Member Brief: The Great Infrastructure

On Amazon’s great HQ2 debacle. The drive from Palo Alto to Santa Cruz winds through dense forests and creeks. On a recent trip, I made that drive – back and forth – between my wife’s meetings and my own. At one point, I stopped and marveled at the beauty and efficiency of this particular stretch. How did they develop this? How did they pave these roads through hilly, treacherous forests? How many workers were harmed in the process? Could these same innovations be executed today? The infrastructure that we depend on today is often taken for granted. It’s always been there; we never have to consider the discomforts and sacrifices of those times. The Amazon debate reminds that we are in a different era, long past collective efforts and general consensus. The New York HQ2 debacle is an examination of the complexities of for-profit infrastructure, i.e. what Amazon is continuing to build.