Everyone always disparages the cost of public transport but how much does it cost to maintain these highways every year? A few dozen/hundred billion dollars across the country?

[–] MeanEYE@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

In USA they fund maintenance by developing the sprawl. So they are stuck in this circle where if they don't develop, they can't maintain, but developing means more surface to maintain, etc.

[–] foggianism@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Also how much supposed leasure time is wasted sitting in all those cars, making the people frustrated, sick and unfulfilled?

[–] jenny_ball@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

they're not really maintained much anymore other than minor stuff. even that costs tons of money and is of minimal benefit for job security of departments doing it. you'll all be dead before any major development or changes occur. and even if they decided to do something major, the construction of it while you wait for it to be done over the years will make transportation even more unbearable for those years.

[–] duderium2@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

China’s mass transit is better. Probably we should just hire the Chinese to construct a national bullet train network in ten years like they did in China. But wait, we can’t do that because that threatens the profits of the bourgeoisie, who are the true rulers of amerikkka. Oh well, enjoy your eight hour commute to make your bosses richer!

[–] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Tofu dregs. You should look that up.

[–] xthexder@l.sw0.com 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

China also kinda just forces anyone out who's in the way. To build any new infrastructure the US ends up getting slowed down to a crawl because of red tape and beurocracy. Land owners have a lot more rights in the US.

[–] duderium2@lemmy.world -4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Unless the landowners are Black or Indigenous. I don’t recall euro-kkkolonizers asking their opinion about colonization either in the seventeenth century or today.

[–] xthexder@l.sw0.com 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I'm not talking about history. I'm talking about the US today.

[–] Colonel_Panic_@lemm.ee 5 points 4 months ago

I'm not taking sides really, but I just want to point out that the US very much DOES still do shit to bipoc communities regarding infrastructure and construction and housing.

They will run a new highway right through a neighborhood. And sure, they offer to buy up the land first usually, so that's nice I guess, but they don't pay well for it and if you don't move they just take it anyway. Rail lines run through lower income areas. Highways too. There are "easements" and "imminent domain" legal fuckery that they use against bipoc people mostly too. If it's a rich neighborhood they go around, if it's poor people tough luck to them.

Residential can also get rezoned to commercial and force everyone out.

There are LOTS of legal and quasi legal things that are done all the time here. But even the legal ones are often ethically/morally wrong.

So there's that.

[–] duderium2@lemmy.world -1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

How can you separate one from the other? History doesn’t just begin and end at the convenience of white supremacists. When did the colonization end, for instance? All the euro-kkkolonizers are still here, they just changed their flag and started sending their taxes to DC instead of London.

[–] xthexder@l.sw0.com 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

These "euro-kkkolonizers" were all several generations ago. Maybe you want to pretend nothing has changed, but things have gotten significantly better since then.

I won't pretend we don't still have problems. People of color are still statistically lower income, and they're still affected by all the same capitalist problems that come with that.

The problem is also not the same across the country. Every state has their own top issues.

[–] duderium2@lemmy.world -3 points 4 months ago

Why were slaveowners compensated after the civil war but not slaves? If colonization ended in the USA, was all the stolen land given back to Native Americans? If not, I guess nazism is still very much a thing in this shithole!

[–] duderium2@lemmy.world -4 points 4 months ago

Which corporate CIA source should I use to excuse the nazis who run the USA?

[–] MeanEYE@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

Japan pretty much has it figured out. Bunch of trains, slow or fast, fancy or frugal. Whatever fits you there's an option. You can get a Pikachu train with a shop and children's playground if you want to.