WHAT IS THE TUNNEL?

The TN state government has decided, IN SECRET, to give public lands to the richest man in the world so he can build a for-profit tunnel system to shuttle tourists from the airport to downtown.

This tunnel fails to meet the real needs of the people who make up the heart of Nashville—the working people.

We have seen too often in the past few decades a local government that uses its powers to give massive handouts to huge corporations in the form of direct interest-free investment to tax abatements. We have heard the lame disingenuous protestations from the mayor and metro council. 

Initially the mayor claimed to not know about the tunnel plans. Then when it was revealed that he HAD known all along, he said that it “wasn’t serious.” Then he sent some “stern questions.” City council members have repeated these mystifications. They have said there’s “nothing they can do,” even while the Boring Company itself has said they will be working closely with metro" to receive dozens of approvals and permits. 

It has become impossible to maintain the lie that this project will be built fully on state-owned lands—and that therefore, the city of Nashville has no say. The tunnel is planned to have more than a dozen stations. The Boring Company has already started acquiring property on which to build these stations. The codes department, fire department, and so on clearly play a central role in approving this project. It is clear then that metro MUST give its blessing for this absurd billionaire vanity project to proceed. 

WE MUST MAKE OUR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE TO US. We will not accept these distortions and misrepresentations while billionaires are given sizable subsidies paid for by us. 

WHAT CAN WE DO?

The collaboration between our government, at all levels, with ultra-wealthy elites must come to an end.

While there is precious little democracy in our current system, TRUE POWER IN OUR SOCIETY LIES WITH THE PEOPLE, as it always has. Politicians are meant to represent us. All of their power derives from us. Their resources and budgets all come from us. 

Similarly, billionaires don’t create the wealth they possess. They accumulate that wealth on the backs of working people. They pay wages below what is required for people to live with dignity. They use their power to influence weak-willed politicians to transfer vast amounts of money from the public to these private corporations. 

What do we need in this country?

We need a strong and well-organized working class that demands an end to these thefts of resources. We cannot limit ourselves to simply voting every few years or relying on politicians to save us. We must build a mass movement that has structures in place to hold these billionaires and their lackeys accountable. We need an organization of workers. We need YOU to join us.

ORGANIZE!