--- Jordan Hayes <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com> wrote:
> I love your use of the word 'purely' here -- because
> it makes you sound
> so absolute. Which makes you, alas, absolutely (and
> purely!) wrong.
> They did it for other reasons, too: like geography.
> But since you never
> leave your little city neighborhood (or bother to
> look at a map, for
> that matter), facts blow completely by you like
> THERE'S A FUCKING
> MOUNTAIN RANGE BETWEEN SALINAS AND BAKERSFIELD which
> no train, not in
> the future, not in the rosy old past, not with a
> bajillion dollars to
> spend by parking every airplane in the country will
> ever make it across
> in any reasonable amount of time!
[WS:] Nietzsche once commented that great errors are more venerable than little truths because they are more useful that the little truths. It seems like you are avoiding the risk of a big error of answering a a politcal question and prefer to discuss minute technical details of building a railroad between two Podunks. That may work at a graduate seminar at an engineering department of the State U, but I do not think this list is that.
As I see it, there are two visions of Amerika on this list. One is the grand political vision of John Thorntons, Charles Browns, Carrol Coxes, et al. who believe that the current institutional shape and the land use patterns of Amerika are due primarily to crony capitalist speculations, sweetheart deals between corrupt politicos and well connected businessmen, exploitation of the many for the profit of the few, racist bigotry and seggregationism, brainwashing, and crooked politicians selling out to monied interests. Any public good or systemic effciency is incidental rather than by design - a result of systemic hiccups and things occassionally slipping out of monied interests' control, either by accident or under pressure from below.
And then there is a vision of Amerika as the land of the brave and the free enterprise, the land of the invisible hand, the land where technical considerations trump ideology, and where economic effciency and public good it produces are the norm, and cronyism, corruption, racist bigotry and betrayal of public trust are exceptions rather than the essential features of the system. This is the vision of Milton Friedman who belives that free market capitalism is the norm of the Amerikan society that purges cronyism, ineffciency, waste, racism and exploitation from it. I cannot help but notice that vision of Amerika behind your arguments on topics ranging from transportation to health care that avoid political questions and switch instead to technical minutiae of isolated cases.
Perhaps the political vision of Amerika as the land of crony capitalism, wastefulness, racism, exploitation, and short term profits over long term public goods is an exaggeration. Or perhaps it is not. However, it certainly is far more intellectually stimuating and useful than the little truths of technical minutiae of a hypothetical railroad between two California podunks.
Perhaps there are some serious technical difficulties in building a railroad between Barkersfield and Salinas, but technical difficulties never stopped Amerikan ruling class from achieving its goals - if they wanted them. There are technical diffciulties in building high rise structures in earthquake zones, such as California, but these technical diffciulties were resolved because there was a politcal will to do so. There are technical diffciuties in creating sprawling suburbia with lush lawns and swimming pools in Arizona desert, but these technical diffculties were resolved becsause there was a politcial will - or perhaps a short term profit motive. And for that matter, there were serious technical diffciulties in launching a military invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq (or Vietnam,) but these technical diffculties were simply ignored because there was a policial will to go ahead. In Amerika, technical difficulties and transaction costs are perfect opportunities for short term profitablity at public expense.
So if ayone is trying to tell me that something that serves public good elsewhere was not implemented in Amerika due to objective technical difficulties or ineffciencies - I think it is total bullshit and I am not buying it. Perhpas I am making a big error in rejecting that claim, but then big errors are more venerable and intelelctually stimulating than little truths of bean counters and mercenary pundits on empire's payroll.
Wojtek