Report on U.S. Infrastructure by American Society of Civil EngineersEvery four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers' Report Card for America's Infrastructure describes the condition and performance of the U.S. infrastructure and assigns letter grades based on the physical condition and needed investments for improvement. The Biden administration is using the 2021 report outlining the many deficiencies in the national infrastructure to bolster its argument that the $2.3 trillion plan to pay the rich is necessary.
The problem lies not in knowing that infrastructure is in disrepair but that the financial oligarchy in control of the economy and political affairs is not capable of organizing what has to be done. Building infrastructure in a modern context is part of nation-building for the common good. For this to occur, an aim of serving the people, the economy, nation and all humanity, with sovereignty and control vested in the people is needed. The aim of the oligarchs is based on expropriating the new value that workers under their control produce at home and abroad in fierce competition with other global oligarchs. To maximize their private profit the oligarchs are obsessed with serving their private interests and not the broad general interests of the people and nation. With this narrow aim, the oligarchs demand that the economy and its infrastructure serve their private interests in one way or another. Their actions come into direct conflict with the modern socialized economy that needs cooperation for the benefit of all and not greed and competition to serve the few. The results are recurring economic crises, war, unresolved problems and deteriorating social and natural conditions. In the modern era, nation-building advances as the people fight for control and decision making. Workers organizing to affirm rights and claims on what they produce serves nation-building and the broad socialized economy. Serving the general interests of society and all humanity throughout the world requires cooperation and mutual benefit for all sectors and enterprises of the economy. Report and Evaluation of U.S. Infrastructure
The most recent report and evaluation of the U.S. infrastructure by the American Society of Civil Engineers says bridges, roadways, public transit, ports, airports, inland waterways, water supplies, wastewater pipelines, sewer systems and other infrastructure need investments of at least $6 trillion to meet the needs of the economy. The report estimates that over 40 per cent of the nation's roads and highways are in poor or mediocre condition. The report adds that the drinking water infrastructure system, some 2.2 million miles of underground pipes, is aging and badly in need of renewal. Local water utilities are replacing only one to five per cent a year, far too little, due to lack of funding. The report also notes that of the 617,000 bridges in the United States "42 per cent are at least 50 years old, and 46,154, or 7.5 per cent of the nation's bridges, are considered structurally deficient and in poor condition." The report says the backlog of urgently needed bridge repair requires $125 billion more than the Biden total for highways, streets and bridges. The Biden administration uses these self-evident facts about the infrastructure as reasons to pay the rich and serve the narrow private interests of those oligarchs with whom his cartel party in power is connected. The issue is not whether renewal of infrastructure is needed or not. The issue is who decides? Who decides the direction of the economy and for what purpose? By constituting itself the nation, building it in its own image and vesting decision-making power in the people, the working class can build the nation anew with a new aim and direction for the economy and politics that serve the people and society. This becomes a base for assisting all humanity to move forward. To view the reports of the ASCE, click here.
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In fact, the
failure of the infrastructure is exposed in the
daily lives of the people such as poisoned tap
water in Flint, Michigan, the suffering of people
during the western heat wave and the obvious
deteriorating living and working conditions in
many cities and towns including the recent
sudden collapse of a condo tower in a fairly
wealthy enclave in Florida resulting in many lost
lives. Building and maintaining social
infrastructure is a constant necessity of any
society, in particular modern ones where the
economy and life itself have become socialized and
interconnected.