"Third World America"

[jjaycee98]

The title of an article in the Sept 20th issue of McLeans. Worth reading and considering how this situation came about.

In Ohio-a county had to reduce their Law enforcement by 20%-to acheive this the staff went from 112 TO 49. They have 1 squad car to cover 1900 sq kms. No patrol units, no one in the streets, they respond only to crimes in progress and do not respond to property crimes.

Once paved roads are being gravelled to save money. Most infrastructure dates back to post WW2. We saw on TV, the results of the collapse of an 8 lane bridge in Minneapolis in 2009.

Cities are turning off lights, cutting back on trash collection, laying off firefighters, closing Libraries and Parks and Recreation facilities.

One of the problems is people with no jobs are unable to pay their property Taxes, do not sign their kids up for Sports, and do not buy merchandise that would be taxed and thereby provide revenue for State and Local Gov'ts.

Scarey state of affairs.

 

[captain morgan]

The American economy has a tough road ahead of it. On that note, pretty much every other nation is going to experience the same trials and tribulations to some degree.

 

[gingersnap]

A bit off topic but Third World? The US has slipped into a recession - and in some areas, some could argue a depression. I really dislike it when the media redefines words to make catchy headlines and even worse, to spread fear.

The US is still a developed, capitalistic country who's political and economic structure is similar to the rest of the First World countries.

 

[karrie]

Since when are gravel roads 'third world'. Some poor family starving to death in a hut in Africa is probably wishing they had any law enforcement, ANY roads, ANY garbage collection, sports programs to not sign their kids up in. I'll echo gingersnap's sentiment that it's ridiculous to characterize clawbacks as third world.

 

[ironsides]

How right you are gingersnap, we maybe in a recession and yes due to decreased tax revenues there are layoffs of civil workers. But our infrastructure is still comparable to other industrialized countries, Just look at the percentage of paved roads we have compared to other countries.

 

[karrie]

How right you are gingersnap, we maybe in a recession and yes due to decreased tax revenues there are layoffs of civil workers. But our infrastructure is still comparable to other industrialized countries, Just look at the percentage of paved roads we have compared to other countries.

I suspect that no one would call Saskatchewan 'third world', and yet most of their roads are not paved.

 

[ironsides]

pave them.

 

[karrie]

pave them.

why?

 

[ironsides]

Keep down the dust.

 

[karrie]

Keep down the dust.

Why would you need to keep down the dust on your fields? lol.

 

[Johnnny]

People in Saskatchewan have money for sure, where do they find all that money to pay for some of the most expensive beer in the country

 

[relic]

I wish to hell they'd left a lot of the roads here unpaved,at least with a gravel road you can grade it.You can't just pave a road at election time and then forget it.
And on the american economy,they have to save money for their military,countrys can't invade themselves you know,you might need to protect the price of bananas again.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Columbus discovered America, he did not discover the USA. We shouldn't confuse the country with the continent. America to mean the US is an unofficial term, colloquial, so we should say, the US, like we do most of the time in Canada.

Just because Europe, Asia and Africa say America to mean the USA, doesn't mean it's right.

I would recommend wating a few years before calling the US a 3rd world country. The media is searching far too hard for the next big thing. It's like saying Pat Burns is dead.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Why would you need to keep down the dust on your fields? lol.

It was and is a common practice in the Prairies to pave sections of road passing the farmstead as a way of keeping down dust. Where the roads are not paved they are often oiled instead. As you can well imagine the dust released by dozens of vehicles passing the farmstead each day can be quite annoying, especially if you are the one that has to keep the household clean; not to mention that it can also be something of a health problem.

 

[Bcool]

pave them.

Gravel roads are kind of reassuring when the snow is drifting across them in a 50 kmh wind at -10 C. Pavement, not so much.

 

[ironsides]

Lets not forget that gravel and dirt cost very little, but I still prefer a paved road either asphalt or concrete.

 

[jjaycee98]

Lets not forget that gravel and dirt cost very little, but I still prefer a paved road either asphalt or concrete.

We travelled extensively this year and I do know for a fact that Alaska is digging up paved and sealed roads in favour of going back to gravel. In their case though they have permafrost to deal with. Much easier and cheaper to grade down the high spots and fill the crators.

In both the USA and Canada there is a problem with Bridges and Overpasses that are approaching 50 years of use by increasingly heavier traffic and increasing numbers. Our Government spent a huge amount on improving already paved roads this summer. Everywhere we travelled there were Government signs. The twinning of the Trans Canada going through Banff was already in progress but the signs were put up there also.

In the Yukon there were a number of signs posted where the homes had received grants to upgrade windows, insulation and furnaces. This grant unfortunately has been didcontinued.

As to the decrease in available funds for law inforcement that would be worrysome if you lived in one of those counties. Might they have a situation like in Mexico?

Jounalists do try to grab your attention with headlines. Have to wonder though when China is carrying a load of USA Government debt. Those jobs that went to Mexico, Japan & China would look pretty wonderful now, were they in Texas, or New York, or California.

 

[karrie]

It was and is a common practice in the Prairies to pave sections of road passing the farmstead as a way of keeping down dust. Where the roads are not paved they are often oiled instead. As you can well imagine the dust released by dozens of vehicles passing the farmstead each day can be quite annoying, especially if you are the one that has to keep the household clean; not to mention that it can also be something of a health problem.

I'm an Alberta farm girl who visits her family in Sask often, but thanks for the lesson. lol.

 

[taxslave]

Keep down the dust.

So does the snow.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Gravel roads are fine. Paved roads are fine. Paving gravel roads is fine.
Graveling paved roads without first ripping out the pavement is extremely
dangerous and stupid....and I've been on a few of these so I'm speaking
from first hand experience.

Gravel roads do need much maintenance, as the gravel gets pushed off
of the road surface. When this happens to a paved road with gravel on it,
you get a situation where your vehicle skates along on that thin layer of
what's left of the gravel between the broken pavement & your tires. It's
spooky at best.