The Piteous State Of These United States
Asked recently if the U.S. could build the Hoover Dam today, historian Michael Hiltzik doesn’t hesitate to say that it probably could not.
The Hoover Dam, of course, was built at the depths of the Great Depression, a magnificent monument to modern engineering, the bravery of its fearless hardhat builders and the “Can Do” ethic that not even the depression could vanquish. Today America is not in a depression, far from it, but “Can Do” has been replaced by “Can’t Do,” and while politicians of all parties and stripes share the blame, it is those obdurate Republicans who once again have led the charge in sucking the life out of a key element of the American ethos.
Virtually all economists agree that the way out of the lingering effects of the Bush Recession is to spend big and think big, and with America’s infrastructure literally falling apart (the U.S. ranks 24th, between Malaysia and Taiwan) for the state of its infrastructure) and big projects once on the drawing board now in the dustbin, that is last thing that Congress is about to do.
That is such a pity because millions of unemployed Americans are desperate for work and America today is far wealthier than it was in the 1930s. But, alas, our political class is stricken by cowardice and there are no signs that will change anytime soon.
8 Responses to “The Piteous State Of These United States”
In a somewhat related post, Larison calls out his fellow conservatives on another fallacy they promote – opportunity and mobility in the US. He calls out Ryan for the fool he really is:
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/2011/10/26/paul-ryan-and-social-mobility/
Good points well made Shaun. It’s a shame that all the Republicans are worried is getting rid of President Obama.
Had a Republican type “economic recovery plan” [sic] been adopted in the 30′s there would be no Hoover Dam… Rural Electrification… or any of the multitude of other EPA projects that are benefiting us to this day.
SteveK:
Well said. What we are doing in the U.S. is eating our feed corn, which is to say bartering our future for a sacrifice-free present.
I was trying to find a link to the story, but wasn’t there a recent case of a bridge being built in record time because the bonuses offered by the state were so lucrative the contractor had crews working three shifts & on weekends to getting done as quickly as possible?
With the right motivation, much is possible.
it is those obdurate Republicans who once again have led the charge in sucking the life out of a key element of the American ethos
If Obama were to submit a clean proposal for new hydroelectric dams I doubt he would get much opposition from the GOP.
Not sure if this is the bridge repair you had in mind but whatever bridge it was C.C. Myers was probably running the show.
The man (and his business) have management down to both an art and a science. Some say they break a minute into 90 separate pieces.
Here’s another Myers Miracle: As promised, Bay Bridge reopens well ahead of schedule
That’s the one. Thanks.
I believe it is Rachel Maddow who has blathered stupidly about great public works, or “Infrastructure!” (as with a nearby arch bridge), and tried to push the obviously untrue concept or theme that Washington should undertake mammoth works again.
Smarter folks say, if pushed harder, it is 1930s Western in infatuation with sheer bigness and the power of the state, the most “progressive” examples of which were in Europe.