Thinking Big

Last night I watched a Nova  episode on PBS about the construction of a new railroad tunnel under the streets of London. The technical aspects of the undertaking were truly remarkable, and the cost was astronomical, but there were long term benefits to the people of London that will last for hundreds of years.

This morning I had to go to Huntersville give platelets. I left my house at 6:20 and arrived at the Red Cross at 7:10. The traffic was terrible all the way, and the view of I-77 as I crossed it was appalling.
But, this post is not a rant about traffic, instead it is a lament about our country's future.

I look around at the rest of the world, England, China, Dubai, Korea, Japan, you name them, they are moving forward, while we seem to be standing still, or even going backwards. While other countries build huge bridges, fast rail systems, modern bridges and highways, we debate how and if we should spend money simply to repair our aging infrastructure .

While almost every civilized country in the world recognizes the necessity of universal health care, our congress bends over backwards to destroy the meager program the Obama administration ushered in.

After World War Two, veterans were offered a free college education, in the sixties segregated schools were abolished. Today, students rack up huge debts for a college education to get a job that pays no better than high school education level jobs of the fifties and sixties. Segregation has been reestablished under the guise of neighborhood, private and charter schools.

It seems we can no longer think big. Our nation has become mired in the swamp of conservatism. The mantra of the conservatives is to cut taxes and deny benefits to the sick, poor, and uneducated, and to hold on to whatever assets and and advantages they have, and to hope that their advantages will endure. As long as they have a good job and employer paid health insurance, or are independently wealthy and can afford all the health care they need, what good does it do them to provide for others. After all, as I have quoted Voltaire often in the past, "the comfort of the rich requires an abundant supply of the poor".

The only area where we make big strides is in our military. It's not enough that we have, by far, the most advanced and expensive military in the world, we must increase our military might at the expense of the well being of our citizens. But what good is an axe if there are no trees to fell. Our military adventurism has burdened our country and the world with the casualties of war. In the end, our military will not protect us from ourselves.