Posted on 06/01/2024 9:04:30 AM PDT by CFW
We were once a nation of builders—from the toll roads and canals of the early nineteenth century and the railroads of the second half of that busy century, to the construction of power, energy, and water systems that were the envy of the world. Even Stalin hired American engineers and planners to build hydroelectric plants and car and other large-scale factories, some planned and developed by people from Detroit.
As Stalin knew, infrastructure is one of the keys to imperial power. Ancient Rome, the imperial dynasties of China, the Mesoamerican empires, the Islamic empire of the Caliphs, the British Empire, and finally our own global imperium all rested on massive infrastructure projects.
In the United States, American ingenuity, usually private but with public assistance, built the world’s largest industrial economy. In the 1930s, we produced the Hoover Dam, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and countless bridges, roads, and other critical infrastructure. When the Second World War broke out, America had the capacity, in a remarkably short time, to become “the Arsenal of Democracy.” Historian Richard Overy notes that “the material explanation for victory” lay largely in America’s relentless productive capacity.
[snip]
Today no one would look at America as a great example of infrastructure development, whether for transportation, energy, or the development of human capital. Once a leader, much of our infrastructure is nearly a century old. Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) produces its Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Roads, ever more important in an era of rapid dispersion, have a grade of “D” even as 91 percent of all non-telework commutes are by car and nearly 45 percent of freight ton-miles are moved by truck.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanmind.org ...
Every politician runs on a platform of "rebuilding our infrastructure" and our representatives repeatedly pass bills into law that are supposed to rebuild roads and bridges. Billions of dollars are dedicated to projects but few are ever actually completed. Remember the infrastructure funding of 2009 and then Obama laughing as he said "it turns out those jobs aren't so 'shovel ready'"?
Most of the money goes to studies, bribes, and graft and the next year more money is demanded to fix roads and bridges.
Several examples are listed in the article including this one:
“But perhaps the award for the most egregious failure belongs to the proposed California high-speed rail line from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Its costs escalated from $33 billion in 2008 to as much as $128 billion today. Given that less than one half of the proposed system is under construction at this point, and not a single shovel has yet been turned on the most challenging sections (which will require extensive tunneling), considerable additional cost escalation would not be surprising. Mandated by state law to provide non-stop San Francisco to Los Angeles service in 2 hours and 40 minutes, the project will now work in a “blended” fashion, mixing with conventional speed trains in parts of the San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan areas.”
Name the last dramatic building project in America. I can’t reminder the last dam we built. The last Chesapeake bay tunnel, the last Golden Gate Bridge, the last St. Louis arch.
In other parts of the world it’s almost common, especially in Asia.
Our enemies have figured out one of the ways to destroy this country ... keep us sedated and distracted.
Our enemies have figured out one of the ways to destroy this country ... keep us sedated and distracted.
Just like they did the Chinese with Opium.
Too many NIMBYs and BANANAs. China don’t care if it inconveniences some fuzzy bunny or snail darter.
We outsourced building to Mexicans, who are not just illegal, but exploited hacks. Do NOT buy a new house without a pre drywall inspection. You will be shocked
Boys raised without at-home fathers become, basically, girls (not that there's anything wrong with that).< eye roll>
If they mean the tracks used by freight trains, those trains are often so long that passenger trains are frequently side-tracked.
The White House announced a $1 billion settlement agreement to dismantle a dozen or so dams in the Pacific Northwest. That's pretty dramatic.
Johnny cannot build because of restrictive & regressive laws, NIMBY, regulations designed to force construction projects to cost way more than they should, & not begun for years after a proposal, union demands, etc. DEI and the rest are just newer restrictions.
He mentions jobs that are coming available and that we need to train people to do those jobs. That’s only half the equation. The other half is having people willing to do the jobs. Most of the types of jobs he is referring to are hard, dirty, sometimes dangerous jobs. Few young people today are interested in getting their hands dirty or working long hours. Sadly, most of the kids I know today do not have any interest in the trades or anything that involves physical exertion. You can’t build a bridge or highway from your mom’s basement on a computer.
The enemies causing this are domestic, not foreign.
Our schools have been dumbed down to accommodate the illegals and other “protected groups.” They can’t even learn 4th grade arithmetic so it’s been phased out of schools.
And we did it all, including building a war machine for other countries, without using the metric system.
The Boston Tunnel, and it was a disaster.
Long Beach commiefornia just built a pretty big bridge.
https://polb.com/port-info/news-and-press/long-beach-international-gateway-bridge-named-08-24-2022/
Any calls for blowing that dam are quickly quieted.
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