I have just posted some pictures of the destruction of the Robinson street underpass and the rail yard of Union Station at my Energy Conservation Info website, entitled A Crime Against Nature. I am also compiling a list of the politicians responsible for this travesty, at Roll Call of Dishonor.
I’ve been ranting about the I-40 Crosstown Freeway since my godson Josh and I preached a “The rich who oppress the poor are going to hell” sermon to Governor Frank Keating and other assorted luminaries/plutocrats at the press conference announcing the beginning of the Crosstown Freeway relocation project. Well, we lost this battle, but the war continues.
One of these days in the future, as the price of gasoline surges past $5/gallon on its way to $10/gallon, and Oklahoma City still doesn’t have a working public transportation system, I suppose we can gaze at the $500 MILLION pyramid called the I-40 Crosstown Freeway and marvel at how blind people were “back in the day.” The utter waste of such enormous amounts of tax money on such an ill-conceived project — which includes the wanton destruction of heritage transportation infrastructure that could have been the seed of a cost-effective commuter rail transportation system for Central Oklahoma — is mind-boggling even in this age of plutocratic elite excess.
Oh well, this is what civilizations always do in their twilight hours. They waste grandiose amounts of money on pyramids and circuses. That’s why instead of building effective public transportation, Oklahoma City has chosen freeways, NBA teams, river sporting events, and a fancy new convention center. We are like the inhabitants of Easter Island, who even as they chopped down the last palm trees, continued to build great statutes. We are kin to the Romans, who built giant circuses and threw month long parties as the barbarians closed in on them.
Got food storage? Got a local food system? Got an alternative energy system? Got a plan for massive currency collapse and financial dislocation? If not, better get busy, ’cause with these guys in charge, you will certainly need them.