Romans revolt as tourists turn their noses up at city’s decay. Rubbish, potholes and metro closures contribute to anger among visitors and citizens.
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Showing posts with label Decay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Decay. Show all posts
8/3/18
US Infrastructure: 21 Facts About America's Decaying Infrastructure That Will Blow Your Mind
The following are 21 facts about America’s failing infrastructure that will blow your mind….
#1 The American Society of Civil Engineers has given America’s crumbling infrastructure an overall grade of D.
#2 There are simply not enough roads in the United States today. Each year, traffic jams cost the commuters of America 4.2 billion hours and about 2.8 million gallons of gasoline.
#3 It is being projected that Americans will spend an average of 160 hours stuck in traffic annually by the year 2035.
#4 Approximately one-third of all roads in the United States are in substandard condition.
#5 Close to a third of all highway fatalities are due “to substandard road conditions, obsolete road designs, or roadside hazards.”
#6 One out of every four bridges in America either carries more traffic than originally intended or is in need of repair.
#7 Repairing all of the bridges in the United States that need repair would take approximately 140 billion dollars.
#8 According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, our decaying transportation system costs the U.S. economy about 78 billion dollars annually in lost time and fuel.
#9 All over America, asphalt roads are being ground up and are being replaced with gravel roads because they are cheaper to maintain. The state of South Dakota has transformed over 100 miles of asphalt roads into gravel roads, and 38 out of the 83 counties in the state of Michigan have transformed at least some of their asphalt roads into gravel roads.
#10 There are 4,095 dams in the United States that are at risk of failure. That number has risen by more than 100 percent since 1999.
#11 Of all the dam failures that have happened in the United States since 1874, a third of them have happened during the past decade.
#12 Close to half of all U.S. households do not have access to bus or rail transit.
#13 Our aging sewer systems spill more than a trillion gallons of untreated sewage every single year. The cost of cleaning up that sewage each year is estimated to be greater than 50 billion dollars.
#14 It is estimated that rolling blackouts and inefficiencies in the U.S. electrical grid cost the U.S. economy approximately 80 billion dollars a year.
#15 It is being projected that by the year 2020 every single major container port in the United States will be handling at least double the volume that it was originally designed to handle.
#16 All across the United States, conditions at many of our state parks, recreation areas and historic sites are deplorable at best. Some states have backlogs of repair projects that are now over a billion dollars long….
#18 In the United States today, approximately 16 percent of our construction workers are unemployed.
#19 China has plans to build 55,000 miles of highways by the year 2020. If all of those roads were put end to end, it would be longer than the total length of the entire U.S. interstate system.
#20 The World Economic Forum ranks U.S. infrastructure 23rd in the world, and we fall a little bit farther behind the rest of the developed world every single day.
#21 It has been projected that it would take 2.2 trillion dollars over the next 5 years just to repair our existing infrastructure. That does not even include a single penny for badly needed new infrastructure.
So where did we go wrong?
Well, one of the big problems is that we have become a very materialistic society that is obsessed with short-term thinking. Investing in infrastructure is something that has long-term benefits, but these days Americans tend to only be focused on what is happening right now and most politicians are only focused on the next election cycle.
EU-Digest
#1 The American Society of Civil Engineers has given America’s crumbling infrastructure an overall grade of D.
#2 There are simply not enough roads in the United States today. Each year, traffic jams cost the commuters of America 4.2 billion hours and about 2.8 million gallons of gasoline.
#3 It is being projected that Americans will spend an average of 160 hours stuck in traffic annually by the year 2035.
#4 Approximately one-third of all roads in the United States are in substandard condition.
#5 Close to a third of all highway fatalities are due “to substandard road conditions, obsolete road designs, or roadside hazards.”
#6 One out of every four bridges in America either carries more traffic than originally intended or is in need of repair.
#7 Repairing all of the bridges in the United States that need repair would take approximately 140 billion dollars.
#8 According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, our decaying transportation system costs the U.S. economy about 78 billion dollars annually in lost time and fuel.
#9 All over America, asphalt roads are being ground up and are being replaced with gravel roads because they are cheaper to maintain. The state of South Dakota has transformed over 100 miles of asphalt roads into gravel roads, and 38 out of the 83 counties in the state of Michigan have transformed at least some of their asphalt roads into gravel roads.
#10 There are 4,095 dams in the United States that are at risk of failure. That number has risen by more than 100 percent since 1999.
#11 Of all the dam failures that have happened in the United States since 1874, a third of them have happened during the past decade.
#12 Close to half of all U.S. households do not have access to bus or rail transit.
#13 Our aging sewer systems spill more than a trillion gallons of untreated sewage every single year. The cost of cleaning up that sewage each year is estimated to be greater than 50 billion dollars.
