Two technology stories which happened to come out within a day of each other just cried out for comparison: the French approach versus the American. The French have developed a train capable of reaching 340 mph. Americans debuted a microwave ray which is capable of inflicting searing pain at a distance without causing any lasting harm to the individual.

This is not meant as some categorical criticism of American priorities in technological development. As we all know, it’s much more complicated than that. America leads the world in countless fields I’m too lazy to research right now, not just in military technology. And the pain ray will doubtlessly revolutionize crowd control, and maybe even change how wars are fought. It’s not a frivolous invention.

It’s just a shame that despite the fact that America has the best military in the world, The Acela is a sad joke of a train unable to even match half the top speed of the latest French trains. And as this old 2001-era Washington Monthly article suggests, the Acela only briefly reaches its top speed on a stretch between New York and Boston.

At the end of the day, investment in infrastructure matters. It’s not to say that the French are about to eat our lunch because they have a fast train and we don’t. Americans predominantly travel between Boston, New York and Washington DC by airplane, and while it’s not as ecologically friendly and efficient as rail transport, business productivity is not notably suffering.

But consider that a true high-speed train widely available today, which zips along at 220mph, could get you from the center of New York to the center of Boston (190 miles) or to the center of DC (204 miles) in under an hour. No airplane travel, with its attendant airport hassles and local transportation woes, could ever hope to rival that.

It’s the accumulation of many such little disadvantages in technology and infrastructure which over time might lead to a noticable handicap for the United States. And after all, why should we be leaving that kind of transportational expedience unexploited?