The cost of the war is insignificant in comparison to the amounts that are inefficiently allocated to failing social programs, which can only be classified as more gigantic mistakes and more colossal wastes of resources. At least the war seems to be showing some glimmer of promise after a leadership change. our social security, welfare, and medicare programs continue to fail, and have done so for decades.
Yeah, well keep building them nations and baseball stadiums. That'll solve all our problems.
Even without the war, there has been a problem with infrastructure spending in North America, particularly in areas that are primarily run by the government.
The fact that that more and more of public dollars are being eaten up by "soft services", such as the bureaucracies built up to manage health care, education, welfare and other social services.
As a result, less and less dollars are available to fund "hard services" such as the building of roads and bridges. We've also seen that our electricity grid has failed to keep up with technology, water and sewer services are degrading fast and generating energy (whether clean or dirty) is mismanaged at best.
Unlike the war, nobody in the left or right was ever going to authorize the spending of trillions to fix all this. While I lean toward market-based competition solutions with government enforced oversight and compliance, it's hard to see how we take what we have now and get to the point where we have a thriving market-based solution for a lot of these needs.
In the meantime, cities like Minneapolis will continue to bury the victims of this foolishness.
A market based solution would see only relatively wealthy areas having usable and maintained infrastructure whereas the boondocks would cease to see any progress. This is the way it was before the CCC and the Tennessee River Authority, eg, and much of our national character and development came about after these programs and their conceptual equivalents began to devote NATIONAL resources to LOCAL projects.
What needed to happen, of course, is for people to realize these great projects would need to be maintained, and this wasn't even approached at the time that most of these bridges, dams and roadways were created. It serves no one's interests to make maintenance a commercial activity unto itself since ALL contractual work for such activities are done in the market place. etc etc.
You've got to be kidding. No way would I put a train on that thing!
For real. I know locals who refuse to drive over it, period. And to make things worse, it's sinking. In one of those you-gotta-do-what-you-gotta-do moments, I took a job with a land surveying firm after Katrina. We did some measurements on those huge concrete blocks that hold the struts in place. That sucka is going down!
I'm afraid I have a disability. I am unable to grasp the meaning of incoherent thoughts.
I think it's called Internetitis. Also, if you even read any of the articles I submitted and correlated them to yours and the other toadies comments you'd get the idea of what I'm saying. But I regret there is no cure for either disease.
70,000 bridges are in a state of disrepair. This isn't a partisan issue. The safety and wellbeing of every American is under constant and unncessary threat... and it's not just bridges that are falling apart. Here we have a genuine "national security" issue, but while we remain irrational/paranoid about some "phantom menace", the real problems remain, unaddressed.
The problem is government is trying to do everything it was NOT intended to do...like offer health insurance to all citizens, guaranteed retirement, spending on pork projects, etc...while ignoring what it should be doing: maintaining the infrastructure and providing conditions for basic law and order, defending national security, necessarily regulating, etc.
Well, my government is doing ALL of the above (except the pork projects), and I am happy to pay a lot of taxes for that. Every citizen here is guaranteed of decent infrastructure AND access to decent healthcare AND a basic retirement plan.
Considering the current disaster, the New Orleans floods, the general state of US healthcare/health insurance as well as all the big-city poverty/crime issues, I am just really confused to exactly what you (among many) find wrong with this scenario especially in light of the fact your country is the richer one (per capita income-wise)
Well, my government is doing ALL of the above (except the pork projects), and I am happy to pay a lot of taxes for that. Every citizen here is guaranteed of decent infrastructure AND access to decent healthcare AND a basic retirement plan.
Considering the current disaster, the New Orleans floods, the general state of US healthcare/health insurance as well as all the big-city poverty/crime issues, I am just really confused to exactly what you (among many) find wrong with this scenario especially in light of the fact your country is the richer one (per capita income-wise)
No one is arguing that it is in any way wrong to expect decent infrastructure and access to health care. The problem is that you're already paying multiple times what it costs to provide those services, and throwing more money at the problem isn't really going to help much.
The system is broken, and we simply must find a way to make the various bureaucracies more open, efficient and accountable. Otherwise, things like this will continue to happen.
