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They weren't short sighted, they expected we would continue and keep improving the infrastructure. We built some utterly incredible infrastructure in the past (
by oceanplexian 2y ago
They weren't short sighted, they expected we would continue and keep improving the infrastructure. We built some utterly incredible infrastructure in the past (Bridges, highways, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, etc.) and then people stopped dreaming and stopped building.
As a result we have been living on the infrastructure that our parents and grandparents built while supporting 10x the population. Which is incredible but at some point something has to give.
- anon84873628 2y agoThey didn't expect us to build a solution to undo destruction of the Owen's valley or the Colorado river delta. Maybe it hasn't continued because that type of infrastructure reached a local maximum. If you want dreams, how about reshaping the California Central valley as an enormous management intensive agroforestry system that uses highly diverse and resilient native species to meet human calorie needs. This isn't an engineering challenge, it's a social, cultural, and political one.