In the Bacon’s Rebellion Blog post “Here, Take My Lint” of 10 August, Jim Bacon profiles the current debate on the role of the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA) in achieving Mobility and Access in the Hampton roads New Urban Region.
In Peter Galuszka’s Bacon’s Rebellion News Service story “Fizzled Launch” and in Jim Bacon’s 14 August Blog post “A Stumbling Start” further details of the status of HRTA emerge.
In a 15 August Blog post Jim Bacon examines “The Conservative Backlash Grows” over the legislation that established HRTA and gave a similar Agency, similar powers in the northern part of Virginia. Jim provides links to six news stories on the topic. Something must be important here to spend all this ink. Or it there?
The issue being discussed is how to raise money for transportation facilities. The debate rages in spite of the fact that more money, no matter how much is raised or from what source it comes, if spent for more of the things Agencies have spent money for in the past – primarily roadways for Large Private vehicles – such new facilities will only make the Mobility and Access Crisis worse in both the Hampton Roads New Urban Region and the Virginia portion of the National Capital Subregion.
As large an issue as this is, there is a bigger one.
As reported in Jim Bacon’s “Here, Take My Lint” story, George Donley, an “ordinary citizen,” told a 9 August public hearing by HRTA that he had only “lint” left to contribute to the functions of government. Donley’s plea made for a good quote for the public hearing story in MainStream Media and it caught Jim Bacon’s eye.
A citizen who has the wherewith all to get to a hearing and the ability to make a public statement saying he has only lint and that this foolishness would be newsworthy is a tragedy of epic proportions.
Citizens may not, for good reason, approve of what government Agencies are doing with the money they are now getting or where these Agencies plan to get more money in the future. However, the reality is that it is “the public,” “the Commons” that is running on empty. Those in the top one half of the economic food chain are spending their children’s and grandchildren’s future.
It will take vastly more taxes, vastly higher fees and vastly greater amounts of volunteer and sweat equity devoted to public, common efforts (rather than private, self-serving efforts) to create safe and secure Households, Dooryards, Clusters, Neighborhoods, Villages, Communities and New Urban Regions much less safe and secure nation-states.
Contemporary Civilization is running on fumes. There is a Mobility and Access Crisis, an Affordable and Accessible Housing Crisis and a Helter Skelter Crisis directly related to dysfunctional human settlement patterns.
The well respected commentator “Anon 12:18” states the issue well (although that may not have been his intent) in a comment under “The Conservative Backlash Grows”:
“The problem is that no taxes, no new spending is not a principle. It’s a slogan. … A promise to never ever raise taxes, to hold spending to an artificial goal, simply sets up an impossible goal.”
Bridges are falling down. Lenders are packaging debt and selling it as a speculative investment / asset. Nation-states are tearing down forests to grow sugar to burn in Large, Private Vehicles. The temperature is rising faster than anyone expected a few years ago and the US of A is leading the world in the production of Greenhouse gas and buying everything China and India can produce regardless of health, safety or economic concerns.
There is staggering private debt, mortgages are being forclosed, credit is shrinking. There is a huge balance of payments deficit, two wars and a federal government that took a 50.1% vote as a mandate and has demonstrated more incompetence and corruption than the U. S. Grant’s administration – the cannot even rebuild after a hurricane. There is a widening Wealth Gap that threatens free markets and democracy…
In the face of this fat, self-serving citizens get press quotes for saying they have noting to give but lint?
Humans has built a technology based civilization that is hugely expensive yet well fed citizens who enjoy – for now – unprecedented freedom and luxury and champion ever more private rights are not willing to accept public responsibilities.
Governance practitioners, in fear of losing their jobs, scramble to see who they need to appease and subsidize – cotton farmers, oil refiners, autonomobile makers — to keep the ship up for a few more years…
Those who only have lint to give better save in for their life jackets.
EMR
