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The problem is not just that a vocal minority us opposed. Our political ruthlessness and acumen is so high, that project that is longer than a politician's te

The problem is not just that a vocal minority us opposed. Our political ruthlessness and acumen is so high, that project that is longer than a politician's term will leave them open to sound bites they can't recover from. It puts them in a position at reelection time of having all the cost, and none of the payoff. And more than likely, the project is harder and more costly than planned. And by the way, the party can't afford to not control that seat going into the national election. Neither side can tackle anything that can't be roi positive by election time. Most of those projects are "deck chairs on the titanic" value propositions.

JohnBooty 4y ago
[any] project that is longer than a politician's term will leave them open to sound bites they can't recover from. It puts them in a position at reelection time of having all the cost, and none of the payoff. Yeah, this is my take. We've designed a system in which literally all that matters is continually preparing for the next election, which is typically not more than four years away for any politician. I challenge anybody who thinks this is okay to take a long, hard look at their own lives and think about what they've accomplished in the last four years. Hell, it took me three years just to get my garage door replaced for a variety of reasons. Four years might have been enough time to do something meaningful back when a mayor's biggest project might have been, I don't know, installing new hitching posts for horses on Main St. It's not enough time to do anything today, and that's why nothing gets done. And yet, I don't know the answer. Longer terms for politicians seems like they would create as many problems as they would solve.
- nobody9999 4y ago
  >Yeah, this is my take. We've designed a system in which literally all that matters is continually preparing for the next election, which is typically not more than four years away for any politician. I'd go even further than that. It's not just politicians who engage in short-term thinking, corporations engage in even shorter term thinking as well. In fact, I'd posit that much of the division in our society is related to such short-term thinking. When manufacturing and farm jobs (primarily, but not entirely through automation) started to go away, it was clear that things needed to change in order to maintain a semblance of parity throughout the country. Rather than slashing funds for infrastructure and transportation 40+ years ago, we should have employed those folks who were losing their jobs to build high-speed rail, housing and infrastructure throughout the country, making it possible for folks to continue living where they were and have jobs elsewhere. And 25 years ago, we should have started building out municipal Internet infrastructure all over the country, even in rural areas, instead of giving giant corporations tens of billions to do nothing. But instead we ignored these problems (as such projects would take decades) and folks in exurbs and rural areas became detached from the economic engines that drive the economy -- causing many folks (especially young folks) to abandon the places their families had lived for generations. This devastated many communities. Having high speed transporation and Internet could revitalize many of these communities, through start ups, work from home and fast transport to regional population centers. That would bring money into the local economies and create incentives for new housing, business (all those people will need stuff -- food, housing, household appliances, etc., etc., etc.) and include those areas in the economic engine that made the US so successful. But since we didn't do that, folks in well connected (transportation and network-wise) areas have flourished, while people in areas that don't have seen their communities shrivel, their outlook sour and their futures crumble before their eyes. Is it any wonder that many of those folks feel neglected and left out? No. Because they have been. And as the population centers prosper, the folks who have been left behind see their fellow Americans as destroying their world by ignoring and neglecting their infrastructure, talents and the enormous human capital that they represent. But no. The politicians won't think past the next election (although the infrastructure bill is a start -- just 40 years too late) and corporations rarely look past the next quarterly (or if we're lucky, annual) earnings reports. And if we don't alter course to make all Americans welcome and part of the larger society, we're just going to see more suspicion and ill will that will continue to divide us. I wish I knew how to fix that, but I don't. So all I can hope for at this point is that I'll be dead before we rip our country apart. And more's the pity.

JohnBooty 4y ago

[any] project that is longer than a politician's term will leave them open to sound bites they can't recover from. It puts them in a position at reelection time of having all the cost, and none of the payoff. Yeah, this is my take. We've designed a system in which literally all that matters is continually preparing for the next election, which is typically not more than four years away for any politician. I challenge anybody who thinks this is okay to take a long, hard look at their own lives and think about what they've accomplished in the last four years. Hell, it took me three years just to get my garage door replaced for a variety of reasons. Four years might have been enough time to do something meaningful back when a mayor's biggest project might have been, I don't know, installing new hitching posts for horses on Main St. It's not enough time to do anything today, and that's why nothing gets done. And yet, I don't know the answer. Longer terms for politicians seems like they would create as many problems as they would solve.

nobody9999 4y ago
>Yeah, this is my take. We've designed a system in which literally all that matters is continually preparing for the next election, which is typically not more than four years away for any politician. I'd go even further than that. It's not just politicians who engage in short-term thinking, corporations engage in even shorter term thinking as well. In fact, I'd posit that much of the division in our society is related to such short-term thinking. When manufacturing and farm jobs (primarily, but not entirely through automation) started to go away, it was clear that things needed to change in order to maintain a semblance of parity throughout the country. Rather than slashing funds for infrastructure and transportation 40+ years ago, we should have employed those folks who were losing their jobs to build high-speed rail, housing and infrastructure throughout the country, making it possible for folks to continue living where they were and have jobs elsewhere. And 25 years ago, we should have started building out municipal Internet infrastructure all over the country, even in rural areas, instead of giving giant corporations tens of billions to do nothing. But instead we ignored these problems (as such projects would take decades) and folks in exurbs and rural areas became detached from the economic engines that drive the economy -- causing many folks (especially young folks) to abandon the places their families had lived for generations. This devastated many communities. Having high speed transporation and Internet could revitalize many of these communities, through start ups, work from home and fast transport to regional population centers. That would bring money into the local economies and create incentives for new housing, business (all those people will need stuff -- food, housing, household appliances, etc., etc., etc.) and include those areas in the economic engine that made the US so successful. But since we didn't do that, folks in well connected (transportation and network-wise) areas have flourished, while people in areas that don't have seen their communities shrivel, their outlook sour and their futures crumble before their eyes. Is it any wonder that many of those folks feel neglected and left out? No. Because they have been. And as the population centers prosper, the folks who have been left behind see their fellow Americans as destroying their world by ignoring and neglecting their infrastructure, talents and the enormous human capital that they represent. But no. The politicians won't think past the next election (although the infrastructure bill is a start -- just 40 years too late) and corporations rarely look past the next quarterly (or if we're lucky, annual) earnings reports. And if we don't alter course to make all Americans welcome and part of the larger society, we're just going to see more suspicion and ill will that will continue to divide us. I wish I knew how to fix that, but I don't. So all I can hope for at this point is that I'll be dead before we rip our country apart. And more's the pity.