TSPLOST: Not About Transportation

If you don't already know this, you really must be bereft of what little sense god gave a pigeon to s(h)it on a statue, but the TSPLOST is about "transportation" in name only.

And now it is official.

In a recent commentary in the Dunwoody Reporter a local (wannabe?) politician declares it an investment "in our childrens'(sic) future".

He posits that a "no" vote declares us incapable of "attracting industries supporting higher paying jobs". OK, big boy, HIGHER than what? Than the illegal, lo siento, "undocumented" worker changing toilet paper in the hotel? Wow.

Are we really sure that high paying jobs rely on ground transport more than low paying jobs? REALLY??!! Telecommute, perhaps? Seriously, do that many high-wage "industries" really require a ground based transportation infrastructure? And if so, perhaps these simply are no longer appropriate for this region. The inn is full.

But it continues: "a 'yes' vote means we will be competitive to take on any region, anywhere". Now that's just unadulterated balderdash. Compete on exactly which playing field and by what rules? Are we in a competition to build more roads than LA or sprawl wider than Mexico City? Create more stacked and twisty intersections? More cul de sacs? Well, maybe the last one.

See, this is not and has never been about transportation, congestion or you getting more time with your family. We're not untying any knots here and we're not getting anything to improve our quality of life. It is about our addiction to growth and satisfying our ugly, destructive habit. And like any other druggie we'll commit heinous criminal acts to feed our demons. This tax is just one of many.

But this is more than just a habit and on this point the politico is correct. We have mortgaged everything...our present, our future and yes, our children's future...on ever escalating growth. Not just growth, but growth of growth without regard to the base for that growth or the consequences of that growth. This is the ultimate in unsustainability (witness the housing bubble) but in desperation the powers that wannabe in this region wannabe on their growth binge just a little bit longer.

Then they're cashing out and retiring to St. Simons.