We don't have rail because the rubber, gas and car lobby killed rail, time and time again, starting with the dismanlting of the really awesome streetcar systems we had in just a bout every city until around 1960.

When the first oil shock hit in 1972-1973, the europeans and asians decided to decouple of middle eastern gas and invest in subways and rail. What did the US do (other than BART and Metro) - highways, single family press-board cul0de-sac exurban development and so on.

Choices based on lobbying from corporate interests.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait I thought that housing is so expensive because so many illegal immigrants are coming in that they’re taking up all the housing and if we fixed that housing costs would boom! Go down!

It was only a net decrease of a 150,000 people. When it gets to negative 10-15 million you'll see some results. Especially if all the people talking about moving upthread actually follow through.

They won't leave. The greener grass is an abstraction, not the reality for most people unless they are unsuccessful financially and need a socialist-style government to support them on the backs of taxpayers.

"socialist style of government" = taking care of people.

Thanks for agreeing with me that the US is only good for making money.

This country has a huge problem with wealth gap. No other first world country has such a large gap like ours. So yes, the average person is much better off in other first world countries compared to the US.

Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis, the Irish... and Israelis are happier than we are (and why not? We give them billions so that their citizens can get universal healthcare); we have the worst gun violence and deaths; we have the highest incarceration rate compared to other developed countries.

We are great at glorifying greed, and telling individuals to pull themselves up by their bootstraps all while handing out billions to industries that back Rs, like farming.

Not saying those other countries don't have issues. Of course they do. There's not such thing as a perfect country, but they certainly have a better qol than the average Americans do.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/quality-of-life

https://x.com/Globalstats11/status/2026714135833239840

DH is from the UK, and he's noticed over the past 30 years that the cost of living in the US has surpassed the UK, and he's right. The US is right below Finland.

Healthcare index: US is just above the Philippines and way below Mexico.

Quality of life here is great, if you have money.

https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Do you actually believe this nonsensical propaganda? You actually believe that Europeans have a social safety net because we are keeping them safe? We don’t have a social safety net because that’s what Americans vote for. Do you love kool aid that much? Think about things for at least 3 minutes before you bother typing it out please.

DP.

Listen. We pay and pay in this country and don't get anything except half the country working and the other half enjoying the fruits of that labor. ENOUGH.

You let us know when we have high-speed rail, which has been sucking up money for thirty GD years. Nothing to show for except environmental impact statements, studies, committees to discuss things to death, and a bunch of rich politicians and lawyers.

You seriously think you don’t have a social safety net because we keep Europe safe and high speed rail? What are you even talking about? Listen—- you don’t have the same things as Europeans because you keep voting for REPUBLICANS

I'm giving high speed rail as an example of anything govt does, it messes up.

You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Japan had high speed rail 50+ years ago. They planned it, paid for it and got it. Same with France. Same with Spain.

We just talk it to death in meetings. Now we're 10+ years down range on Obamacare. Almost every state is down to one insurer, competition is gone and we're spending 17% of every dollar on health care, more than any other country in the world, and crowding all other spending out.

Don't tell me this is a Republican thing. This is a big govt Washington DC bureaucracy thing, and BTW, the only thing you value is taking money from one group and giving it to another. That's the ONLY thing you measure everything by.

This is a really babyish understanding of why we don’t have rail. The reason post war countries were able to organize themselves around rail is because they simply didn’t have that many constituencies to worry about- there weren’t rich NIMBYs fighting tooth and nail to keep a railway track out of their backyard. People were just surviving.

And the problem with Obamacare is what has held our country back every step of the way- not Republicans, but conservatives. Conservative democrats stripped Obamacare of a public option.

Conservatives have fought against every iota of progress in this country, from racial equality, to electric cars, to healthcare. It doesn’t matter what political label they wear be it Democrats or Republicans. Joe Biden signed legislation investing billions in our infrastructure and it was all for nothing. You’re going to go to Europe in a couple of decades and find their electricity is insanely cheap and they’re driving electric cars for nothing while we won’t have the infrastructure- JUST LIKE RAIL. And you are watching it in real time and both-sides-ing it.

