In the 70s, Emmanuel Todd wrote a book in which he explained where the soviet demographic indicators would go and why and what effects it would have, and things happened as he had predicted. err, well, I must admit I haven't read the book though... I should add that, nowadays, he isn't very optimistic for the USA. Come on, they're well aware of that. Former Number Ones generally know all too well when their days are past - after a while.
SouthAmerica, I'm sure your cousin is a credible witness (being a graduate of a US university and all). But I must say--having spent the last 50 years living in this country--I see no evidence of an infrastructure meltdown. BTW...how are the roads and bridges holding up in South America?? :eek:
I've lived in California for 10 yrs and have yet to see a blackout . . . Do they have electricity where you came from??
Surely, you jest: 2001: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1123665.stm 2003: http://www.counterpunch.org/leopold08202003.html 2005: http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/2005/07/heat-wave-drives-fear-of-california.html
It's much easier to build new, then repair old. In older, northern industrial cities the infrastructure is decaying .. In many other parts of the country it is brand new. (The suburbs for instance) Last time I looked South Americans were still largely floating down the amazon on bamboo rafts, talk infrastructure. get a fricking life, focus on your own "decaying" country.
Itâs a supply issue. More power plants need to be built. That simple. More and more people are sick and tired of environmentalists trying to turn back the clock, so government policy will change in favor of building more power plants. Our grid is fine, by the way. Incidentally, the average U.S. household demands 100-200 amp service. I would like to see what would happen if Brazilians used that much electricity per household. Poof! Your wires would burn up and your power plants would burn out.
Yes blackouts in CA exist, but nowhere near the frequency that the useful idiot who started this thread claims. I've lived adjacent to a large city and in a heavily populated county in CA for 10 yrs and have yet to lose my power to a rolling blackout.
The Soviet Union died a long slow death because their thinking was the same as SA's. SA, if you are worried about California, don't be. Our Republican governor has a plan for the state to be 20% green powered [wind and solar] by 2011 which is being implemented right now. California was in the hands of the far left for decades and did not build ANY new electric generation capacity for decades. It was a matter of the political will, nothing more than that. All we have to do is make sure that the left does not poison our political will and the USA can do anything it wants to. Our roads were in disrepair until the current Governor took over and stopped throwing money at the union workers and every stray Indian that wandered across the border and fixed the highways.
. TraderNik: Awwww.... sounds like you're just jealous ************ July 26, 2006 SouthAmerica: No - I am not jealous. I am pissed, since I live in Northern New Jersey â a very nice area by the way â and we lost electric power a number of times in the last few years. We are not living in the 1940's â we are living in the new millennium â and it does not make sense for a country that thinks that they have superior technology than other countries around the world and at the same time not being able even to have a reliable electric power grid. In this day and age that is crazy to say the least and a major sign of infrastructure decline. In my opinion, we have a situation regarding the electric power grid that is not acceptable and people should be very angry about it. .