by flory
So Chile, a middling country of 8 million people, manages to successfully rescue 33 miners trapped underground for two months. The entire country got behind an effort to make sure the shortcomings of a mining company didn't destroy 30 families.
Meanwhile, Switzerland, another country of roughly 8 million people, just managed to complete construction on the longest tunnel on the planet. A majority of its citizens voted themselves $1,300 in taxes in an effort to keep trucks off the road that are destroying the Alps.
As construction projects go, it was a pretty big deal:
TV stations across Europe showed the event live. The embraces and cheers by the hard-hatted workers brought to mind the successful rescue of 33 trapped miners earlier this week in Chile.
When was the last time you remember this country, of 400 million people, completing an engineering feat that had the rest of the world cheering?
UPDATE: Even the easy shit is apparently beyond our capabilities these days.