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The Global Difference
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18741 |
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Section : |
SPECIAL SECTION
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| Issue
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8 / 1991 |
1,984 Words |
| Author
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Edward V. Regan
Edward V. Regan is comptroller of the state of New York. |
Shakespeare is not generally thought of as an authority on the infrastructure, but the famous passage from Troilus and Cressida in defense of conservatism speaks volumes on the subject:
The heavens themselves, the
planets and this center
Observe degree, priority, and
place...
Take but degree away, untune
that string,
And hark, what discord follows!
America's infrastructure crisis is a classic example of the string untuned--what happens when harmony and proportion are sacrificed to the warped and wasteful practices of political expediency. The discord that has followed is plain to see: collapsing bridges, decaying school buildings, potholed pavements.
But I would stress that this is the case in America--it's not the case in Canada or many of the industrialized nations of Western Europe, where the string is still in tune. There, potholes and rusty bridges are considered blemishes to be avoided rather than accepted aspects of the urban landscape.
The difference between our way of looking at things and the classic European viewpoint is profound--one that can be stated in its broadest terms as the philosophy of "use and move on" versus the philosophy of "maintain and conserve." In America, when we'd gotten full value out of the land in one part of the country, we could move on to the ever-expanding frontier and begin again. In Europe, population density and scarce resources produced an emphasis on community values and cities that work well and look good.
America's frontier spirit as a burden
While the frontier spirit with its freewheeling individualism helped create America's dynamic growth, it also contributed to a lax attitude toward the infrastructure--an attitude we can no longer afford. A sound infrastructure--high-quality roads, bridges, sewer and water lines, and transportation systems--isn't simply a luxury that we can indulge or ignore at our pleasure. It's the No. 1 requirement for spurring a nation's economy and creating jobs.
In a recent
...
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