0615 - RedState

Despite the best efforts of an airline, nameless here but with initials “AA”, to prevent return from Atlanta and extreme deprivation of food by same, the OO and Staff have returned to sanctuary. We begin by disposing quickly of the title above: we were in Atlanta, in high Republican company, but, you know what? – the approval rating of the current U.S. Administration has dropped sharply. Further, the far Evangelical Right wasn’t visible, although the no-tax Right was. At a splendid dinner in a home fully worth display in House Beautiful, nobody, but nobody, opposed the personal right of voluntary euthanasia (asking a doctor to turn off the lights). This is progress, is it not? Meanwhile, Atlanta was, as always, well mannered, well-fed, and almost choked by traffic. In the part called Buckhead where the Objective Observatory crowd likes to stay, huge luxury SUVs abound, fine restaurants tempt, and stores are full of all kinds of stuff. The simple Anguillian is dazzled.

The OO would like to share with you some significant socioeconomic thinking triggered by flying over the great Atlanta and Miami urbanplexes. These vast urban and suburban sprawls are tied together by tangled superhighways constantly, but constantly, clogged at all hours. A pall of automobile exhaust hangs over the spectacle. The air, alas the air, is not breathable: burnt petro by-products corrode the lungs. Now, Readers, you of course know that gasoline prices are high in the U.S., and there are fears of shortages. But, look you, citiplexes such as Atlanta and Miami (and L.A. and many others) simply cannot function without the inhabitants hauling themselves around in their gas-guzzling SUVs of choice. Without the roads and the Lexuses, there is simply no commerce and no survival. So, despite our high dedication to free markets, we detect much danger here. No gas, no business. None.

We all saw what happened to the poorer New Orleans cits who didn’t have an SUV to flee the ‘cane. We also saw the 24-hour traffic jams out of Houston when Rita was advancing. Readers, there is no way to move around most urban sprawls without cars, and sometimes no way to move even with cars. So, one day very soon, there is going to be a big problem, and a really hard one, too. If there is anything an American politician (or one in any country) hates, it is a hard problem, defined as one that can’t be dealt with by porky appropriations or cutting somebody’s taxes, or both. Solutions here are thinkable, but awfully tough: (1) build more roads (where?) and somehow provide cheap gasoline (but how?); (2) insist on more efficient cars, and raise the gas tax every year, perhaps leading to car pools; (3) realize that big cities work best when the people are kept in a compact area – so, urgently restore downtowns and apartments in the city proper; (4) return to streetcars – remember them? (5) forbid any more suburban building – that’s the way Saddam would have done it.

Getting stuck for 17 hours on planes and at airports, including the hateful San Juan, leads to mad desires for edible foods and reflections on the stories of the day. Next week, we take the risk of being accused of excessive dortiness (look it up, in an English, not U.S., dictionary, say www.collinsdictionaries.com, and find: “dorty adj. dortier, dortiest. scot haughty or sullen... from Scottish 'dort' peevishness. 'dortiness' noun”). Our Staff will suggest what can be done with companies such as General Motors (in awful shape) and Delphi (now in bankruptcy). It may be that we are thinking too much. Is that dangerous? A few weeks back on Anguilla (or at the White House) and another stiff dose of humility can fix that.

Next time: Delphic [OO #616]

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

Home