Rick Perry said Texans would be without power for “longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business.” However, Perry, like so many other rugged individualism capitalists, will have no problem with Texas accepting billions of federal disaster relief dollars.

George J. Bryjak

Bloomingdale