I have often wondered the same thing. We could build the Battleship Missouri and the Hoover Dam...could we do that again?
The greatest engineering achievements of the 20th Century were the Panama Canal, the Manhattan Project and Project Apollo. We couldn’t do any of those today.
After environmentalists check for endangered insects (not a joke--there is a list) and species, plus impact on environment and climate. And LGBTQ and People of Color are shown to be represented in all levels of worker and management employment. And china and Russia do not go to the UN and demand this escalation stop.
Then go for it.
I have said for a long time that if I were half the man my grandfather was, I’d be twice the man of anyone else.
You’d have to know his history.
But...
We build CVNs that dwarf Iowa class BBs.
Dunno if we could roll armor plate like what protected the Iowa class or make a 16” rifle, though, but that is an industrial issue.
We can’t build a Hoover dam, but that is not because we lack the ability but because we have tied ourselves in knots with regulations.
For instance, I have no doubt we COULD build a transcontinental railroad in six years, if the gub’mint ruthlessly seized the lands necessary (just like the first one...), ignored the lawsuits, and trashed the environmental requirements. The paperwork and lawyering is what holds these things up, these days.
As for the California high-speed rail? That was pure corruption. Its sole reason for existence was to launder taxpayer money though Democrat cronies back to the Democrat party. Whether or not it got built was irrelevant.
We got a lot to regret, but we’re not that poorly off...