They are taking away our open highways

[woo me with science]

217. I do think corruption, through deep-rooted corporatization, is endemic to running this country now.

I really do. And the evidence of it - millions driven out of the middle class and into poverty, corporate money pouring into Washington and returning exponentially into the pockets of billionaires because of legislation from both parties that does not even remotely resemble what the people have repeatedly screamed that we want and need - is everywhere around us.

And this is a visceral and symbolic issue for me, too. I believe strongly that the central artery system for mobility in this country should be accessible to every single American, from the very richest to the very poorest.

There are ways to fund roads that do not put up these financial barriers to immediate use, that would put the burden on citizens who should be contributing more instead of those who have already been squeezed to husks, and that keep the roads open and free to everyone. Our free and open highways are a hallmark and a symbol of American liberty. Once you start demanding payment for American citizens to travel from one place to another using our own roads, our own major arteries, you have sacrificed something priceless.

I despise this action, and I think it is a perfect symbol of the corporatization of and dismantling of basic freedoms in America.