Jackson, Mississippi and America’s Infrastructure Crisis
In 1980, when Ronald Reagan was running for president, he called government a “problem” rather than a solution to any problem he could think of. He probably wasn’t referring to the government that paved roads, picked up trash, or provided drinking water to your home. That government provides the basic services we all depend on. Its absence is definitely a problem. But Reagan’s anti-government and anti-tax slogans remained and had the effect of eliminating many essential services the government provided.greatest impact tax debt The United States is not failing to fund the day-to-day costs of government services, even though it has happened, it has failed to invest in physical infrastructure and multibillion-dollar long-term capital projects that make transportation, water, waste, and sewage system running. These projects are not done in a single election cycle and require political courage to advocate. It is no secret that today’s society lacks political courage and vision. We saw the impact of this divestment in real time in Jackson, Mississippi, where the public water system had collapsed. Jackson is where a combination of selfish, self-centered anti-tax ideology and Republican racism has left a city of 180,000 mostly African-Americans without access to a public water system.
inside New York Times Last week, Rick Rojas reported:
“More than 150,000 people in the Mississippi state capital lacked access to safe drinking water on Tuesday, forcing officials to tackle what they called the “very complex task” of distributing bottled water and to develop a plan to restore service, but It’s not clear how long it will take. The water system in the state’s largest city, Jackson, has been in crisis for years, beset by aging and inadequate infrastructure, and, many in the city believe, has failed to devote enough resources to fix it.”
We’ve seen lead in water supplies in Flint, Michigan and Newark, NJ, and to address these issues, Joe Biden’s Trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill Including substantial funding to repair water systems. About $15 billion is set aside for lead replacement over the next decade, including $3 billion in fiscal 2023. That money will take years to spend, and to help places like Jackson, it must be distributed by states and sent to the local governments that manage America’s water system. Mississippi has a way to keep infrastructure funding for whites and deny funding to non-whites. The state is currently sitting on more than $2 billion in federal stimulus money, but doesn’t think it’s appropriate to send any of that money to Jackson to fix its crumbling water system.as Roxas Observed:
“Jackson may be the seat of state power, but many in the city see the water system as a clear example of how the community lacks investment and attention. The city’s population has been declining for decades, and that’s largely The water flow was generally good on Tuesday as white residents fled with their tax dollars to the surrounding affluent suburbs.”
The Mississippi governor now seems to realize that there is a problem — even if it’s just an embarrassment for a state capital that seems to live in a developing country rather than the United States of America. Washington postof Emmanuel Felton recently reported:
“Governor. Tate Reeves (R) declared Jackson’s ongoing water crisis a “immediate health threat.” … On Thursday, state officials announced that 108 tractors laden with water were en route to Jackson for all Residents use. Reeves has deployed 600 Mississippi National Guard soldiers to seven water distribution points in the state capital. The governor said at least one sewage pump is expected to be repaired early next week, but it is unclear how many citywide When will water service be restored.”
Perhaps Jackson’s crisis was at this point, even among extreme theorists, that human dignity took the place of political power play. The governor’s emergency declaration and President Biden’s disaster declaration provide resources for responding to short-term emergencies. But Mississippi and the nation must contend with more than half a century of divestment. The water crisis isn’t limited to Mississippi, it’s a national crisis.According to a Berkeley professor David Sedlak:
“Because of our complacency, only a severe crisis that could leave people without access to running water is likely to release the financial resources needed to bring water infrastructure (still including 1800s-era pipes in many places) into the 21st century. In the absence of an emergency Under the circumstances, cash-strapped water utility managers will continue to deal with aging water systems by saving on routine maintenance and delaying upgrades as much as possible. This chronic cash shortfall is so dire that American Society of Civil Engineers For over a decade, the United States has been awarded D- or D-rated drinking water infrastructure. “
There are exceptions to this divestment. New York City spent half a century and $6 billion to complete a third water tunnel to allow the city to restore two old tunnels built a century ago. Both are leaking, and about a third of the water that leaves reservoirs in upstate New York City never makes its way to the city. The project stalled until Mayor Mike Bloomberg became New York’s mayor; he made tunnel construction a priority and ensured funding was allocated for it, although only partially completed before he left office. He recognized that if one of the existing tunnels failed, many New Yorkers would be without water. Unlike Mississippi’s elected “leader,” he recognized the urgency of the situation.
While New Yorkers don’t like their growing water bills, they pay them and are willing to elect leaders who are interested in investing resources to meet long-term needs. Low-tax states like Florida, Texas and Mississippi seem willing to kick the can. There are multiple explanations for the lack of financial support for long-term infrastructure needs. One is mistrust in the government’s ability to provide value for money. This is partly ideological and partly based on perceptual experience. While the rate of managerial failure in the private sector is much higher than in the public sector, private bankruptcies are often silent deaths, while public failures are always front-page news. Many are convinced that their tax dollars are wasted. The second reason for low tax rates and divestment is simply selfishness and greed. Some people would rather put money in their pockets to buy a big-screen TV or stay in a fancy hotel. I think rising income inequality and the demise of the middle class reinforces the tendency to delegitimize collective resources. Some people are simply too poor to pay the taxes to support infrastructure, while others are so rich that they feel immune to social forces and will find ways to privately obtain what they once did from public infrastructure get something. The truth is, we live off the investments of our grandparents and even great-grandparents, and we defer these infrastructure bills to our children.
What we’ve seen in many places is that taxes levied to provide collective resources are being channeled into wealthier communities and denied to lower-income areas. This is a foolish tactic for environmental infrastructure, as communities of rich and poor may be geographically close together, and pollutants from poorer neighborhoods may contaminate richer neighborhoods. In a dynamic housing market where neighborhoods circulate, last year’s poor neighborhoods may now be home to local gentlemen. We’re really together, and it’s hard to hide from problems with the nation’s water infrastructure. Mississippi’s shameful treatment of Jackson’s residents is far from unique, as is the crumbling water system. The combination of climate-accelerated extreme weather events and infrastructure divestments ensures more Jacksons in our future.