#14 It is estimated that rolling blackouts and inefficiencies in the U.S. electrical grid cost the U.S. economy approximately 80 billion dollars a year.
#15 It is being projected that by the year 2020 every single major container port in the United States will be handling at least double the volume that it was originally designed to handle.
#16 All across the United States, conditions at many of our state parks, recreation areas and historic sites are deplorable at best. Some states have backlogs of repair projects that are now over a billion dollars long….
More than a dozen states estimate that their backlogs are at least $100 million. Massachusetts and New York’s are at least $1 billion. Hawaii officials called park conditions “deplorable” in a December report asking for $50 million per year for five years to tackle a $240 million backlog that covers parks, trails and harbors.#17 Today, the U.S. spends about 2.4 percent of GDP on infrastructure. Meanwhile, China spends about 9 percent of GDP on infrastructure.
#18 In the United States today, approximately 16 percent of our construction workers are unemployed.
#19 China has plans to build 55,000 miles of highways by the year 2020. If all of those roads were put end to end, it would be longer than the total length of the entire U.S. interstate system.
#20 The World Economic Forum ranks U.S. infrastructure 23rd in the world, and we fall a little bit farther behind the rest of the developed world every single day.
#21 It has been projected that it would take 2.2 trillion dollars over the next 5 years just to repair our existing infrastructure. That does not even include a single penny for badly needed new infrastructure.
So where did we go wrong?
Well, one of the big problems is that we have become a very materialistic society that is obsessed with short-term thinking. Investing in infrastructure is something that has long-term benefits, but these days Americans tend to only be focused on what is happening right now and most politicians are only focused on the next election cycle.
EU-Digest
4/17/18
USA: Disturbing facts about the US Infrastructure and a variety of other problems which are getting worse by the day
 |
| The US infrastructure and the country is in dire need of repair |
So what does the US infrastructure say about America? It says that America is in a very advanced state of decay.
At this point, much of America is being held together with spit, duct tape and prayers. Roads are crumbling and thousands of its bridges look like they could collapse at any moment. The power grid is ancient and over a trillion gallons of untreated sewage is leaking from aging sewer systems each year.
US airports and seaports are clogged with far more traffic than they were ever designed to carry.
Approximately a third of all of the dam failures that have taken place in the United States since 1874 have happened during the past decade. The national parks and recreation areas have been terribly neglected and the US railroads system is a bad joke.
Recent hurricanes which hit America showed how vulnerable the levees and dikes are, and drinking water systems all over the country are badly outdated. Sadly, at a time when we could use significant new investment in infrastructure, the spending on infrastructure is actually way down.
Back during the 50s and the 60s, the U.S. was spending between 3 and 4 percent of GDP on infrastructure. Today, that figure is down to about 2.4 percent. But the US does not have any extra money to spend on infrastructure because of reckless spending and because of the massive amount of national debt that it has accumulated.
Here are 21 facts about America’s failing infrastructure
#1 The American Society of Civil Engineers has given America’s crumbling infrastructure an overall grade of D.
#2 There are simply not enough roads in the United States today. Each year, traffic jams cost the commuters of America 4.2 billion hours and about 2.8 million gallons of gasoline.
#3 It is being projected that Americans will spend an average of 160 hours stuck in traffic annually by the year 2035.
#4 Approximately one-third of all roads in the United States are in substandard condition.
#5 Close to a third of all highway fatalities are due “to substandard road conditions, obsolete road designs, or roadside hazards.”
#6 One out of every four bridges in America either carries more traffic than originally intended or is in need of repair.
#7 Repairing all of the bridges in the United States that need repair would take approximately 140 billion dollars.
#8 According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, our decaying transportation system costs the U.S. economy about 78 billion dollars annually in lost time and fuel.
#9 All over America, asphalt roads are being ground up and are being replaced with gravel roads because they are cheaper to maintain. The state of South Dakota has transformed over 100 miles of asphalt roads into gravel roads, and 38 out of the 83 counties in the state of Michigan have transformed at least some of their asphalt roads into gravel roads.
#10 There are 4,095 dams in the United States that are at risk of failure. That number has risen by more than 100 percent since 1999.
#11 Of all the dam failures that have happened in the United States since 1874, a third of them have happened during the past decade.
#12 Close to half of all U.S. households do not have access to Public bus or rail transit.
#13 The US's aging sewer systems spill more than a trillion gallons of untreated sewage every single year. The cost of cleaning up that sewage each year is estimated to be greater than 50 billion dollars.
#14 It is estimated that rolling blackouts and inefficiencies in the U.S. electrical grid cost the U.S. economy approximately 80 billion dollars a year.
#15 It is being projected that by the year 2020 every single major container port in the United States will be handling at least double the volume that it was originally designed to handle.
