4 ms·

I find it's generally a "grass is greener" thing - we envy other countries for infrastructure but ignore the serious problems in those places like high unemploy

I find it's generally a "grass is greener" thing - we envy other countries for infrastructure but ignore the serious problems in those places like high unemployment, etc. But you're right; the US got overrun by nationalism post-9/11 which led to a feeling that because we were already the best, greatest, freest nation given to man by god -- and the rest of the world surpassed us in many ways.

arethuza 9y ago
"we were already the best, greatest, freest nation given to man by god" The US is hardly the first nation to think that at the peak of its power and almost certainly won't be the last.
atonse 9y ago
To some extent, it might be a grass is greener. But the thing is, the grass here WAS often legitimately greener compared to many places. It's just that the large infrastructure projects that can only be undertaken by government have gotten so paralyzed by special interests, that the stories just sound like anything you'd hear from developing nations with woefully corrupt governments. That billions of dollars were spent, there is literally NOTHING to show for it, AND nobody was punished either. I say this living in an area (DC Metro) that now has gigabit fiber from the local telco. But I know our situation is rare.
- abofh 9y ago
  DC is one of the only places that has competitive FTTH in the country - the same place all the regulators are saying there isn't a problem. Surely no coincidence? I miss my FiOS - I don't miss the weather :-)
  - atonse 9y ago
    Yeah I don't think it's a fluke that the DC area has decent broadband competition. That's where all the regulators live.
    - rayiner 9y ago
      It's not a fluke, it's the result of sound municipal policy. D.C. is dysfunctional in many ways, but it's not anti-development like most U.S. cities. Right now, entire neighborhoods are being razed and replaced with gleaming 12-14 story mid-rise buildings. The city is also permissive with telecom deployment. Comcast, RCN, and Verizon have all been permitted to deploy in different parts of the city without being compelled to service the whole city at once. It's not just D.C. though. The whole surrounding area is pretty lax about development. The Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland is pretty rural, but also has fiber internet because ISPs are permitted to build where it's profitable to build.
      - exelius 9y ago
        The D.C. Suburbs also have some of the highest-income households in the country. Low-income households buy less home Internet by FAR (low income people use cell phones and mobile data). That absolutely factors in.
        rayiner 9y ago
        It's not just rich suburbs. Here is a completely random building in Anacostia: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8595932,-76.9871194,3a,75y,199.64h,89.3t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPpOG7xUqVQs_PNqYI-FNjg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8595932,-76.9871194,3a,75y,1.... If you punch in the address to various providers, apparently it can get fiber through Verizon or Comcast, or gigabit cable through Comcast or RCN.
losteric 9y ago
We let fear destroy us. Since 2001, we have spent $4.79 trillion on war in the Middle East... averaging out to $319,000,000,000 ($319B) per year. For perspective, Clinton's campaign national infrastructure bill proposed spending $240B over 10 years, and a national high-speed rail network might cost around $500B. Those are huge expenditures, but they are investments in the American public. War in the Middle East? Our money just goes up in smoke... [1] Summary of Costs of the US Wars in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan and Homeland Security: http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2016/Costs%20of%20War%20through%202016%20FINAL%20final%20v2.pdf http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/201...

arethuza 9y ago

"we were already the best, greatest, freest nation given to man by god" The US is hardly the first nation to think that at the peak of its power and almost certainly won't be the last.

atonse 9y ago

To some extent, it might be a grass is greener. But the thing is, the grass here WAS often legitimately greener compared to many places. It's just that the large infrastructure projects that can only be undertaken by government have gotten so paralyzed by special interests, that the stories just sound like anything you'd hear from developing nations with woefully corrupt governments. That billions of dollars were spent, there is literally NOTHING to show for it, AND nobody was punished either. I say this living in an area (DC Metro) that now has gigabit fiber from the local telco. But I know our situation is rare.

abofh 9y ago
DC is one of the only places that has competitive FTTH in the country - the same place all the regulators are saying there isn't a problem. Surely no coincidence? I miss my FiOS - I don't miss the weather :-)
- atonse 9y ago
  Yeah I don't think it's a fluke that the DC area has decent broadband competition. That's where all the regulators live.
  - rayiner 9y ago
    It's not a fluke, it's the result of sound municipal policy. D.C. is dysfunctional in many ways, but it's not anti-development like most U.S. cities. Right now, entire neighborhoods are being razed and replaced with gleaming 12-14 story mid-rise buildings. The city is also permissive with telecom deployment. Comcast, RCN, and Verizon have all been permitted to deploy in different parts of the city without being compelled to service the whole city at once. It's not just D.C. though. The whole surrounding area is pretty lax about development. The Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland is pretty rural, but also has fiber internet because ISPs are permitted to build where it's profitable to build.
    - exelius 9y ago
      The D.C. Suburbs also have some of the highest-income households in the country. Low-income households buy less home Internet by FAR (low income people use cell phones and mobile data). That absolutely factors in.
      - rayiner 9y ago
        It's not just rich suburbs. Here is a completely random building in Anacostia: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8595932,-76.9871194,3a,75y,199.64h,89.3t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPpOG7xUqVQs_PNqYI-FNjg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8595932,-76.9871194,3a,75y,1.... If you punch in the address to various providers, apparently it can get fiber through Verizon or Comcast, or gigabit cable through Comcast or RCN.

losteric 9y ago

We let fear destroy us. Since 2001, we have spent $4.79 trillion on war in the Middle East... averaging out to $319,000,000,000 ($319B) per year. For perspective, Clinton's campaign national infrastructure bill proposed spending $240B over 10 years, and a national high-speed rail network might cost around $500B. Those are huge expenditures, but they are investments in the American public. War in the Middle East? Our money just goes up in smoke... [1] Summary of Costs of the US Wars in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan and Homeland Security: http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2016/Costs%20of%20War%20through%202016%20FINAL%20final%20v2.pdf http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/201...