Yesterday, a bridge collapsed in Minneapolis during rush hour.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6927113.stm
The tragic event led to an almost immediate revelation that the bridge was considered 'deficient'! I keep hearing engineers, over and over again on CNN explaining the 'lack of redundancy' in the architecture of the bridge.
[Minnesota representative James Oberstar, chairman of the House of Representatives' Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told Fox News that the bridge that collapsed was known to be in need of repairs.
"I know for a fact that the bridge has been listed as structurally deficient for several years," he said. "It was on their list of bridges to be fixed -- that is reconstruction work, bridge decking and bridge pier supports.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070802/ts_alt_afp/usaccidentbridge_070802170752 ]
Now how sad is this, that for several years, it was known that this bridge has issues. Yet, I'm betting that it was money that drove the issues with this bridge to the back page because in this country, its all about 'how will [we] profit from fixing that bridge' and who will reap the monetary benefits. In other words, who will the contract go to, to fix that bridge. And then, in come the politicians. And then, who's sleeping in whose bed?
Hmmm. Was anyone concerned that hundreds of thousands of people travel across an unsafe bridge that scored a '4' out of a scale of 1 - 9 for years? I remember there was a bill in congress to build a bridge to nowhere. Great! That's just a real responsible way to spend money while we have thousands of bridges on the brink of crumbling.
This is an eerie reminder of those levees that broke in New Orleans. Yep.... it was 'known' that the levees had faulty construction so we are told. Yet, the government allowed a hurricane to take care of it, at the expense of the people in the 9th Ward. I guess they decided they ain't getting a lot of money by way of taxes out of that bunch, so they're expendable. And the kicker for me is.... how in the world can the US have such poor levees compared to other countries? I remember hearing that our government hasn't even considered some of the great architectural examples for levee construction from other countries. But of course, it all boils down to money again, and what the goal is. Do we get the picture yet?
I think we are experiencing 'capitalism run amok'. Greed is making the rich get richer while ignoring quality all over the place.
I remember back in the '80s, there was a huge effort to encourage quality and service in the US. Many large corporations were drumming this mantra into the heads of employees by way of seminars e.g. (Tom Peters Seminars) and set up entire divisions that focused on TQM (Total Quality Management) which beat the drum of 'service' that gives corporations the leading edge in acquiring business.
Somewhere along the line, this faded away and what we're left with now are dwindling 'resources', and manufacturing being moved offshore. Our way of life is being outsourced. I saw a report where a family tried to live 'china free' for example, and they actually could not do it. Thanks to the methods of profit and greed, we are dependent on most of our low cost goods, that are manufactured in China and imported back here to the US.
I guess some of the Chinese have decided that they would like to make a little more profit off of the the goods they're exporting to us. So.... again, quality suffers and we end up with Chinese imports coming in and found to be harmful all over the place. Just yesterday on the news it was reported that Fisher-Price is recalling millions of toys due to lead paint being used on them. And what about those tires? Yep... imported tires from China have been recalled too. The list just seems to keep growing when it comes to Chinese imports ( poison toothpaste and dog food, cardboard dim sum).
Hard to imagine, but even equipment for our troops was lacking where some of the troops' families were actually buying equipment on their own and sending it to them. I don't remember hearing anything about profits for Halliburton and other contractors over in Iraq lacking.
Well... I got the picture! Quality has gone down the 'low-flow toilet' while profits are up for the wealthy few.
It's just a damn shame. I'm trying to understand how we have a government that can be so inept as to mismanage the trillions they have at their disposal. They are supposed to be looking out for our best interest as the job we, the voters have hired them for. I guess we have to acknowledge that some of us voters ain't too bright either, judging by who we have in office.
