With our crumbling infrastructure - high unemployment - and need for public transportation, was it the United States? Sadly, no - not the United States ... not here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/business/global/worlds-longest-high-speed-rail-line-opens-in-china.html Looks like it's by-gone days, when we used to be on the fore front of high tech. Ok, a bunch of the tech was likely stolen off Japans' system ... and they've had to slow it down due to accidents, but hey, they're off and running. .
Already had a thread discussing this at High speed rail in China discussion | PriusChat. Good article though. As I've always heard, this is what happens when you have engineers in charge of a country instead of a bunch of lawyers. And, given the nature of the Chinese government, if they want to do something, they just do it... unlike the constant bickering that goes on here, at all levels.
Cheap labor. They were free to return to China if they wanted. If any workers were sold it happened in China, not here.
We can't afford no stinking infrastructure! (certainly can't afford to keep up what we already got!). Imagine, investing in infrastructure for the next generation rather than the next fiscal quarter! It is no wonder that "American Exceptionalism" is merely a myth! Icarus
We will never get out of the crapper in this country unless they replace everyone in Washington DC and we know that will not happen in our life time.
The Chinese have an advantage that the US does not. They can just uproot whatever citizens they want when they decide to install anything. Whether it be dams, railroad, or whatever, the communist government can just relocate and set all the terms of the relocation. Now if we are going to put a rail line in, does the national, or state, or local government pay for all the real estate needed at the market price, or just take it. I would think that going through the some of the highest price real estate would be phenomenally expensive before spending a cent on actually building something.
That's not always the case which can delve into both the absurd and bizarre (scroll through to the bottom for more examples): Road built around building as couple refuse to move in China | Mail Online
It is the case for dams and railroads. In the case of roads, they just wait for the undercut homes to collapse. Thanks for the great pictures.
