AND IT WILL REMAIN UNDONE IF THE REPUBLICANS HAVE THEIR WAY
Today, Japan has the most extensive high-speed train network in the world. Most industrialized nations have managed one way or another to incorporate high speed rail in their infrastructure. It IS not just the Japanese…we see it throughout Europe: Spain, Britain, Germany and of course the French TGB. Unthinkable that even the Chinese have them leaving the United States lagging far behind a couple of decades.
I am going to go out on a limb here and make some claims that I am sure a lot of people are going to disagree with. I don’t think that it is due to the lack of technology, the lack of resolve, the lack of vision, or even the lack of funding that prevents us from building a high speed rail system similar in scope as to what President Eisenhower did when he began the ambitious INERSTATE road system.
No, those reasons are not the cause of our lagging behind; the real reason is that there is a concerted effort by the ultra-right ideologues and the super rich…which of course includes the almighty powerful corporations to curtail any kind of relief, comfort, services or jobs for the middle class and the poor. Why do they want for the rest of us to suffer the misery of riding a train for hours or not having a job, or even lose our houses and our retirement accounts? The answer is simply this: The more unemployed, the more desperate the general population is, the more that business can demand of its workers. The salaries will certainly decrease and desperate people will take just about any job available for peanuts just to be able to survive. CAN YOU SAY SWEAT SHOPS? Simple isn’t it? You might say it is even perverse and I say not only it is but it also downright immoral and unpatriotic.
Therefore, it is not unreasonable to think that a political party that represents special interests and the very rich and corporations is opposing any kind of safety nets, health care, and even the most basic of them all: PUBLIC EDUCATION. Do you really think that a group of people who wants to eliminate public education would do anything to create or promote the development of a HIGH SPEED RAIL system? I propose to you that they don’t…they really could give a shit if Joe Blow spends one hour getting to the airport, two hours to go through security and another two hours in a flight and then some once he got to his destination…between the plane stuck in the runway, getting off and walking through a mile and a half of corridors lined with gates and another half hour if not more to reclaim the luggage. All this could be done in two or three hours by HIGH SPEED RAIL as it is done in Japan or Europe.
People in those places will only fly when it is worth it to them in terms of time and money. If you live in France it would be foolish to fly to Lyon; If you live in Barcelona it would be crazy to fly to Madrid, and so on. Driving when there is a more viable alternative is a no-brainer. America has always been at the forefront of technology and advancement is no more…we are left behind…far behind because the special interests would much rather see a miserable general public consuming gasoline than to develop something for the 21st century that would also create jobs and prosperity.