#16 All across the United States, conditions at many of our state parks, recreation areas and historic sites are deplorable at best. Some states have backlogs of repair projects that are now over a billion dollars long….
#17 Today, the U.S. spends about 2.4 percent of GDP on infrastructure. Meanwhile, China spends about 9 percent of GDP on infrastructure.
#18 In the United States today, approximately 16 percent of our construction workers are unemployed.
#19 China has plans to build 55,000 miles of highways by the year 2020. If all of those roads were put end to end, it would be longer than the total length of the entire U.S. interstate system.
#20 The World Economic Forum ranks U.S. infrastructure 23rd in the world, and we fall a little bit farther behind the rest of the developed world every single day.
#21 It has been projected that it would take 2.2 trillion dollars over the next 5 years just to repair our existing infrastructure. That does not even include a single penny for badly needed new infrastructure.
So where did the US go wrong?
Well, one of the big problems is that the US have become a very materialistic "me first" society that is obsessed with short-term thinking. Investing in infrastructure is something that has long-term benefits, but these days Americans tend to only be focused on what is happening right now and most politicians are only focused on the next election cycle.
Another major problem is that there is so much corruption and waste in the US system these days. Special interest groups and corporations have basically total control over the US political system
The government certainly spends more than enough money, but very little of that money is spent wisely. Too much is going into military spending, without questions asked; No one in America seems to have figured out that the US is not obliged to be the global cop to keep the weapons industry happy.
And sadly, the US simply does not have the money that it needs for infrastructure because of all the debt that it has have piled up.
Unless the Trump Administration puts their money where their mouth is ( which they have not done so far) the federal government, state governments and local governments are all struggling to stay afloat in an ocean of red ink, and unfortunately that means that spending on infrastructure is likely to be cut even more in the years ahead.
It is high time everyone in America wakes up to the reality that "business as usual" is not working anymore and that radical change is needed. So far no one has seriously stepped up to the plate.
EU-Digest
9/11/17
US and Western Political Reform: What Do Democrats Stand For?- by Robert Reich
 |
| Thomas Jefferson: US Founding Father |
But Democrats can’t just be anti-Trump or move to the middle.
To be successful Democrats must address the forces that created Trump: The toxic combination of widening inequality and racism.
The richest one percent now own more than the bottom 90 percent. Corporations and the rich are running our politics.
The resulting economic stresses have made many people vulnerable to Trump’s politics of hate and bigotry.
If Democrats stand for one thing, it must be overcoming this unprecedented economic imbalance and creating a multi-racial, multi-ethnic coalition of the bottom 90 percent, to take back our economy and politics.
This requires, at the least:
1. Public investments in world-class schools and infrastructure for all.
2. Free public universities and first-class technical training for all;
3. Single-payer Medicare-for-All;
4. Higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for this;
5. Using antitrust to break up powerful monopolies on Wall Street, Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Agriculture.
6. Getting big money out of our politics.
Together, these steps form an agenda to reclaim our economy and democracy for all. Will Democrats lead the way?
Note EU-Digest: it seems highly questionable and unlikely that Democrats (the so called left) will be able to peacefully lead the way towards change
Bold moves are now required and it might be useful to take note of what US Founding Father Thomas Jefferson ( 04-13-1743 - 07-04-1826) said back in 1807 to M. deStael : "When patience has begotten false estimates of its motives, when wrongs are pressed because it is believed they will be borne, resistance becomes morality."
"As with the end of feudalism 500 years ago, capitalism’s replacement by postcapitalism will be accelerated by external shocks and shaped by the emergence of a new kind of human being. And it has started", says Paul Mason: Bitish writer and broadcaster on economics and social justice.
The time for change is now, not only in the US, but for the whole Western Society, and it will take blood sweat and tears.
Read more: What Do Democrats Stand For?
3/17/16
US Inrastructure - U.S. mayors desperate to fix crumbling infrastructure but states, feds hold them back
The drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan illustrates two urgent and
related challenges that are stressing many American cities. First,
critical infrastructure systems such as roads, bridges and water
networks are aging and underfunded. Second, cities are not getting the
support they need from higher levels of government to fix these
problems.
We are the authors of the 2015 Menino Survey of Mayors, conducted by the Boston University Initiative on Cities. In this survey we asked a nationally representative sample of mayors an open-ended question: which challenge, that they believe should be a primarily “state and/or federal issue,” most affects their cities. Almost half of the mayors homed in on crumbling infrastructure. Many said that higher levels of government were not providing their cities with enough money for infrastructure projects they believe their cities need.
These projects range from relatively mundane needs like repairing roads to more ambitious projects, such as building new mass transit, wastewater and stormwater systems. Addressing the 2015 U.S. Conference of Mayors last June, President Obama observed, “There’s not a mayor here who can’t reel off 10 infrastructure projects right now that you’d love to get funding for, and that would put people to work right away and improve your competitiveness, and help businesses move their products and help people get to their jobs.” Indeed, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that America will need US$3.6 trillion in infrastructure investments by 2020.
