It's a road we don't want to go down

RE "Leasing Pike is debated at first public meeting: Taxpayers hear of solutions for Big Dig debt" (Metro, Dec. 4): There is a certain irony in the idea of privatizing the Massachusetts Turnpike. After all, the word "turnpike" comes from the days when highways were privately owned, and the gatekeeper would turn his pike to let you by after you'd paid him.

The proposal to lease the Mass. Pike in exchange for billions of dollars up front seems wrought from the same magical thinking that got us into our current financial mess. At best, we could bury our debt for a while until it resurfaces with a vengeance. At worst, we would be told that building new facilities, roads, or commuter rail is unfair competition for the new owners.

This is what has happened with privatized telecommunications, thus making us dependent upon service providers even as the Internet as demonstrated that we can do better ourselves. Once we've sold off our future, will we still be the land of opportunity?

Bob Frankston
Newton