A successful high speed rail system is feasible in Europe because a rail has a stop in a major city every hour or so. The US has too much sparsely populated area to make cross-continental rail systems feasible. This is basic common sense for most people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Do you actually believe this nonsensical propaganda? You actually believe that Europeans have a social safety net because we are keeping them safe? We don’t have a social safety net because that’s what Americans vote for. Do you love kool aid that much? Think about things for at least 3 minutes before you bother typing it out please.

DP.

Listen. We pay and pay in this country and don't get anything except half the country working and the other half enjoying the fruits of that labor. ENOUGH.

You let us know when we have high-speed rail, which has been sucking up money for thirty GD years. Nothing to show for except environmental impact statements, studies, committees to discuss things to death, and a bunch of rich politicians and lawyers.

You seriously think you don’t have a social safety net because we keep Europe safe and high speed rail? What are you even talking about? Listen—- you don’t have the same things as Europeans because you keep voting for REPUBLICANS

I'm giving high speed rail as an example of anything govt does, it messes up.

You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Japan had high speed rail 50+ years ago. They planned it, paid for it and got it. Same with France. Same with Spain.

We just talk it to death in meetings. Now we're 10+ years down range on Obamacare. Almost every state is down to one insurer, competition is gone and we're spending 17% of every dollar on health care, more than any other country in the world, and crowding all other spending out.

Don't tell me this is a Republican thing. This is a big govt Washington DC bureaucracy thing, and BTW, the only thing you value is taking money from one group and giving it to another. That's the ONLY thing you measure everything by.

Because the GOP has done everything it can to sabotage and make it inefficient so we are forced to go without health insurance all together and just die. That is what the GOP wants, clearly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Do you actually believe this nonsensical propaganda? You actually believe that Europeans have a social safety net because we are keeping them safe? We don’t have a social safety net because that’s what Americans vote for. Do you love kool aid that much? Think about things for at least 3 minutes before you bother typing it out please.

They have a social safety net because they have high levels of taxation and devote little of their tax revenue to their own defense. They spend what they have on extensive social welfare. That's fine if you're happy with a uniformly modest quality of life which is unrelated to how hard you work, the initiative you show, or your level of ambition. If "good enough" isn't what you aspire to, you'll be disappointed that the fruits of your hard work go to support your lazier neighbors.

they devote 1-2% of their GDP to defense. We devote closer to 4%. The difference in that money is significant. Consider that the GOP wants to raise defense spending when they have $500 billion dollars currently that they don't know what to do with and...how much is going into ICE to terrorize our cities? And...how much have the tax cuts cost our debt while we cut medicare and medicaid? It is ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Do you actually believe this nonsensical propaganda? You actually believe that Europeans have a social safety net because we are keeping them safe? We don’t have a social safety net because that’s what Americans vote for. Do you love kool aid that much? Think about things for at least 3 minutes before you bother typing it out please.

DP.

Listen. We pay and pay in this country and don't get anything except half the country working and the other half enjoying the fruits of that labor. ENOUGH.

You let us know when we have high-speed rail, which has been sucking up money for thirty GD years. Nothing to show for except environmental impact statements, studies, committees to discuss things to death, and a bunch of rich politicians and lawyers.

We don't have these things because the political will isn't there. As long as people vote for republicans, who don't believe in government and want to favor captialism without guardrails, we won't get things like universal healthcare, better education, worker safety and rights, safe food, water and air and yes, high speed rail.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Do you actually believe this nonsensical propaganda? You actually believe that Europeans have a social safety net because we are keeping them safe? We don’t have a social safety net because that’s what Americans vote for. Do you love kool aid that much? Think about things for at least 3 minutes before you bother typing it out please.

DP.

Listen. We pay and pay in this country and don't get anything except half the country working and the other half enjoying the fruits of that labor. ENOUGH.

You let us know when we have high-speed rail, which has been sucking up money for thirty GD years. Nothing to show for except environmental impact statements, studies, committees to discuss things to death, and a bunch of rich politicians and lawyers.

You seriously think you don’t have a social safety net because we keep Europe safe and high speed rail? What are you even talking about? Listen—- you don’t have the same things as Europeans because you keep voting for REPUBLICANS

I'm giving high speed rail as an example of anything govt does, it messes up.

You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Japan had high speed rail 50+ years ago. They planned it, paid for it and got it. Same with France. Same with Spain.