These concerns spotlight what mayors see as a bigger problem. In their view, federalism – the division (and sharing) of powers between different levels of government – is not working. In the survey, mayors consistently identified ways in which general government dysfunction, burdensome regulations and laws that preempt local autonomy cause problems for cities. As political scientist Jessica Trounstine has pointed out, Flint is an extreme example of some of these issues. State governments can hamper city governments in a variety of ways, most frequently by cutting funding and/or introducing legislation that reduces local autonomy.
Read more: U.S. mayors desperate to fix crumbling infrastructure but states, feds hold them back
We are the authors of the 2015 Menino Survey of Mayors, conducted by the Boston University Initiative on Cities. In this survey we asked a nationally representative sample of mayors an open-ended question: which challenge, that they believe should be a primarily “state and/or federal issue,” most affects their cities. Almost half of the mayors homed in on crumbling infrastructure. Many said that higher levels of government were not providing their cities with enough money for infrastructure projects they believe their cities need.
These projects range from relatively mundane needs like repairing roads to more ambitious projects, such as building new mass transit, wastewater and stormwater systems. Addressing the 2015 U.S. Conference of Mayors last June, President Obama observed, “There’s not a mayor here who can’t reel off 10 infrastructure projects right now that you’d love to get funding for, and that would put people to work right away and improve your competitiveness, and help businesses move their products and help people get to their jobs.” Indeed, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that America will need US$3.6 trillion in infrastructure investments by 2020.
These concerns spotlight what mayors see as a bigger problem. In their view, federalism – the division (and sharing) of powers between different levels of government – is not working. In the survey, mayors consistently identified ways in which general government dysfunction, burdensome regulations and laws that preempt local autonomy cause problems for cities. As political scientist Jessica Trounstine has pointed out, Flint is an extreme example of some of these issues. State governments can hamper city governments in a variety of ways, most frequently by cutting funding and/or introducing legislation that reduces local autonomy.
Read more: U.S. mayors desperate to fix crumbling infrastructure but states, feds hold them back
9/1/12
Britain’s Identity Crisis - by Samuel C. Baxter
“Utterly British.” That is how English newspaper Telegraph described the opening ceremony of the 30th Summer Olympic Games in London. Sixteen days later, the closing ceremony featured much of the same. Media outlets the world over called them “weirdly and unabashedly British,” “quirky,” “madcap,” “sensational” and “drawing heavily on the roots of British identity.”
But what does British really mean anymore?
After decades of systematically dismantling the British Empire, the nation has struggled to redefine its place on the global stage. It used to be simple: “British” meant global kingdom, “British” meant meticulous attention to manners, “British” meant military might and industrial power—“British” meant the top of the world.
Some inhabitants of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, especially among older generations, took offense at the proceedings, saying, “That is not my Great Britain.” Yet the contents of the opening ceremony were honest and highlighted some of the region’s major societal problems.
But what does British really mean anymore?
After decades of systematically dismantling the British Empire, the nation has struggled to redefine its place on the global stage. It used to be simple: “British” meant global kingdom, “British” meant meticulous attention to manners, “British” meant military might and industrial power—“British” meant the top of the world.
Some inhabitants of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, especially among older generations, took offense at the proceedings, saying, “That is not my Great Britain.” Yet the contents of the opening ceremony were honest and highlighted some of the region’s major societal problems.
- Mediocrity: British workers are now world-renowned as slothful and unproductive. Foreign businessmen have noted that rarely, if ever, will someone go above and beyond their job requirements. Also, on Fridays, many employees habitually leave their jobs early (without managerial approval) to prepare for the weekend.
- Drunkenness: For the average Briton, Friday and Saturday mean alcohol-fueled festivities. The Independent reported, “Britain is the drunk man of Europe. Alcohol consumption in France, Germany and Italy is down by between 37 and 52 per cent since 1980. But in the UK it is up nine per cent, with binge drinkers sinking more booze than ever, putting unprecedented pressure on the NHS [National Health Service], police and social services.”
- Obscene entertainment: Prime-time television programs offer a steady stream of obscenities and a vile parade of shameless nudity, sexual encounters, and wanton drug use. Many programs focus heavily on the occult.
- Sexual promiscuity: In all of Europe, the United Kingdom has the highest teenage pregnancy rate and largest proportion of children living in single-parent families, according to research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The only other Western nation with similar numbers is the United States.
- Spoiled youth: British children are among the most over-privileged, unhealthy and materialistic in the world. UNICEF’s Report Card 7, which measured overall child well-being in Western nations, placed the UK among the worst. Given the previous four bullet points, is it any wonder?
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