"Train Monkey" or "Where There's a Will There's a What?"

When I lived near Philadelphia, I took trains very frequently. Some of it was a practical matter, dictated by the combination of living in the suburbs and having a job in the city but no car (or driver's license, for that matter, until my 20s). While there were times when I wished the trains ran a little later or more often, any frustrations were generally offset by the dual pleasures of not being stuck in traffic and being able to get more reading done.

Put another way, though there were times I wished the train was more convenient, I certainly never felt it intruded on my freedom. This is a large why I find George Will's recent Newsweek column about "Why Liberals Love Trains" so bizarre. In dismissing the efforts of the Obama administration to foster the development of high-speed rail service in America, Will asserts that progressives' real goal is not improving the environment or reducing traffic congestion but rather "diminishing Americans’ individualism in order to make them more amenable to collectivism."

He goes on to claim that progressives believe that, "the best thing about railroads is that people riding them are not in automobiles, which are subversive of the deference on which progressivism depends." In other words, liberals love trains because they hate freedom - a nonsensical thought which makes me wonder what America Mr. Will has been living in for the past decade.

In October of 2001, I needed to get from Washington to Philadelphia to rendezvous with a colleague but really didn't want to fly so soon after "9/11". My wife and I only had one car between us, so driving wasn't an option, which led to me taking Amtrak for the first time in several years. It was easy, relaxing and, though I was never once being scanned or searched, I felt absolutely secure. More to the point, I felt free.

On the return leg of the trip, my colleague and I parted ways at the Philadelphia airport. As he headed off to catch his flight back to Atlanta, I went to catch a SEPTA train back to 30th Street Station. Walking through the airport, I noticed soldiers patrolling the corridors with automatic weapons at the ready. This was the least safe I felt in the entirety of 2001. In contrast, whenever I take the train to New York, I don't have to worry about airports or parking or anything other than how comfortable my shoes are. In short, I feel free.

Like everyone, Mr. Will is entitled to his own opinions but not his own facts. The fact is that air travel in this day and age is about anything but freedom and between rising gas prices and increased congestion auto travel isn't that much better. And while Will is happy to lambaste federal subsidies for trains, he conveniently ignores that the road systems that make large-scale auto travel are supported by our tax dollars. Is that really the freedom to which anyone, even George Will, should aspire?