We just talk it to death in meetings. Now we're 10+ years down range on Obamacare. Almost every state is down to one insurer, competition is gone and we're spending 17% of every dollar on health care, more than any other country in the world, and crowding all other spending out.

Don't tell me this is a Republican thing. This is a big govt Washington DC bureaucracy thing, and BTW, the only thing you value is taking money from one group and giving it to another. That's the ONLY thing you measure everything by.

This is a really babyish understanding of why we don’t have rail. The reason post war countries were able to organize themselves around rail is because they simply didn’t have that many constituencies to worry about- there weren’t rich NIMBYs fighting tooth and nail to keep a railway track out of their backyard. People were just surviving.

And the problem with Obamacare is what has held our country back every step of the way- not Republicans, but conservatives. Conservative democrats stripped Obamacare of a public option.

Conservatives have fought against every iota of progress in this country, from racial equality, to electric cars, to healthcare. It doesn’t matter what political label they wear be it Democrats or Republicans. Joe Biden signed legislation investing billions in our infrastructure and it was all for nothing. You’re going to go to Europe in a couple of decades and find their electricity is insanely cheap and they’re driving electric cars for nothing while we won’t have the infrastructure- JUST LIKE RAIL. And you are watching it in real time and both-sides-ing it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Do you actually believe this nonsensical propaganda? You actually believe that Europeans have a social safety net because we are keeping them safe? We don’t have a social safety net because that’s what Americans vote for. Do you love kool aid that much? Think about things for at least 3 minutes before you bother typing it out please.

DP.

Listen. We pay and pay in this country and don't get anything except half the country working and the other half enjoying the fruits of that labor. ENOUGH.

You let us know when we have high-speed rail, which has been sucking up money for thirty GD years. Nothing to show for except environmental impact statements, studies, committees to discuss things to death, and a bunch of rich politicians and lawyers.

You seriously think you don’t have a social safety net because we keep Europe safe and high speed rail? What are you even talking about? Listen—- you don’t have the same things as Europeans because you keep voting for REPUBLICANS

I'm giving high speed rail as an example of anything govt does, it messes up.

You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Japan had high speed rail 50+ years ago. They planned it, paid for it and got it. Same with France. Same with Spain.

We just talk it to death in meetings. Now we're 10+ years down range on Obamacare. Almost every state is down to one insurer, competition is gone and we're spending 17% of every dollar on health care, more than any other country in the world, and crowding all other spending out.

Don't tell me this is a Republican thing. This is a big govt Washington DC bureaucracy thing, and BTW, the only thing you value is taking money from one group and giving it to another. That's the ONLY thing you measure everything by.

+1

As awful, corrupt and dysfunctional as the Dem Party is in 2026, the GOP is actually worse as long as Trump is in the picture. Needless to say, we have a hot pile of garbage in DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Do you actually believe this nonsensical propaganda? You actually believe that Europeans have a social safety net because we are keeping them safe? We don’t have a social safety net because that’s what Americans vote for. Do you love kool aid that much? Think about things for at least 3 minutes before you bother typing it out please.

They have a social safety net because they have high levels of taxation and devote little of their tax revenue to their own defense. They spend what they have on extensive social welfare. That's fine if you're happy with a uniformly modest quality of life which is unrelated to how hard you work, the initiative you show, or your level of ambition. If "good enough" isn't what you aspire to, you'll be disappointed that the fruits of your hard work go to support your lazier neighbors.

As a Euro transplant here: the above is partly true. But as the cost of healthcare and public services rises in Europe, authorities are paying very close attention to Americans wanting to move in and enjoy the fruits (free healthcare) of what others have paid for through years of high taxation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Actually no.
It’s a different value system.

But here’s a fact for you to mull.
The per capita GDP of Mississippi (the poorest state in the U.S.) is about equal to Germany’s.

Mississippi’s per capita GDP is higher than that of the UK, France and most EU countries.

Please translate what you posted for me like I’m five.

Crowding out

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Do you actually believe this nonsensical propaganda? You actually believe that Europeans have a social safety net because we are keeping them safe? We don’t have a social safety net because that’s what Americans vote for. Do you love kool aid that much? Think about things for at least 3 minutes before you bother typing it out please.

DP.

