Right before I watched John Oliver's segment from Sunday night's episode of Last Week Tonight on infrastructure, I had my doubts about how entertaining it would be. I mean, infrastructure? Really? Oliver is consistently hilarious, but how funny could roads, bridges, dams and the like possibly be?
You and mostly everyone that watched this segment probably felt the same way at the beginning. In fact, Oliver started the segment by showing clips of politicians talking about how important but not sexy it is to discuss infrastructure. Although to be fair, Oliver points out that this is probably because of Hollywood's unrealistic standards for infrastructure set by things like the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz. Oliver would also like us all to remember that "Real roads have curves." Preach.
However, Oliver gave infrastructure its much-needed spotlight during Sunday night's episode of Last Week Tonight. For more than 15 minutes, Oliver showed us the dismal state of America's infrastructure, from bridges on the brink of collapse to roads with lethal potholes.
While everyone, even Donald Trump, realizes the importance of keeping all of this stuff up to snuff, the maintenance for our country's infrastructure is still lacking. Oliver points out that one reason is because politicians don't get to cut a ribbon after making repairs. Another is that governmental agencies like the U.S. Highway Trust Fund, our single biggest source of infrastructure spending, doesn't have enough money because its funding comes from a federal gas tax that hasn't been adjusted for inflation since 1993. See? Told you it was bad.
But in the end, Oliver suggests that maybe the problem is we're not treating our approach to infrastructure, a.k.a. all of the stuff that gets blown up in action movies, like an action movie. Thankfully, we have Oliver to help us out with that one. He introduced a trailer for the latest blockbuster with an all-star cast, including Edward Norton, Steve Buscemi and Vincent D'Onofrio, all about the brave men and women who save our world on the daily by making sure holes are plugged, dams are intact and pipes won't burst. If you just remember "lefty-loosey, righty-tightey," you will avoid disaster. Always.
Check out the full segment below, and you'll wish Infrastructure was really coming to a movie theater near you.
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