Let’s stop and think about this… 1500 farmers in one day. One thousand five hundred people in one area of a country in one day killed themselves. Well over two hundred thousand have killed themselves in that region since 1997.
The agricultural state of Chattisgarh was hit by falling water levels.
"The water level has gone down below 250 feet here. It used to be at 40 feet a few years ago," Shatrughan Sahu, a villager in one of the districts, told Down To Earth magazine
1,500 farmers commit mass suicide in India – Asia, World – The Independent.
Obama said that "this is not some fanciful, pie-in-the-sky vision of the future. It's happening now. The problem is, it's happening elsewhere." He cited superior high-speed rail travel in countries like China, Japan, France and Spain.
Obama: High-Speed Rail System Needed.
I’m a huge fan of high-speed rail in America. We’re so far behind other countries in modernizing our transportation infrastructure but we also need to modernize our attitude towards rail. In countries like China, France, England, and Japan this is a no-brainer. Since most Americans don’t even possess a passport or desire to look abroad (no partying in Cabo doesn’t count) selling upgrades to our dilapidated rail system is an uphill battle. I’m down for the challenge because the alternative is more clogged highways and subsidized airlines that are neither efficient transportation nor environmentally sustainable means of transportation.