When inspectors go out and inspect all these bridges every other year or so and identify the problems with these bridges, is it the civil engineering firms that sign-off on the bridge being safe, or is the state government that makes the final decision on the safety of the bridges?
If it is the state governments that make the decision I think that is a mistake. Because they are not going to be as concerned about the safety of the bridges as they are going to be worried about the cost of replacing the bridges. In my opinion the analysis of the inspections should be made by an independent firm and the states should be forced to act on the decision of the analyzing firm.
Don't you think you could reserve your stupid glee for another thread? They are still taking bodies out of the water.
Im not cheering the death of the people.
But im terribly sorry if I actually dont care about them all that much. In other news (incase you missed it) pulling some guesstimated numbers off the top of my head, 100 people died in Iraq TODAY, 500 people died because of flooding in Asia TODAY. 1000 people died TODAY in Sudan, 5000 people died of malnutrition in the 3rd world TODAY.
So in context, did you spare a thought TODAY for the thousands of people who died becuase no-one gives a fuck about them? Probably not.
Yet if a few Americans drive off a bridge that could have been replaced, lest the money that could have done it, been spent killing other people, and OMFG its a national disaster.
Like I said, Im not cheering the deaths of the people who were on that bridge. Im cheering the enivatible reward of policies of greed and corruption.
But im terribly sorry if I actually dont care about them all that much. In other news (incase you missed it) pulling some guesstimated numbers off the top of my head, 100 people died in Iraq TODAY, 500 people died because of flooding in Asia TODAY. 1000 people died TODAY in Sudan, 5000 people died of malnutrition in the 3rd world TODAY.
This is just ignorant. Americans and other countries have given billions to feed Africa but the problem is that most of it is lost to corrupt governments and roving gangs. We have attempted to solve the hunger problem in Africa. If you think that the military can't stabilize the roving gangs in Iraq, why would you think we could do better in Africa?
Americans have also attempted to help Iraqis even if in a foolish on not well thought out way. It is hard to imagine but it COULD HAVE turned out well in Iraq if the Iraqi politicians could have made some compromises with each other and Iraqis didn't support attacks on each other.
Is the U.S. responsible for the gangs that systematically rape and kill going around countries like the Sudan? You'll probably find some conspiracy theory as to why we are.
America may not be perfect but we have attempted to solve the above intractable problems. To blame it all on the U.S. and say "Nobody gives a fuck about them" is absurd.
This is just ignorant. Americans and other countries have given billions to feed Africa but the problem is that most of it is lost to corrupt governments and roving gangs. We have attempted to solve the hunger problem in Africa. If you think that the military can't stabilize the roving gangs in Iraq, why would you think we could do better in Africa?
Americans have also attempted to help Iraqis even if in a foolish on not well thought out way. It is hard to imagine but it COULD HAVE turned out well in Iraq if the Iraqi politicians could have made some compromises with each other and Iraqis didn't support attacks on each other.
Is the U.S. responsible for the gangs that systematically rape and kill going around countries like the Sudan? You'll probably find some conspiracy theory as to why we are.
America may not be perfect but we have attempted to solve the above intractable problems. To blame it all on the U.S. and say "Nobody gives a fuck about them" is absurd.
Actually, I think he is pointing out that he believes American lives are not worth more than the lives of people elsewhere. Not blaming America for these other people dying.
...pulling some guesstimated numbers off the top of my head, 100 people died in Iraq TODAY, 500 people died because of flooding in Asia TODAY. 1000 people died TODAY in Sudan, 5000 people died of malnutrition in the 3rd world TODAY.
So in context, did you spare a thought TODAY for the thousands of people who died becuase no-one gives a f--k about them? Probably not.
You're obviously confusing me with your ignorant self. I personally know people involved in relief work in all three causes you pulled out of your head.
It's important to remember that while self-obsessed astrology buffs try to score cheap points by claiming how concerned they are for the world's helpless, it's mostly the religious folks you deride who leave their homes and families, travel thousands of miles and risk life and limb to try to stop the hurting.
But hey, mock outrage on an internet forum is just as helpful, right?
You're obviously confusing me with your ignorant self. I personally know people involved in relief work in all three causes you pulled out of your head.
