3 ms·

I use to say this as a joke that if Australia sells itself to USA, they will have 10 more big cities. Australians tend to overstate the nature of their desert.

I use to say this as a joke that if Australia sells itself to USA, they will have 10 more big cities. Australians tend to overstate the nature of their desert. It is true that a large part is very hot but then they can have few more cities long the coastline with desalination plants. But all those sort of things are possible only when you have adventurous people trying to implement radical ideas which the USA gets in disproportionate numbers thanks to its immigration programs. Australian immigration is only about high skilled immigrants and they do not attract the likes of Steve Jobs to Elon Musk.

reaperducer 8y ago
I think you are on to something there. Los Angeles and some other American cities get water from hundreds of miles away, even crossing mountain ranges to do so. These days that kind of ambitious engineering would be largely unthinkable. Some bean counter somewhere would say it’s not worth the expense and the politicians would go along with it. Recently I learned that until 2005 Navajo Indians were transporting coal 300 miles via a slurry pipeline to Nevada power plants. Again, something that would be inconceivable in these small thinking days. I’m glad that a few crazy adventurers like Musk and Bezos and a few others have popped up. It’s been a long time since America had that kind of pioneering spirit. If people in the 1930’s had today’s mindset, Los Angeles would be just another desert gas stop on the coast road between San Diego and San Francisco.
- Karishma1234 8y ago
  Glad to see that comment non down-voted. California's paralysis is so bad that they have not built a single new major road in last 25 years and absolutely no new water-reservoirs though population has doubled. Hippie environmentalism and misplaced priorities of politicians are to be blamed here. During the draught their priority was saving some fish by airlifting them from drying ponds rather than figuring out new reservoir projects. Every time I visit Las Vegas I am reminded that the American prosperity is built on the sweat and blood of those badass pioneers who crossed the desert in unbearable heat, overcame all odds and built a fabulous city. Read this story for example of a Sicilian man turning hard pen land into an underground orange farm in the middle of Fresno. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBL_at8FAY&t=3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBL_at8FAY&t=3s Giants are gone and we are living in the times of pigmies.

reaperducer 8y ago

I think you are on to something there. Los Angeles and some other American cities get water from hundreds of miles away, even crossing mountain ranges to do so. These days that kind of ambitious engineering would be largely unthinkable. Some bean counter somewhere would say it’s not worth the expense and the politicians would go along with it. Recently I learned that until 2005 Navajo Indians were transporting coal 300 miles via a slurry pipeline to Nevada power plants. Again, something that would be inconceivable in these small thinking days. I’m glad that a few crazy adventurers like Musk and Bezos and a few others have popped up. It’s been a long time since America had that kind of pioneering spirit. If people in the 1930’s had today’s mindset, Los Angeles would be just another desert gas stop on the coast road between San Diego and San Francisco.

Karishma1234 8y ago
Glad to see that comment non down-voted. California's paralysis is so bad that they have not built a single new major road in last 25 years and absolutely no new water-reservoirs though population has doubled. Hippie environmentalism and misplaced priorities of politicians are to be blamed here. During the draught their priority was saving some fish by airlifting them from drying ponds rather than figuring out new reservoir projects. Every time I visit Las Vegas I am reminded that the American prosperity is built on the sweat and blood of those badass pioneers who crossed the desert in unbearable heat, overcame all odds and built a fabulous city. Read this story for example of a Sicilian man turning hard pen land into an underground orange farm in the middle of Fresno. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBL_at8FAY&t=3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBL_at8FAY&t=3s Giants are gone and we are living in the times of pigmies.