# Half a Century Late



## SanAntonioClyde (Oct 2, 2014)

Read in paper today that Japan high speed rail is now 50 years old, I am sure Europe is probably 20+. Yet we are still studying and only getting our shoves ready. But then again we've got the best crumbling interstate system in the word. Now back to baseball game


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## jis (Oct 3, 2014)

OTOH we have had trains that run as fast as the original Japanese Shinkansen for many years. The problem is, we stalled there while the rest of the world passed by.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## George Harris (Oct 3, 2014)

jis said:


> OTOH we have had trains that run as fast as the original Japanese Shinkansen for many years. The problem is, we stalled there while the rest of the world passed by.


Thumbs up, thumbs up.


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## SanAntonioClyde (Oct 3, 2014)

Lots of train stall on hills, guess we stalled on Capitol hill,


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## jis (Oct 3, 2014)

SanAntonioClyde said:


> Lots of train stall on hills, guess we stalled on Capitol hill,


But then what happens on Capitol Hill is but a reflection of the nation. Afterall we put them there and now cannot wash our hands of all responsibility for playing our part in the mess.


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## Devil's Advocate (Oct 3, 2014)

jis said:


> SanAntonioClyde said:
> 
> 
> > Lots of train stall on hills, guess we stalled on Capitol hill,
> ...


I used to see it that way. Then I read about how factors such as the electoral college, gerrymandering, the commission on debates, partisan judicial interference, self-censorship by advertisers, the revolving door between lobbying and legislating and the Citizens United ruling have essentially rigged the political process into a single path forward. Whoever you nominate to run, however many votes they receive, and whoever actually wins is extremely unlikely to change anything. Once someone reaches an office with enough power to change our direction they'll either join with their benefactors to help protect the status quo or they'll work against them only to be sidelined into irrelevance. So far as I can tell the system itself is broken, the checks and balances we thought would protect us were easily subverted, and the will of the people has become largely irrelevant. For me the path from Obama's seemingly groundbreaking election to one of the least productive presidencies in recent times has made this fact clearer than ever. It's not that I feel Obama has failed. It's that so little has fundamentally changed due to his presence that it's hard to even measure the significance of his presidency in the context of passing failing. Most of Obama's biggest decisions were simply to further codify the actions of his predecessor. Leaving me wondering what on earth the point was.


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