America Builds Monument to Self, Ignores Home Front
Newsweek enthusiastically details plans for the 'tallest statue in the West' to mark America's 250th anniversary, a colossal monument to national pride. One might wonder if the architects of this grand vision have driven through Baltimore recently, or perhaps glanced at the latest report on America's crumbling bridges and failing water systems (e.g., Flint, MI's water crisis, or the structurally
deficient bridges detailed by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association). The estimated cost of such a statue, potentially hundreds of millions, appears to be readily available for symbolic grandeur, while the prosaic yet vital needs of its populace remain relegated to 'budgetary constraints.' It seems easier to erect a metallic colossus celebrating what America supposedly is, rather
than investing in what it demonstrably isn't, at least for a significant portion of its citizens. How many lead pipes could be replaced, how many decrepit school roofs repaired, before we laud ourselves with another shiny, inanimate object? Apparently, celebrating 'America' doesn't necessarily mean celebrating Americans.