Post World War II America ushered unprecedented change in the way Americans worked, lived, and traveled. What’s more, many technologies we depend on today were born through the space program of the 1960s. They include things like satellite TV and navigation, laptop computers and smartphones, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and the joystick used in computer gaming – technologies that also make #vanlife travel and working from the road possible. But possibly the most significant achievement was the development of the Interstate Highway System. The interstate highway system opened a door to convenient and widespread motor vehicle travel. We discuss this and more on this episode of Rolling Home.
There is a time in all of our lives in which we gain conscious awareness of our existence.
It comes at different ages for different people. One of my most vivid memories from the early years of my life took place on July 20, 1969 – the occasion of my ninth birthday.
It was the middle of summer break when most of my days were filled with friends, G.I. Joe’s, and a fascination with space travel.
In fact, I had a G.I. Joe – complete with a space suit – that fit inside a space capsule. My friends and I would go on many dangerous adventures into the outermost regions of the universe that summer.
But in July 1969, space travel took on a whole new realism when two NASA astronauts landed and walked on the moon. I witnessed the historic event – along with millions of Americans and others around the globe – on a black and white TV. It’s hard to believe it has been more than 50 years ago!
Many technologies we depend on today were born through the space program. They include things like satellite TV and navigation, laptop computers and smartphones, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and the joystick used in computer gaming.
So what was it like in 1969?
– The average cost of a new house was $15,550; the average annual household income was $8,550; the average monthly rent was $135; the average cost of a new car was $3,270, and the average cost of a gallon of gas was 35 cents, according to thepeoplehistory.com.
– 1969 saw the last public performance by the Beatles, the first test of the Concorde supersonic jet in France, the debut of the Boeing 747 jet, the introduction of the iconic Pontiac Firebird Trans Am American muscle car, the original Woodstock music festival and was also the year Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) debuted.
As I reflect on this period of American history and watch documentaries about the historic moon landing, I can’t help but think about how dramatically our country has changed in the span of 50 years. Life in our country is different in endless ways.
Post World War II America ushered unprecedented change in the way Americans worked, lived and traveled. The interstate highway system opened a door to convenient and widespread motor vehicle travel.
After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953, his administration developed a proposal for an interstate highway system, eventually resulting in the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. Unlike the earlier U.S. Highway System, the Interstates were designed to be an all-freeway system, with nationally unified standards for construction and signage.
Previously, the U.S. federal government first funded roadways through the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, and began an effort to construct a national road grid with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921. In 1926, the United States Numbered Highway System was established, creating the first national road numbering system for cross-country travel. The roads were still state-funded and maintained, however, and there was little in the way of national standards for road design. U.S. Highways could be anything from a two-lane country road to a major multi-lane freeway.
Officially known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. The construction of the system was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. The system extends throughout the contiguous United States and has routes in Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico.
Construction of the original Interstate Highway System was proclaimed complete in 1992, despite deviations from the original 1956 plan and several stretches that did not fully conform with federal standards.
The cost of construction of the Interstate Highway System was approximately $114 billion (equivalent to $530 billion in 2019). The system has continued to expand and grow as additional federal funding has provided for new routes to be added, and the system will grow into the future.
Though much of their construction was funded by the federal government, Interstate Highways are owned by the state in which they were built. All Interstates must meet specific standards, such as having controlled access, avoiding at-grade intersections, and complying with federal traffic sign specifications. Interstate Highways use a numbering scheme in which primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers and shorter routes that branch off of longer ones are assigned three-digit numbers where the last two digits match the parent route. The Interstate Highway System is partially financed through the Highway Trust Fund, which itself is funded by a federal fuel tax. Though federal legislation initially banned the collection of tolls, some Interstate routes are toll roads, either because they were grandfathered into the system or because subsequent legislation has allowed for tolling of interstate right of ways in some cases.
As of 2018, about one-quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country used the Interstate Highway System, which had a total length of 48,440 miles.
The information revolution transformed our society and culture. Items unimaginable in 1969 are now commonplace and hold prominent places in our daily lives, such as personal computers, smartphones, the Internet and social media.
While technology has improved our lives in many ways, the devil has also managed to make it a powerful tool in his arsenal through easy access to pornography, gambling and other sins enabled and encouraged by digital platforms. Things that once were considered taboo are now accepted behavior by many Americans.
Fifty years may seem like a long time ago for us, but to God, it is a wink of an eye. While the first moon landing and technological “miracles” it birthed seem awe-inspiring to man, to the One who created all things and all matter, it is nothing more than dust.
The Bible tells us, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8).
The context is the key to determining the correct understanding of this passage, especially the comparison of a thousand years to one day. The context of 2 Peter 3 is the return of the Lord to deliver His people. Peter tells the persecuted believers that scoffers will come and mock the idea that the Lord will return. They will say something like, “He’s been gone a long time; He’s not ever coming back” (see verse 4). As Christians are persecuted and continue to look for the Lord to deliver them, it does appear as though His coming is “delayed.”
Peter reminds the believers not to lose heart because God is working on a different timetable. For a human being, if something doesn’t happen within a matter of years, then we may miss it. God, however, is not limited by the same constraints of time because “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” Time is simply not an issue with God because He has an unlimited amount of it.
May we not be in awe of what we (man) can do or accomplish, but what God can accomplish in and through us when we are faithful to Him and His will for our lives.
Sources:
Interstate Highway System – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System
What does 2 Peter 3:8 mean when it says a thousand years are a day? – https://www.gotquestions.org/2-Peter-3-8-thousand-years-day.html
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