Kicking the Can
How Conservatism Killed the Jetsons
Standing tough under stars and stripes
We can tell
This dreams in sight
You’ve got to admit it
At this point in time that its clear
The future looks bright-IGY by Steely DanIf we take care of the future, the present will take care of itself. Its a pretty simple concept. If we are investing in making sure that we are building a better tomorrow for subsequent generations, there will be immediate benefits for the current generation occupying the Earth. We are only temporarily living here and we benefit from good decisions and investments of the past just a sure as we have been left to deal with the bad ones. Our obligation as a society is to make as many good decisions as possible so the legacy that we leave to our descendants will be as positive as we can make it. Following good sound principals for a thriving sustainable society pays dividends in the present and future and is a, dare I say it, really conservative approach to how we go about our business. Sadly, not only are we shirking this responsibility, paying any sort of attention to it has been branded as irresponsible. Optimism and the belief that tomorrow will be better are notions that are slowly being strangled.
The Tea Party loves to talk in terms of the legacy that we are leaving our grandchildren. They talk of crushing debt that will leave an unbearable tab for future generations to pay. They talk of unaffordable "entitlements" and the "privileges" given to working people as too expensive for an over-taxed society. Spending on infrastructure is the province of the "tax and spend" liberals. One of their favorite hackneyed phrases to justify their policies is that they want to avoid "kicking the can down the road". I suppose on its face it may sound good to some. Obviously its good enough to attract a fair-sized following. As much as many members of this movement provide comic relief with the absurdity of their positions, they are not ALL stupid and they are not All evil. We will never reach the hardcore members of the membership who are driven by fear, hate,ignorance and unbridled self-interest, they're beyond reasoning. However,there is a large contingent of casual thinkers drawn to the Tea Party based upon a superficial analysis who perhaps can be swayed by logic and fact.
The real legacy that today's conservative policies would leave the next generation of Americans and its truly dire consequences should be enough to convince any reasonable person. Any analysis that goes beyond the simplistic view of "taxes bad" reveals the dangerous path that we are on. Current conservative thinking is akin to a turtle pulling into its shell at the first sign of danger. The danger doesn't go away. Likewise, today's problems won't go away if we just hunker down and wait in our individual bunkers for the storm to pass.
The real peril of the current conservative approach to governing is our society's abandonment of the future. This country has faced difficult economic and political situations before. The Transcontinental Railroad was built during the Civil War. Magnificent bridges, tunnels and public buildings that are still in use were built during the depression. Legacies to the future built during times when they surely seemed "unaffordable".
When I was a kid in the sixties, there was always an underlying sense of optimism for the future in spite of seemingly overwhelming problems in the present. Interstate highways and skyscrapers were being built and the space program was reaching for the moon while Vietnam and civil rights struggles dominated our everyday existence. The year 2000 seemed so far away, but it surely meant flying cars and gleaming cities. There was always an investment to be made in the future and the investment was going to pay dividends in good paying jobs and a higher quality of life for everyone.
Today, our national infrastructure is deteriorating to a dangerous condition. Its a sad combination of it reaching the end of its designed lifespan and exceeding its designed capacity coupled with a lack of investment in maintenance. The gears that make our country work need to be replaced. At the same time, there is no investment in the future. No commitment to the next generation of energy. No commitment of capital to rebuilding our aging cities. No new network of energy efficient transportation or goods movement. There is no sense of building a better tomorrow and using the investment in the future to raise today's standard of living.
There is still a tremendous amount of wealth being produced in this country. However, it is increasingly concentrated in a smaller and smaller percentage of the population each year. The financial assets of our country are not being re-circulated into society to produce anything of value or utilized in a manner that can raise the standard of living for any but the relatively few who are hoarding it. This lack of investment will produce not only a legacy of a polarized society, but one of a stagnant and crumbling nation that invested in neither its present nor future.
The can that has been kicked down the road is the obligation to maintain the essentials of a thriving civil society and make an investment in future technologies. If you think that debt will be a crushing burden for our grandchildren what do you consider the necessity of rebuilding a nation's worth of roads, bridges, rails, sewer and water systems and other public infrastructure? That effort would be required just to maintain a functioning society, not to move it forward. That is a legacy that our grandchildren will not be able to afford. Getting people back to work at jobs that provide for a better future surely can't be that controversial. Perhaps this is the kind of reasoning that can bridge political divides. If we cannot come to a workable consensus on these issues, we are surely sowing the seeds of a very bleak future.
On that train all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
Well by seventy-six we'll be a-o.k.
What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free
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