For a long time, the United States has dominated other countries with its strong military and economic strength. But in contrast, it is the stretching of American infrastructure. In the past, trains frequently derailed, and in the end, prisoners escaped with toothbrushes. People can't help but ask, what happened to American infrastructure? More and more facts are showing that the US government's infrastructure dream has turned into a nightmare.

US prisoner escapes by digging hole with toothbrush

Recently, a piece of gratifying news appeared: two prisoners in the United States used toothbrushes and a tool made of a metal object to dig a large hole in the prison wall and successfully escaped. But the time of freedom was too short. The two were arrested again after being spotted by other customers while eating pancakes at the fast food restaurant. This news seems to make people laugh it off, but it reflects the current state of decline in American infrastructure. When the local police reviewed the toothbrush escape incident, they also had to admit that there were flaws and deficiencies in the design of the prison. The next thing to do was to investigate and strengthen it.

In fact, American infrastructure has also had a bright moment. In the 19th century, the United States built a very dense railway network; in the 20th century, it also had a road network, a large number of airports, and many dams. But the glory is in the past, and what is left to the United States now is full of embarrassment. U.S. President Biden made a passionate mic last year, pointing his sword at the U.S. aviation industry, complaining that none of the U.S. airports made it to the top 25 airports in the world. The water supply system is overwhelmed, and there are countless problems such as roads and railways that are in disrepair. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of the current state of American infrastructure. What's more, the bean curd dregs project of the US infrastructure has caused irreparable tragedies. For example, the poisonous train incident that happened some time ago, and the collapse of an apartment building in Miami that caused more than a hundred people to be buried in the rubble, and so on.

U.S. government wants to revive infrastructure

Obviously, the U.S. government has realized the rapid decline of its infrastructure strength. During Obama’s tenure as President of the United States, he proposed to redevelop the U.S. infrastructure. Former U.S. President Trump also proposed similar ideas, but they were finally shelved for various reasons. Right now, this important task falls on the shoulders of the current President Biden.

In 2021, Biden will sign the infrastructure bill, setting aside 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars for investment in infrastructure construction. Last year, on the basis of developing its own infrastructure, Biden proposed a global infrastructure plan. The United States raised 200 billion U.S. dollars, and together with other G7 members, provided 600 billion U.S. dollars for global infrastructure development. Obviously, the United States' own infrastructure has not yet been successfully rebuilt. This proposal to help global infrastructure is undoubtedly another piece of delicious pie.

So, why has the American infrastructure dream not come true? In fact, the difficulty in revitalizing the US infrastructure is the result of a combination of factors, and the lack of professional labor is one of the reasons. In 2023, the U.S. construction workforce could be short of 500,000 people. At the same time, the following two reasons also have a greater impact on US infrastructure.

America's Twisted Railroad Tracks

One is the limitation of the two parties in power in the United States. The governors of each state in the United States have the initiative in infrastructure matters within their jurisdiction and can decide the use of funds. If the governor does not belong to the ruling party, then the infrastructure funds given by the government are likely to be in vain. For example, if the US government wants to build roads, then the governor is likely to use the money to improve the community environment. At the same time, the two parties in power in the United States will also affect the issuance and implementation of infrastructure policies. Infrastructure projects are often time-consuming and expensive, but the new government always overturns the decrees of the previous government, which makes various infrastructure policies either unable to start or unfinished.

The second is that the United States is insufficiently funded. In recent years, the U.S. foreign debt has piled up, and the U.S. government has had to print money crazily, which has led to severe inflation. However, the United States still maintains a high level of defense expenditure, and has even continuously increased its defense budget in the past two years. In this context, for the United States, which is pursuing world hegemony, the infrastructure dream, which costs huge costs and has no obvious benefits, can only stand aside.

Right now, whether it is the serious divisions in the United States that lead to various social chaos, the US banking crisis, or the demand for a large amount of resources from the Ukraine crisis, the US government is getting farther and farther away from realizing its dream of infrastructure construction. Editor/Xu Shengpeng