The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Just a Computer Glitch?

Nov 23, 2009

Last week there was another shining example of our falling-apart infrastructure. The computer controlling the traffic lights in Maryland’s Montgomery County crashed. This meant the lights were not synchronized and traffic ground to a halt.

And like the rest of the aging infrastructure–that is, the water mains and bridges–the Montgomery County traffic computer is old. It is more than 30 years old, which for computers is ancient.

While we ordinary folks take our cars in for oil changes and clean out our gutters, the government waits for some catastrophic event before it does anything.