It's important to remember that while self-obsessed astrology buffs try to score cheap points by claiming how concerned they are for the world's helpless, it's mostly the religious folks you deride who leave their homes and families, travel thousands of miles and risk life and limb to try to stop the hurting.
Re. "religious folks", are you including all faiths..... or just adherents to "Judæo-Christianity"?
Comments
The cost of the war is insignificant in comparison to the amounts that are inefficiently allocated to failing social programs, which can only be classified as more gigantic mistakes and more colossal wastes of resources. At least the war seems to be showing some glimmer of promise after a leadership change. our social security, welfare, and medicare programs continue to fail, and have done so for decades.
Yeah, well keep building them nations and baseball stadiums. That'll solve all our problems.
As usual, Sammi's way off.
Even without the war, there has been a problem with infrastructure spending in North America, particularly in areas that are primarily run by the government.
The fact that that more and more of public dollars are being eaten up by "soft services", such as the bureaucracies built up to manage health care, education, welfare and other social services.
As a result, less and less dollars are available to fund "hard services" such as the building of roads and bridges. We've also seen that our electricity grid has failed to keep up with technology, water and sewer services are degrading fast and generating energy (whether clean or dirty) is mismanaged at best.
Unlike the war, nobody in the left or right was ever going to authorize the spending of trillions to fix all this. While I lean toward market-based competition solutions with government enforced oversight and compliance, it's hard to see how we take what we have now and get to the point where we have a thriving market-based solution for a lot of these needs.
In the meantime, cities like Minneapolis will continue to bury the victims of this foolishness.
Ding, ding, ding!!! We have a winner.
Nick
A market based solution would see only relatively wealthy areas having usable and maintained infrastructure whereas the boondocks would cease to see any progress. This is the way it was before the CCC and the Tennessee River Authority, eg, and much of our national character and development came about after these programs and their conceptual equivalents began to devote NATIONAL resources to LOCAL projects.
What needed to happen, of course, is for people to realize these great projects would need to be maintained, and this wasn't even approached at the time that most of these bridges, dams and roadways were created. It serves no one's interests to make maintenance a commercial activity unto itself since ALL contractual work for such activities are done in the market place. etc etc.
You've got to be kidding. No way would I put a train on that thing!
For real. I know locals who refuse to drive over it, period. And to make things worse, it's sinking. In one of those you-gotta-do-what-you-gotta-do moments, I took a job with a land surveying firm after Katrina. We did some measurements on those huge concrete blocks that hold the struts in place. That sucka is going down!
Yeah, well keep building them nations and baseball stadiums. That'll solve all our problems.
I'm afraid I have a disability. I am unable to grasp the meaning of incoherent thoughts.
I'm afraid I have a disability. I am unable to grasp the meaning of incoherent thoughts.
I think it's called Internetitis. Also, if you even read any of the articles I submitted and correlated them to yours and the other toadies comments you'd get the idea of what I'm saying. But I regret there is no cure for either disease.
The problem is government is trying to do everything it was NOT intended to do...like offer health insurance to all citizens, guaranteed retirement, spending on pork projects, etc...while ignoring what it should be doing: maintaining the infrastructure and providing conditions for basic law and order, defending national security, necessarily regulating, etc.
Considering the current disaster, the New Orleans floods, the general state of US healthcare/health insurance as well as all the big-city poverty/crime issues, I am just really confused to exactly what you (among many) find wrong with this scenario especially in light of the fact your country is the richer one (per capita income-wise)
Considering the current disaster, the New Orleans floods, the general state of US healthcare/health insurance as well as all the big-city poverty/crime issues, I am just really confused to exactly what you (among many) find wrong with this scenario especially in light of the fact your country is the richer one (per capita income-wise)
No one is arguing that it is in any way wrong to expect decent infrastructure and access to health care. The problem is that you're already paying multiple times what it costs to provide those services, and throwing more money at the problem isn't really going to help much.
The system is broken, and we simply must find a way to make the various bureaucracies more open, efficient and accountable. Otherwise, things like this will continue to happen.
Were watching the fall of the Roman Empire in our lifetime. Yay!
Don't you think you could reserve your stupid glee for another thread? They are still taking bodies out of the water.
If it is the state governments that make the decision I think that is a mistake. Because they are not going to be as concerned about the safety of the bridges as they are going to be worried about the cost of replacing the bridges. In my opinion the analysis of the inspections should be made by an independent firm and the states should be forced to act on the decision of the analyzing firm.
