Infrastructure changes as technologies and societies evolve.
Infrastructure is whatever keeps enhances our ability to be productive and allows civilizations to advance.
There was a time when railroads were a “newfangled notion” — a plaything for the rich, hardly a thing of necessary infrastructure. But as transportation allowed mobility for people and the movement of goods in commerce, railroads became the new foundation of infrastructure. And now railroads also need to be advanced into high-speed bullet trains to keep American competitive with the technologies advancing in China, Japan and Europe.
There was a time when paved roads across the open lands between cities, previously traversed by horse and later by the railroads that had blossomed into foundational infrastructure, were a luxury for the few rich who could afford those “newfangled horseless carriages.” But as automobiles got produced by workers paid well enough to afford to buy the products they produced, and automobiles became a thing of the working people, increased mobility between cities became part of everyday life, and roads, too, were added to essential infrastructure, not only for the mobility of drivers, but for a burgeoning trucking industry, and the Interstate Highway System and bridges became important infrastructure.
And yes, as per the point made in Mike’s excellent ’toon, INFRASTRUCTURE INCLUDES WATER. There are alternatives to coal and oil. For the plastics made from oil, anything made out of plastic can be made out of hemp (which is also biodegradable). But THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO WATER. The idea that getting water into homes is not infrastructure, especially after what we saw happen in Flint, Michigan (and also other places that always seem to hit at minority communities), defies the ability to understand even the most cruel, narrowly-focused extent of extremism.
Infrastructure changes as technologies and societies evolve.
Infrastructure is whatever keeps enhances our ability to be productive and allows civilizations to advance.
There was a time when railroads were a “newfangled notion” — a plaything for the rich, hardly a thing of necessary infrastructure. But as transportation allowed mobility for people and the movement of goods in commerce, railroads became the new foundation of infrastructure. And now railroads also need to be advanced into high-speed bullet trains to keep American competitive with the technologies advancing in China, Japan and Europe.
There was a time when paved roads across the open lands between cities, previously traversed by horse and later by the railroads that had blossomed into foundational infrastructure, were a luxury for the few rich who could afford those “newfangled horseless carriages.” But as automobiles got produced by workers paid well enough to afford to buy the products they produced, and automobiles became a thing of the working people, increased mobility between cities became part of everyday life, and roads, too, were added to essential infrastructure, not only for the mobility of drivers, but for a burgeoning trucking industry, and the Interstate Highway System and bridges became important infrastructure.
And yes, as per the point made in Mike’s excellent ’toon, INFRASTRUCTURE INCLUDES WATER. There are alternatives to coal and oil. For the plastics made from oil, anything made out of plastic can be made out of hemp (which is also biodegradable). But THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO WATER. The idea that getting water into homes is not infrastructure, especially after what we saw happen in Flint, Michigan (and also other places that always seem to hit at minority communities), defies the ability to understand even the most cruel, narrowly-focused extent of extremism.