I was reading an online article yesterday that had facts about China that the author claimed would blow my mind. While some of them were indeed interesting as well as informative, none of it was something I would consider shocking. One item did provoke anger out of me though.China, a country that will probably dominate this century, has a high speed train that doubles the speed of ours. America, with all it's wealth and innovative brilliance, has yet to develop an efficient high speed rail system that serves the continental US and that makes me ashamed. Japan and most of Western Europe have a train system that is leaps ahead of what our pathetic excuse for rail mobility is.
Think of it. If we could develop a high speed rail system that could transport goods as well as passengers we wouldn't need to see the freeways clogged with over sized trucks that do so much damage to our roads. People with plane anxiety won't have to worry about spiraling out of the clouds to meet a quick end with the ground, but it probably would still be safer to fly, but that's another post. That being said, a quick train could be a better option than taking to the friendly skies for many. It may be quicker to board, no taxiing, if something goes wrong you won't have to be redirected to someplace way out of your route, you can walk around easier and more comfortably, they could have one car for screaming kids, and the list of benefits could go on for pages.
The US has put men on the moon, developed technology that has enhanced our lives, and is one of the most generous nations to ever exist, but yet we can't do something as seemingly simple as improve our transportation infrastructure. We should all be ashamed.
On another note, Atlas Shrugged sucks and you know it. If you think otherwise you've never read a page of it. Seriously it's right up there with Dan Brown, although Brown at least is somewhat entertaining on a very pulp level.
"I've travelled around the UK a lot recently and have discovered that I really like trains. If you're in the quiet carriage, nobody can get hold of you and you can relax." - Honor Blackman
1 comment:
Don't know if it was Atlas Shrugged or the Fountainhead, but one of them I tried to read only to put the book down after one page. It was the most pretentious page of text I've ever read. I felt insulted by Ayn Rand and from now when, whenever I what to hear her opinion, I'll let Rush express her opinion by proxy. Neil Peart is more succinct.
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