Don't you think you could reserve your stupid glee for another thread? They are still taking bodies out of the water.
Im not cheering the death of the people.
But im terribly sorry if I actually dont care about them all that much. In other news (incase you missed it) pulling some guesstimated numbers off the top of my head, 100 people died in Iraq TODAY, 500 people died because of flooding in Asia TODAY. 1000 people died TODAY in Sudan, 5000 people died of malnutrition in the 3rd world TODAY.
So in context, did you spare a thought TODAY for the thousands of people who died becuase no-one gives a fuck about them? Probably not.
Yet if a few Americans drive off a bridge that could have been replaced, lest the money that could have done it, been spent killing other people, and OMFG its a national disaster.
Like I said, Im not cheering the deaths of the people who were on that bridge. Im cheering the enivatible reward of policies of greed and corruption.
Im not cheering the death of the people.
But im terribly sorry if I actually dont care about them all that much. In other news (incase you missed it) pulling some guesstimated numbers off the top of my head, 100 people died in Iraq TODAY, 500 people died because of flooding in Asia TODAY. 1000 people died TODAY in Sudan, 5000 people died of malnutrition in the 3rd world TODAY.
This is just ignorant. Americans and other countries have given billions to feed Africa but the problem is that most of it is lost to corrupt governments and roving gangs. We have attempted to solve the hunger problem in Africa. If you think that the military can't stabilize the roving gangs in Iraq, why would you think we could do better in Africa?
Americans have also attempted to help Iraqis even if in a foolish on not well thought out way. It is hard to imagine but it COULD HAVE turned out well in Iraq if the Iraqi politicians could have made some compromises with each other and Iraqis didn't support attacks on each other.
Is the U.S. responsible for the gangs that systematically rape and kill going around countries like the Sudan? You'll probably find some conspiracy theory as to why we are.
America may not be perfect but we have attempted to solve the above intractable problems. To blame it all on the U.S. and say "Nobody gives a fuck about them" is absurd.
This is just ignorant. Americans and other countries have given billions to feed Africa but the problem is that most of it is lost to corrupt governments and roving gangs. We have attempted to solve the hunger problem in Africa. If you think that the military can't stabilize the roving gangs in Iraq, why would you think we could do better in Africa?
Americans have also attempted to help Iraqis even if in a foolish on not well thought out way. It is hard to imagine but it COULD HAVE turned out well in Iraq if the Iraqi politicians could have made some compromises with each other and Iraqis didn't support attacks on each other.
Is the U.S. responsible for the gangs that systematically rape and kill going around countries like the Sudan? You'll probably find some conspiracy theory as to why we are.
America may not be perfect but we have attempted to solve the above intractable problems. To blame it all on the U.S. and say "Nobody gives a fuck about them" is absurd.
Actually, I think he is pointing out that he believes American lives are not worth more than the lives of people elsewhere. Not blaming America for these other people dying.
...pulling some guesstimated numbers off the top of my head, 100 people died in Iraq TODAY, 500 people died because of flooding in Asia TODAY. 1000 people died TODAY in Sudan, 5000 people died of malnutrition in the 3rd world TODAY.
So in context, did you spare a thought TODAY for the thousands of people who died becuase no-one gives a f--k about them? Probably not.
You're obviously confusing me with your ignorant self. I personally know people involved in relief work in all three causes you pulled out of your head.
It's important to remember that while self-obsessed astrology buffs try to score cheap points by claiming how concerned they are for the world's helpless, it's mostly the religious folks you deride who leave their homes and families, travel thousands of miles and risk life and limb to try to stop the hurting.
But hey, mock outrage on an internet forum is just as helpful, right?
You're obviously confusing me with your ignorant self. I personally know people involved in relief work in all three causes you pulled out of your head.
It's important to remember that while self-obsessed astrology buffs try to score cheap points by claiming how concerned they are for the world's helpless, it's mostly the religious folks you deride who leave their homes and families, travel thousands of miles and risk life and limb to try to stop the hurting.
Re. "religious folks", are you including all faiths..... or just adherents to "Judæo-Christianity"?
And this could have been much, much worse.