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The World Socialist Web Site reports
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its quadrennial "Report Card" last month on the condition of infrastructure in the United States. Once again, the association gave the country an overall grade of D+, the same as in 2013.
The report is a damning appraisal of the state of American society under capitalism, and the Obama years, which saw essential social needs starved of funding while the stock market tripled in value and vast public resources were squandered on war. This will only accelerate under Trump.
The ASCE report assesses the state of sixteen different categories of infrastructure: aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, energy, hazardous waste, inland waterways, levees, parks and recreation, ports, rail, roads, schools, solid waste, transit and wastewater.
Twelve of the sixteen sections evaluated earned a D grade. The report defines a D grade as "The infrastructure is in poor to fair condition and mostly below standard, with many elements approaching the end of their service life. A large portion of the system exhibits significant deterioration. Condition and capacity are of serious concern with strong risk of failure."
According to ASCE, the total costs to bring all US infrastructure into an adequate condition would exceed two trillion dollars.
[...] ASCE's answer to this crisis is not only inadequate but downright reactionary.
[...] In the section of the report titled "solutions to raise the grade" the authors suggest that "Infrastructure owners and operators must charge, and Americans must be willing to pay, rates and fees that reflect the true cost of using, maintaining, and improving infrastructure." Other sections advocate "user generated fees", hiking the gasoline tax, and other regressive proposals that would disproportionately affect the country's poorest citizens. The report also calls for more "public-private" partnerships, along with the streamlining of approval for private investment in public infrastructure projects.
Such free-market measures would only create an ever-greater class-based infrastructure system, where only those who could afford to will be able to drive on high toll expressways and bridges, send their children to quality schools, drink clean water, and live in areas not threatened with constant flooding or environmental disasters.
View the ASCE's report card here.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by maggotbrain on Monday April 17 2017, @12:58AM (10 children)
Anecdotally, I've got 5 co-workers who think that it is acceptable that the government bombs the shit out of Syria and Afghanistan( or defund public education, or other public services) without a thought to the cost financially, socially, pragmatically, etc.. But, heaven forbid, that the long arm of the government take an extra $400-$600/yr out of their pockets of a family of 2 for the tabs on their four over-sized, $70k+ cars that they regularly use for solo commutes every day of the year. Light rail, better bus lines, car pooling, regional park and rides all appear, to them, as commie plots to take away their "right" to drive a car whenever they want and then they piss and moan about the non-locals moving into town to clog up traffic and steal their jobs.
The Tragedy of the Commons and Eternal September concepts are lost on them.
/rant off
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @01:16AM (5 children)
Why don't you give $400-$600/yr out of your pocket?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @05:24AM (2 children)
Selfish moron. Itbis implicit that everyone would be paying $400-600, that is how large community projects are funded. You are the embodiment of the problem, such a selfish attitude. "I've got mine, who cares if a family is homeless and struggling to feed their kids. Reproduction is a choice so its their fault! Oh, but they'd better not abort that'd be wrong!"
Hypocrisy is ugly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @06:16AM (1 child)
Yeah, why don't you give $400-$600/yr out of your pocket yet?
You know what's hypocrisy? Thinking you have a right to my pocket while not letting me do the same to your pocket.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @05:36PM
You better not think you have a right to my pocket to pay for border walls, wars, and mass deportations.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @05:30AM (1 child)
The point was, I believe, that war costs money just as well. Exactly from your pockets.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @06:37AM
Everything costs money too, what's your point?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by GungnirSniper on Monday April 17 2017, @03:55AM
All of the options you list are useful only if your time has no value. Why not heavy rail underground?
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @05:37AM (2 children)
This would be a good point to mention that crappy roads beat up cars more than well-maintained roads.
The extra wear/breakage is gonna cost you.
The more expensive the car, the more expensive the parts too.
Driving on lousy roads also increases the chance that you will lose control of your vehicle.
Straightening out crunched car bodies costs/drives up insurance rates.
...then there's dealing with crunched human bodies.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @02:00PM (1 child)
Crunched human bodies are a profit center.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday April 17 2017, @08:07PM
In the same way that sending people into the city to smash windows increases GDP..
If your neighboring country instead let these people think out the technological advance. You lost.
(unless they hamstring themselves with thought crime)