this post was submitted on 01 May 2026
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Okay, now that is at least debatable. Maybe there was genuine belief that roads were better than rail for defense purposes, or maybe the Secretary of Defense was the ex-CEO of GM. In any case, the belief that the Interstate Highway System was intended for military purposes is an urban legend, not supported by the original proposal documents, nor by the public statements of people backing it.
But the idea that the U.S. just never developed a rail system like Europe has now is in the same level of ridiculousness as claiming that Julius Caesar was a small man who sold pizza, or that Napoleon invented dynamite. It's just such common knowledge that rail was so ubiquitous that it shaped the nation, and the physical legacy still manifest everywhere.