US Southern States Freeze as Infrastructure Crumbles
📰 THE STORY: Mainstream media reports on the 'dangerous cold' hitting Mississippi and Tennessee, with thousands suffering power outages and increased hypothermia risks. The narrative frames it as a natural disaster, emphasizing the severity of the weather and the immediate dangers to residents 'trapped at home'. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: In 2012, Mississippi Governor
Phil Bryant signed a bill reducing the corporate income tax by a quarter over five years, claiming it would stimulate economic growth. Instead, these tax cuts often starve essential public services, including infrastructure maintenance like power grids, which are then ill-equipped to handle extreme weather, a predictable consequence of climate change. Across the US, states have systematically
disinvested in infrastructure over decades; for example, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave US infrastructure a C- grade in 2021, citing a $2.59 trillion investment gap. Double Standard: When developing nations face infrastructure collapse after extreme weather – often exacerbated by climate change from industrialized nations – Western media frequently attributes it to 'poor governance'
or 'corruption.' Yet, when it happens in the US, it's presented primarily as an 'act of God' or an 'unprecedented event,' effectively shielding the systemic failures of neoliberal policies and corporate lobbying that have eroded public services and enriched private utility companies. The suffering in places like Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria (2017) was framed as a failure of local government,