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I SENSE THAT VSMITH IS JUST A TAD FRUSTRATED BY THE "APPARENT" ATTITUDES IN THE USA AND IN GOVERNMENT TOWARD HSR AND INFRASTRUCTURE. CLEARLY, THE INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM OF THAT LAST 60 OR SO YEARS HAS BEEN IN SUPPORT OF THE OIL INDUSTRY SPECIFICALLY, AND NOT AIMED AT ANY SORT OF TRANSPORTATION, ENERGY, OR ECOLOGICAL BALANCE. NOT ONLY THAT, IT HAS UNDERMINED US CITIES SEVERELY, WHICH HAVE HAD TO RESORT TO EXTRAORDINARY FINANCING PROCEDURES, WHICH HAS, IN TURN, FORCED EVEN MORE PEOPLE TO FLEE THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT. THIS, I SUBMIT, IS IMPRACTICAL AND DESTRUCTIVE OF URBAN CIVILIZATION, WHICH IS THE HEART OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION, AND HAS BEEN SINCE THE DAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. FURTHERMORE, THE OILIGARCHS AND THEIR FRONT MEN IN THE POLITICAL REALM ARE EMBARKING ON COSTLY, RISKY, UNCERTAIN-OF-OUTCOME ASIAN ADVENTURES IN THE PURSUIT OF EVERY LAST DROP OF CRUDE (AND, OF COURSE, EXPANDED MARKETS, WHICH LOOK LIKE THEY WILL BE EXPANDED MARKETS FOR CHINESE/ASIAN MANUFACTURES, NOT AMERICAN OR EUROPEAN, AS THINGS ARE GOING). WE ARE COMING TO THE POINT THAT THE PRIMARY AMERICAN EXPORT WILL BE WAR. IS THIS WHAT WE WANT? YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK THE ASCE (AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS WEBSITE). THEIR RECENT STUDY GIVES A GRADE OF ABOUT "D+" TO US INFRASTRUCTURE, WITH A HEFTY PRICE TAG, AS YOU WILL SEE, FOR CORRECTING THE SITUATION ACROSS THE BOARD. IF WE DO NOT REVERSE GEARS AND START REBUILDING THE US AND ITS LONG-TERM INFRASTRUCTURE, WE WILL SOON FIND OURSELVES TALKING ABOUT THE COUNTRY IN THE PAST TENSE.... J. SNYDER PS--VSMITH'S HISTORY IS A BIT OFF THE MARK. WHAT REALLY GOT HSR GOING WAS OLD MAN SHINJI SOGO IN JAPAN, WHO BAMBOOZLED THE JAPANESE DIET INTO BUILDING AN HSR (HE GAVE A COST ESTIMATE HALF OF WHAT WAS NEEDED), AND IT GOT GOING IN THE LATE 1950S, AND OPENED IN 1964. I RODE THAT SYSTEM--THE TOKAIDO LINE, BETWEEN TOKYO AND KYOTO (IT GOES FURTHER, TO OSAKA) IN 1971, WHILE I WAS ON LEAVE FROM THE ARMY IN VIETNAM. THE LINE HAS BEEN UPGRADED AND IS FASTER AND BETTER NOW THAN IT WAS 32 YEARS AGO. YES, JAPAN IS A VERY POPULOUS ISLAND, AND THE US IS, COMPARATIVELY, LAND-RICH. BUT OUR SPRAWL POLICIES (OR IS THE ABSENCE OF A POLICY?) OF THE LAST 6O YEARS HAVE LED TO ENDLESS PROBLEMS, MANY OF WHICH CAN BE DEALT WITH (AND REVERSED) BY GOING IN AN URBAN-SUPPORT DIRECTION--WHICH MEANS WALKABILITY, LIGHT-RAIL, HSR AND GENERALLY MORE RATIONAL PLANNING.
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