Listen. We pay and pay in this country and don't get anything except half the country working and the other half enjoying the fruits of that labor. ENOUGH.

You let us know when we have high-speed rail, which has been sucking up money for thirty GD years. Nothing to show for except environmental impact statements, studies, committees to discuss things to death, and a bunch of rich politicians and lawyers.

You seriously think you don’t have a social safety net because we keep Europe safe and high speed rail? What are you even talking about? Listen—- you don’t have the same things as Europeans because you keep voting for REPUBLICANS

I'm giving high speed rail as an example of anything govt does, it messes up.

You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Japan had high speed rail 50+ years ago. They planned it, paid for it and got it. Same with France. Same with Spain.

We just talk it to death in meetings. Now we're 10+ years down range on Obamacare. Almost every state is down to one insurer, competition is gone and we're spending 17% of every dollar on health care, more than any other country in the world, and crowding all other spending out.

Don't tell me this is a Republican thing. This is a big govt Washington DC bureaucracy thing, and BTW, the only thing you value is taking money from one group and giving it to another. That's the ONLY thing you measure everything by.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Do you actually believe this nonsensical propaganda? You actually believe that Europeans have a social safety net because we are keeping them safe? We don’t have a social safety net because that’s what Americans vote for. Do you love kool aid that much? Think about things for at least 3 minutes before you bother typing it out please.

They have a social safety net because they have high levels of taxation and devote little of their tax revenue to their own defense. They spend what they have on extensive social welfare. That's fine if you're happy with a uniformly modest quality of life which is unrelated to how hard you work, the initiative you show, or your level of ambition. If "good enough" isn't what you aspire to, you'll be disappointed that the fruits of your hard work go to support your lazier neighbors.

Oh, babe. More propaganda. You think the quality of life in Europe is modest? Have you ever even been to Europe? Scandinavia has some of the most valuable and innovative companies in the world. Europe is embracing clean energy innovation. Your country is rapidly shutting down its science research and our electric bills are skyrocketing because drill baby drill.

You need to wake up and fast!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:America is the land where you make money. That's it.

We made our millions and will probably move to another country when the youngest finishes college in a few years. I have a friend who moved several years ago to Europe, and they *love* it. No shooter drills for their kids in school, reasonable healthcare costs, laid back lifestyle, so much traveling. I'm so jealous when I look at their social media.

Americans collectively are stressed out because of the gun violence and now, violence from our own government against our own citizens. We have very little work/life balance. Crap social safety nets.

America is only great if you have money, as a PP stated.

Honestly I think this is how the entire world sees us. We have a money hungry culture and everyone knows it. Our healthcare system exposes it in the worst way, we are willing to squeeze the last dime out of our sickest and our poorest.

Another thing is that 50% of the income tax people are paying today is going to just interest on the debt. No republican or democrat wants to touch that. The light at the end of the tunnel is a train.

An underrated statement. Bumping you up
Trump and billionaires use debt to make their billions.
Trump loves debt!
Debt Per Household: Approximately $286,108.
Current U.S. debt $38.79 trillion
(2017-2021) Trump $7.8 trillion debt increase
(January 20, 2025 – Present) Trump $3 trillion debt increase

Billionaires using our corrupt political system for personal gain has been going on since before Trump and will continue to go on long after Trump is gone as long as the GOP and Dem Parties exist in their current forms. Everyone should know this by now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So here's the deal. Other countries like Europe appear to have free services etc but the reality is they are subsidized by the us and don't have to pay for the military etc even we pay more for healthcare drugs and products because we are subdizing other countries. When the us stops this those countries will get invaded and fall apart and no longer have cheaper services

Do you actually believe this nonsensical propaganda? You actually believe that Europeans have a social safety net because we are keeping them safe? We don’t have a social safety net because that’s what Americans vote for. Do you love kool aid that much? Think about things for at least 3 minutes before you bother typing it out please.

They have a social safety net because they have high levels of taxation and devote little of their tax revenue to their own defense. They spend what they have on extensive social welfare. That's fine if you're happy with a uniformly modest quality of life which is unrelated to how hard you work, the initiative you show, or your level of ambition. If "good enough" isn't what you aspire to, you'll be disappointed that the fruits of your hard work go to support your lazier neighbors.