“The unlit, unpaved road to nowhere.”
Paul Krugman on what’s become of America:
…A country that once amazed the world with its visionary investments in transportation, from the Erie Canal to the Interstate Highway System, is now in the process of unpaving itself: in a number of states, local governments are breaking up roads they can no longer afford to maintain, and returning them to gravel.
And a nation that once prized education — that was among the first to provide basic schooling to all its children — is now cutting back. Teachers are being laid off; programs are being canceled; in Hawaii, the school year itself is being drastically shortened. And all signs point to even more cuts ahead.
-snip-
In effect, a large part of our political class is showing its priorities: given the choice between asking the richest 2 percent or so of Americans to go back to paying the tax rates they paid during the Clinton-era boom, or allowing the nation’s foundations to crumble — literally in the case of roads, figuratively in the case of education — they’re choosing the latter.
It’s a disastrous choice in both the short run and the long run.
Read the whole thing, if you haven’t already. (If you have, send it to a friend.)
Tags: Education, state budgets, sustainable governance, taxes
We’re losing our sense of community. We’ve gone so far over to extreme individualism that the prevailing attitude is I’ve got mine, who cares about everyone else.
You must sign in or register to post a comment. Registration is free.
Who needs plumbing, roads, street lights, schools and teachers, public safety, clean water and parks? Those contribute nothing to society or the economy because government does them.
On the other hand, Shamwows and Twinkies are produced by the private sector. They are absolutely necessary for the good life.
You must sign in or register to post a comment. Registration is free.