A Country Coming Apart At The Seams

It was great to find an article (here) about America's roads, bridges, dams and highways in The Economist. After the recent Mississippi River floodings, New Orleans' levees breaking, the collapse of a Minneapolis Bridge, I have been wondering what will happen next? Hasn't it been enough already, when will our government realize that our country was built 50+ years ago and all the infrastructure needs repair and maintenance before it crumbles away?

"In 2005 the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated that $1.6 trillion was needed over five years to bring just the existing infrastructure into good repair. This does not account for future needs. ... If America does not act, says Robert Yaro of the Regional Plan Association (RPA), a body that plans for the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region, it will have the infrastructure of a third-world country within a few decades. Economic growth will be constricted, and the quality of life will be diminished."

Oh, whoops, sorry I forgot, we (our government) is busy in Iraq pouring billions of dollars into a war that was never thoroughly planned out once Saddam was defeated. David Simon in a Charlie Rose interview (here) discusses his new series Generation Kill (if you don't know, you better ask somebody!) and the lack of awareness and understanding of the damage and destruction that war causes.

"I think this country emotionally, psychically, financially, has opted out of this war in the most profound way. Because this is a volunteer military, most of us are going about our lives as if there is not a war. We have not had to make any sacrifices, not emotionally, not financially because we are not paying for the war, taxes are, we are acting like we are at peace. A small segment of America is not at peace. If Americans can be made to reconnect to this war on any level through the depiction of these marines and what they go through, that is job 1 [of the show]."