Where are the Indians now.  Ever heard of Navajo Nation.  The whole of the North American continent was shrink to a mere 26,000 square miles for them.

Not to mention the murderous campaign around the world,  Vietnam, Korean Peninsular,  Middle East and the list goes on. Did you know that the country of Laos  has more UXO (not UFO) than than all the combined ordinance of all the wars on this planet dropped on them. IT has all the American signature on it.

How can you preach when you still have a blood stained butcher knife in your hands.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India

Run on electricity supplied by overhead catenary, that electric power could be of solar, geothermal, hydro, or wind origin. That would cut down the use of aviation fuel which is currently a great source of aviation fuel.

The main problem is political. Any one of the seventeen
countries could close the route down if it gets grumpy or worse. I would suggest running the main line to Europe closer to the great circle route – upgrading the trans-Siberian railway and then through Warsaw and Berlin, where eurostar service would connect for the likes of London, Paris, and Zurich.

Guys, remember, only loser has all kinds of excuses.

Guys, remember, only loser has all kinds of excuses.

“Fast trains are great, but I think I prefer my human rights. Those praising China for ‘getting things done’ should read up on its record in areas like human rights and protection of the environment.”

Stop with this drivel about human rights and democracy. Only ideologues (who probably read just one book) examine everything through a political or a moral lens. How about looking at this pragmatically? What about the little things like leadership, vision, planning, execution, favorable economic returns, and oh yeah, the ability to sacrifice short-term benefits and minority interests for the long term gain and the greater good? Is it possible that these little things better account for success in infrastructure development than say, the degree of freedom-lovingness or god-fearingness?

All the narratives of freedom vs. oppression, evil vs. good, democracy vs. authoritarianism are nothing but sheer mental masturbation, perverted excuses for our infracstructure-related failures, or cynical spins to turn a genuine negative (our paralyzing inaction) into a PR-positive (the need for democratic consultations with all parties involved).

Sigh… We are beginning to sound like the Indians (from India), who use democracy to explain away every failure. Oh no, we can’t build this because we are a democracy. What, a subway? Subways are for commies! Bigger airports? Pffff, only dictatorships care about size.

Our budget overruns are just a democracy-tax; deadlines are just best democratic estimates; indecision is just an exercise of the freedom to agree to disagree. Oh, certainly do not mind the endless parade of lawsuits brought by money-grubbing lawyers who supposedly represent the interests of those whose lives are about to be “ruined” by a high-speed rail project because these lawsuits are a sign of our mature democracy and our unbridled freedom to pursue self-interest above collective responsibility. Yep, you heard it right, collective responsibility is just commie talk; self-interest is the American way.

So let China build! The more China builds, the less free it becomes. America will not follow China into sacrificing freedom for good infrastructure! Why build roads, bridges, high-speed rail, airports, etc. when we already have FREEDOM and LIBERTY?!

“Fast trains are great, but I think I prefer my human rights. Those praising China for ‘getting things done’ should read up on its record in areas like human rights and protection of the environment.”

Stop with this drivel about human rights and democracy. Only ideologues (who probably read just one book) examine everything through a political or a moral lens. How about looking at this pragmatically? What about the little things like leadership, vision, planning, execution, favorable economic returns, and oh yeah, the ability to sacrifice short-term benefits and minority interests for the long term gain and the greater good? Is it possible that these little things better account for success in infrastructure development than say, the degree of freedom-lovingness or god-fearingness?

All the narratives of freedom vs. oppression, evil vs. good, democracy vs. authoritarianism are nothing but sheer mental masturbation, perverted excuses for our infracstructure-related failures, or cynical spins to turn a genuine negative (our paralyzing inaction) into a PR-positive (the need for democratic consultations with all parties involved).

Sigh… We are beginning to sound like the Indians (from India), who use democracy to explain away every failure. Oh no, we can’t build this because we are a democracy. What, a subway? Subways are for commies! Bigger airports? Pffff, only dictatorships care about size.

Our budget overruns are just a democracy-tax; deadlines are just best democratic estimates; indecision is just an exercise of the freedom to agree to disagree. Oh, certainly do not mind the endless parade of lawsuits brought by money-grubbing lawyers who supposedly represent the interests of those whose lives are about to be “ruined” by a high-speed rail project because these lawsuits are a sign of our mature democracy and our unbridled freedom to pursue self-interest above collective responsibility. Yep, you heard it right, collective responsibility is just commie talk; self-interest is the American way.

So let China build! The more China builds, the less free it becomes. America will not follow China into sacrificing freedom for good infrastructure! Why build roads, bridges, high-speed rail, airports, etc. when we already have FREEDOM and LIBERTY?!

I for one would love to see it happen!

I for one would love to see it happen!