Aneirin
Posts: 6121
Joined: 3/18/2006
From: Tamaris
Status: offline
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As I was walking up the hill to my house in the rain last week, I began to notice the action of the rain on the ground, what it was doing, which was basically over running the gullies and drains and head down the hill to pool outside someone's house. Now that pool was pretty deep, I got the ends of my jeans wet when walking throught it, the wearing of ex military combat boots prevented my socks getting wet. I had to walk through it, because it spanned the pavement and the only option was walking on a fast and busy main road, with cars roaring up the hill, seemingly oblivious to the conditions.
Now, I understand the gullies and drains aren't being cleared out regularly, and that we are told is because of local council cut backs due to the recession, but then something I remembered from my childhood, was the regular cleaning of the drains by the council, the vacuum machine they used, I used to find fascinating as a kid, but I don't seem to remember them later as I grew up, now that might be because I got into other things, which is fair enough, my attention wandered, but coming to think of it, I have been walking around this area for five years now, and I can honestly say, I do not recall seeing one of those drain cleaning machines, as it would have brought back the memories of my childhood, and so the wonder, are the drains being cleaned, or is the recession just an excuse for failing to maintain the highway.
Now on a drier day, at the bottom of the hill where the puddle was, the tarmacadam pavement is all buckled and split, paviours are similarly twisted and partially sunk making an obvious trip hazard for those who do not through their own fault have their wits about them, or have not the sight. The roads and pavement are not being repaired, not only is the road utilities not being repaired, the preventative maintenance is not happening either.
So, I have been wondering about our infrastructure, that which is common to many that move around this country, this developed world even, perhaps, I have been wondering has the UK in fact passed it's peak, are we now slipping down hill and if so when was the peak. Asking around, my parents, the locals and the guys in the pub, when can they remember a time when everything just worked, the infrastructure was kept up and maintained. Consensus of oppinion appears to be the 1960s through to the 1970's, and the latter date will fit with my childhood, so that was my time of infrastructural awareness, and yes, as a young lad, transport interested me greatly, roads, bridges, vehicles,and I have long had an eye for detail.
So, what is happening, our infrastructure is breaking up, the maintenance is not being done, now, we are told it all down to money and the lack of it, but what I have to ask, is given the maintenance of the infrastructure could be done in the past, why not now, why is it suddenly too expensive ?
Now an answer could be there are more vehicles on the roads breaking up the infrastructure, but that is no excuse, because more vehicles means more tax, and with that revenue to repair the infrastructure, but it is not being done, which obviously says the money that is meant for infrastructural upkeep is going elsewhere, but why is it going elsewhere, as surely our infrastructure is our country. Which leads me to believe either the country is deliberately being run down, or we have actually passed our best, so in fact as we progress further year by year into a new century, where we should be progressing, we are actually regressing.
But perhaps the reality of the situation is the break up of our infrastructure is one of the visible signs that we are no longer world leaders, as what is the point of saying we have so much to offer, when what our citizens have to endure as infrastructure is crumbling fast with no signs that it will be reversed.
So, I have come to the conclusion Britain has had it's day, the Empire gone long ago and any resurgence of hope in the post war years has long since passed, Britain is heading towards being a small back water collection of countries housing heavily taxed and in some ways oppressed people at each other's throats all the time, blaming each other for the loss of their lot in life. We are as history has shown us with Empires of the past, degenerating, to well, just look at the Ancient Grecian Empire and what they have now, but perhaps with the speed of life, modern empires are crumbling faster.
And, we aren't the only ones doing it, for these boards alone suggest the US is going the same way, for I hear about the US's infrastructure crumbling, bridges not being repaired etc, and people similarly at each other's throats for the death of the American dream, and bearing in mind the US is so young, it appears to be falling the fastest.
So, in a round about circuitous route I am asking, has anyone else noticed the break up of their infrasturucture and deems it synominous with their country failing and further I am going to ask, what is the way forward, strive for empire again, or look to our own needs, slim down and not take centre stage ?
What do people want ?
And is what people want, what their politicians want ?
_____________________________
Everything we are is the result of what we have thought, the mind is everything, what we think, we become - Guatama Buddha
Conservatism is distrust of people tempered by fear - William Gladstone
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The world Falling down ? - 
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