 |
|
|
 Editorials | Opinions | October 2006 
America's Chinese-Mexican Autobahns
 Richard Babb - Daily Journal
| | Given the changes which occurred fifty years ago, there is one question which begs to be asked: What is this “NAFTA Superhighway” plan going to mean for our communities? |
It was during the 1950’s post-war boom that road contractors, automobile manufacturers and petroleum interests cozied up with President Eisenhower and Congress and pushed through what is now known as the Eisenhower Interstate System. Eisenhower had long been interested in America’s roads since, in his early days, he journeyed to California on some really bad ones. His interest was further piqued when he visited Germany just after the war and observed first hand Hitler’s four lane road, the autobahn.
While we now laud our four lane highways, we forget the substantial changes done to the American landscape after the development of the Interstate system. Suburbs arose which, in turn, started urban decay. America’s mass transit was eviscerated with train travel becoming nearly extinct. With the demise of mass transit, a couple of family cars became a necessity, which meant a large part of one’s disposable income went to purchasing an automobile. Easy motoring brought franchises which drove out Mom and Pop cafes and the quaintly named “motor inns.” It is no fiction that the fabric of American culture was radically altered by the massive transportation changes of the 1950’s.
Another major project
There is now on the drawing board another monumental transportation plan for the country. It has received scant attention or debate, flying under the radar, despite the beliefs of some observers that this project, like the Interstate system of 50 years ago, may again cause radical alterations in the landscape.
There are now designs to build large “NAFTA Superhighways” which will originate in Mexico and fork out across America all the way to Canada and beyond. NAFTA, of course, is the acronym for The North American Free Trade Agreement which was promulgated under the Clinton Administration. The major NAFTA highway will run from the Mexican port of Las Cardenas all the way to Duluth, Minnesota bisecting the country. These highways are apparently going to be ten to twelve lanes.
The plan is for ships laden with cheaply made “eastern goods” (read China here), to dock at Las Cardenas. There, trucks will be loaded and drive their cargo onto the superhighways into America via “fast lanes”. Apparently the trucks will be fixed with special sensors allowing for automatic checks as they roar through the border.
The first custom’s stop on the Duluth run will be at a Mexican facility being built with a taxpayers’ loan in Kansas City, Kan. Other NAFTA superhighways being constructed include I-69, which has been in the news lately. The development of these superhighways will obviously allow easier introduction of Chinese goods into the American market. That will translate into the continued sucking away of American jobs to China. That seems to me to be a bad thing, but I hear few objecting political voices.
Communist control
Economics bores me quicker than watching a buzzard nibble a dead possum, but it should be noted that in 2005 the U.S. had a trade deficit with Communist China in excess of 200 billion dollars. With these superhighways both the loss of American jobs and the trade deficit will continue to grow. Since the powers in this country seem to be lining up to support this highway development, I reckon the average citizen should conclude that NAFTA highways are in the long run a good thing. A cynic might say that the Communists have come to control a large part of the American economy without even firing a shot. Those cynics.
Then there are those folks who are criticizing the plan because they believe that superhighways originating in Mexico will only increase illegal immigration and make our borders less secure.
Both Pat Buchanan and Phyllis Schlafly, no screaming liberals they, see something even more sinister than cheap goods. They see the loss of American sovereignty, a plan to remake America, along with Canada and Mexico, into one large economic enterprise, like the European Union.
But it is all rather confusing. Back in the 60’s I was instructed by federal and state leaders that to do business with Communists was an immoral thing. Indeed I was taught the civil rights movement was nothing more than a Communist plot. Now we have normalized relations with Vietnam and China is our biggest trading partner.
I guess we now have the official “oky-doky” to indulge watching Dancing with the Stars while lounging in our fluffy, hand-stitched bathrobe sewn by an old man working 20 hours a day in a Chinese slave labor (Laogoi) camp because he dared criticize his government. And we don’t have to feel either unpatriotic or immoral...
Whatever one thinks of the idea of the Chinese-Mexican autobahns, it is not being hotly debated. Given the changes which occurred fifty years ago, there is one question which begs to be asked: What is this transportation plan going to mean for our communities? We deserve an honest answer, a commodity admittedly in short supply just now in Washington.
Richard Babb may be reached at rjbabb56@yahoo.com |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us