[October 04, 2008]

The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va., Michael Zitz column: Will America rise to the challenge?

(Free Lance-Star, The (Fredericksburg, VA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 4--AMERICANS HAVE always been at their best when things are at their worst. Go to Wikipedia and look up George Washington, John Adams, Abe Lincoln, the Boston Tea Party, Pearl Harbor, the Apollo program, the Cuban Missile Crisis and Spider-Man.

Unfortunately, we're also at our worst when things are at their best. Check "economic Pearl Harbor." When we don't have our backs against the wall, we're our own worst enemy.

And don't give me that whiny stuff about it being all the politicians' fault. We're all at fault. This is what we get for Main Street's paying more attention to the street Britney Spears lives on than to Wall Street or to Pennsylvania Avenue.

Anyway, now things are bad. Really bad. So stinkin' bad that it's good, because we might wake up.

This week a poll showed that few Americans know much, if anything, about nanotechnology, which is potentially very dangerous and potentially very profitable.

So let's go back to Wikipedia:

"Nanotechnology or, for short, nanotech, refers to a field of applied science whose theme is the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally nanotechnology deals with structures 100 nanometers or smaller, and involves developing materials or devices within that size."

Many of those who do know about nanotechnology may be "Star Trek" fans. You know. "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated." On the show, the Borg used it to turn people into half-human, half-machine cyborgs.

In reality, the applications are limited only by the imagination, from medicine to cleaning up the environment. Nanotech expert Ralph Merkle says it "will be essential if we are to continue the revolution in computer hardware beyond about the next decade, and will also let us fabricate an entire new generation of products that are cleaner, stronger, lighter, and more precise."

Because we're in trouble, trouble, trouble right here in River City, we're probably going to be hearing more about science such as nanotech in coming months.

Maybe we'll listen.

Maybe that fat congressional pork can stop clogging our arteries and become America's lean, healthy meat.

Maybe, just maybe, we should consider pushing some of that pork the National Science Foundation's way for its National Nanotechnology Initiative.

Maybe we should create jobs and stimulate our economy for decades by investing in infrastructure such as high-speed rail.

In November, Californians will vote on a $10 billion bond measure that would pay for the construction of high-speed rail service in the San Francisco area. Eighty-eight million Californians are expected to ride the proposed high-speed train annually by 2030.

The report said the project can could create 130,000 jobs during construction and 48,000 long-term jobs.

The report also said, "Reducing time lost by workers in traffic will also increase productivity. Bay Area commuters lose approximately 150,000 hours each day to congestion, at an average annual cost of $2.6 billion." The project will also reduce carbon dioxide emission levels.

Think of what the construction of high-speed rail between Washington and Fredericksburg would mean to our economy, in both the short and long terms. It would mean a commute of less than 30 minutes from Washington to Fredericksburg. And it would help eliminate our dependence on foreign oil.

If we put our mind to it -- check that, if we start using our collective mind -- we can do this. We can invest in projects that will pay off for us.

But to do it, we have to start paying attention. We have to think, we have to take responsibility and we have to vote for people who think and take responsibility. That's what we did when we elected George, John and Abe. And they got us through tougher times than this.

America, you're just in a slump. You can be great again. Just turn off "Dancing With the Stars" once in a while and dance over to C-SPAN or the Discovery Channel.

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