politics

We could build infrastructure on this scale in the US but our govt prefers to use its money to bomb the poorest countries on earth and fund a genocide

It’s a state-level NIMBY and red tape problem. Ezra Klein, Matty Iglesias and Noah Smith all write about this.

Requires political will and use of eminent domain. Eisenhower built the highway system—while fighting Korean War. 

Authoritarianism is a useful form of government if you want to build train tracks and not have local input.

Working on Farcaster and Warpcast. Longer thoughts at https://dwr.email

I think these issues can be overcome, but our politicians don’t focus on infrastructure because it isn’t a hot button issue. Culture war issues are what gets people elected, not “boring” issues like infrastructure. 

We fail to even try to get mass infrastructure repair and improvement because we don’t care about or prioritize it.