PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: how did we get here? addicted to oil ? Did you ever hear of the U.S. streetcar scandal of 1936 ? public transport was shut down illegally by big oil.
I’ve always loved trains. I spent hours as a child taking 13 hour train rides to visit between my estranged mom and dad ( from northeast to deep south ) leaning my head on the glass, hypnotized by the bouncing telephone wires, peering into backyards wondering which was the wrong side of the trax i always heard about. I knew the tracks were built from the blood sweat and tears of first generation chinese immigrants and newly freed slaves being paid slave wages- and everytime I saw a stray track off to the side , no longer in use overgrown with weedy grass and trash, i wondered who could shut down such a vital part of our history ,a practical source of tranport for Jack Kerouac,and one that had brought dreamers from coast to coast like those Vaudville stars headed to hollywood with their 13 Louie Viton bags I watched from the saturday afternoon movies. It started to make sense later as I noticed the ever expanding 4 lane highways jammed with oldsmobile town cars , transams and eventually SUVs shuffling white people to the segregated suburbs and far away from the inner cities with their diverse peoples and public transportation we would share which was where my heart held a place for. The cobblestone pittsburgh street i grew up on had the remnants of ancient streetcar trax that had long been put to sleep. we’d play on the street until some kid on lookout would yell”car” and we’d scatter to the sidewalks. It was accepted to me then that modern technology must have been an improvment taking us into a better future- but still i would daydream of one day seeing an electric trolly turning the corner and haunting the block one last time.-Lady Kier
the following can shed some light on our present economic deeeekline due to our oil addiction and how we got here.
"Between 1936 and 1950, National City Lines BOUGHT OUT more than 100 electric surface-traction systems in 45 cities,[4] including Detroit, Cleveland, New York City, Oakland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Salt Lake City,Tulsa, Baltimore, and Los Angeles,[5] and replaced them with gas guzzling buses thanks to companies like General Motors. I love buses but GM had a bigger long term picture in mind- first buses -then suburban gas guzzling CARS trolling at 14 miles per gallon . Standard Oil, Phillips Petroleum, General Motors, Firestone and others were convicted of criminal conspiracy and fined $5000 for their actions of using their ownership position of the various City Lines to MONOPOLIZE the sale of good and services to their bus lines. [7][8]The defendant companies were acquitted of charges that they engaged in an ILLEGAL conspiracy to replace electric-powered street cars with gasoline-powered buses.[9][10] ” : (
Obama is supporting the revitalisation of public transport including train tracks across the country. he just dosnt have a propaghanda machine shoving that info down your throat- but he is doing it!
I’m coming back like traintracks ! -Lady kier
sorry i have no credit for the photo or the quoted sections origin : please enlighten me if you know who this belongs too