I would argue that the United States is more vulnerable now than at almost any time in my life time due in no small part to a Republican party that has become a ‘party of resistance’ and wedded to old, often discredited and widely unpopular, policies. I read what is going on in other places around the world and, although all governments have their problems, there are many places in the world where the governments are investing in their infrastructures and solving ‘real-world’ problems for their citizens using science, data and facts as their guide.
Anyone who has ever lived in or visited virtually any major metropolitan area of the United States would agree that there are major problems with the transportation infrastructure in this country. Just try driving from Santa Monica to ‘the valley’ on the 405 freeway at rush hour in Los Angeles. Los Angeles has made progress over the last few years in building out their subway system but the city is so spread out that the car is still the most preferred method of transport.
The subway system in New York City is remarkable but it is very old and in dire need of upgrades. [Try taking the subway into Grand Central Station at rush hour if want a little adventure!] The subway systems in most American cities, if they exist, are generally far inferior to the systems in many other major metropolitan areas around the world, Seoul, London, Paris, etc. High speed rail systems are widely used around the world. When I was working, my colleagues and I were in Madrid on business and had to go to Sevilla which is about 331 miles away, about the same distance from Los Angeles to San Jose, CA, for a meeting. We hopped on a high-speed train right in Madrid, two hours later we arrived in Sevilla after a very comfortable ride, had our meeting, ate a leisurely lunch with our hosts, reboarded the train at 4 p.m. and were back in Madrid by 6. That would be almost impossible in the US. Why are all of these other countries able to invest in their infrastructures and we continue to squabble about nonsense?
In China, they have developed and are operating a ‘trackless tram’ in Yibin, China. These are self-driving electric busses that simply follow a white line painted on the pavement. No rails need to be installed. There is no doubt that this kind of solution will be expanded and refined. Efforts to implement these types of mass transport are already underway in Zimbabwe, Qatar and Perth, Australia. And where is the US while the rest of the world is investing in their infrastructures? Still squabbling.
A US panel is urging the US government to increase investments in artificial intelligence to counter China’s increasing expertise in this area. The 15-member National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, recently released a report stating that, “To win in AI we need more money, more talent and stronger leadership.”1
The recent debacle with the Texas power grid is yet another example of a failure of foresight and willingness to make the requisite investments in infrastructure to deal with a changing world. Climate change is real and virtually all credible scientists agree that weather extremes will become the new norm. As such, it is incumbent upon all states and the US to make the necessary investments to make the entire electrical infrastructure in this country more robust.
When the failure happened in Texas, rather than step back and take an objective look at why it occurred, it immediately turned into a case of partisan politics and the ‘blame game.’ Those who don’t’ believe in climate change, immediately pointed the finger at wind turbines and solar arrays as the main source of the problem. The fact is, the deregulation of the Texas energy industry, its unwillingness to connect to the national power grid, and an unwillingness to invest in the power infrastructure over the past years was the primary reason for this massive failure. [ If this sounds familiar, just remember the Enron debacle] The rest of the country should take this as a warning and start planning now to make the necessary investments to make sure the entire national power grid is more robust. But, we won’t. We’ll continue to squabble.
The US remains the only industrialized country in the world that does not have some type of universal health care system. Why don’t we? Because we continue to squabble. The transportation infrastructure in many places is far superior to that of the US. Why? Because we continue to squabble. The education systems in many countries are superior that those in the US? Why? Because they invest in their education systems and we continue to squabble.
We may have a very strong military and lots of nuclear weapons which might delude some people into thinking we are invincible. History is strewn with examples of empires who had strong militaries and thought they were invincible. They were all wrong. Until such time as we can collectively understand that in order to make this country strong and robust, investing in the infrastructure and solving real problems that make the lives better for real people (not just the wealthy), is far more important than an arsenal of nuclear weapons.
The ongoing Republican strategy of opposing everything, cutting taxes, and thinking that anti-abortion legislation and unabashed support for everyone’s right to own any and all guns almost with restriction, are the most important problems facing this country, will continue to weaken the United States. The world is moving forward. The US can choose to move forward or we can continue to squabble about issues that are truly irrelevant to the long-term well-being of the country and the world. Given the track record of the Republican party over the past few years, I am not at all optimistic.
The Republican Party is an offshoot of the No Nothing Party. They were called Know-Nothings because members of the party were told to say ‘I know nothing’ when asked about it. They were also called ‘nativists’ because they believed that foreign-born Americans should not be allowed to hold government posts. The Know Nothing movement, formally known as the Native American Party (at that time meaning descendants of colonists or settlers, rather than indigenous Americans) before 1855 and the American Party after 1855, was a nativist political party and movement in the United States, which operated nationwide in the mid-1850s, originally starting as a secret society. It was primarily an anti-Catholic, Anti-Irish, anti-immigration, populist and xenophobic movement. I agree that this is the perfect name for the Republican Party.