Eating Our Seed Corn: The Minnesota Bridge Collapse

In staring at the rubble that was a bridge on CNN today, the question is "why?"

Speaking strictly as an engineer, I can say that there was either a point load, or a tensile load (the strength of ceramics over time in tension is zero) leading to a failure.

That misses the big picture.

The big picture is that at least since the 1970s, the United States has created prosperity, or the illusion of prosperity, through eating its seed corn.

Eating one's seed corn is a metaphor. It refers to a farmer eating seed that is reserved for planting the next year. It feeds his belly now, but creates a disaster the next season.

Through the systematic dismantling of protections on things workers rights and speculative investments, along with literally running infrastructure constructed over 40 years ago into the ground, we have created a little pop.

Things seem fine, but at some point, the poper must be paid.