I am in a different part of 🇺🇸 and am strongly considering leaving for good…seems there’s less and less keeping me here a lot of the time. I remember 🇬🇷 being nice, and nearly stayed last time I went
I often wonder if coming back here at all was a mistake and about what might have been
Because it’s a low trust society here and I have no trust in it
In Europe there are cities 10x smaller than a us city with far superior , clean infrastructure, medical, transport, layout of city, everything. It makes Americans look really dumb. I mean they are half as rich or less and produce space age 22nd century infrastructure while USA people wallow in 3rd world slightly above medieval quality of life and they think they have it so good, or go to war with other nations. The hubris is the biggest in the world and probably the Downfall of the nation.
We were in Valencia, Spain, not long ago. It's a city of less than a million, yet there is a subway to take you from the airport with little fuss, busses and bicycles all over, and it's easy to walk if you want to do so. It's quite clean and feels safe. We saw a few homeless people, but I think I could have counted them on one hand. I contrast this with Omaha, with a metro area of a little more than a million and by comparison, is just a sprawling mess of traffic and no walkability whatsoever other than the four or so blocks made up for tourists (Les Nessman, anyone?). The notion of a subway is just unthinkable. And Spain is not a rich country compared to many. It's hard for me to wrap my head around how the US has become what it has.
I came into Newark yesterday, and there were two border agents for at least one flight. We waited for at least 30 minutes, and were at the front of the queue when flight disembarked. My first thought was: Biden administration cut the budgets for TSA and all of border-related services as a political move. Can somebody help here? Naturally, this only addresses a part of your post.
Americans truly believe that their country is best, often without any global context. I live in Canada, a massive landmass that Americans consider beneath their attention. I work for a US based office and the most consistent question I get is about our healthcare. Despite being a short drive or flight away, they often have never been to Canada and have bizarre ideas of what it’s really like. They sigh about things like healthcare as if it’s an insane concept far out of reach and only available in distant socialist paradises, “over there.” When you find proponents of a wall, it’s as much to keep them in as the rest of the world out. Their news is alarmist and usually incorrect. Very dystopian.
If you’re conditioned from birth to think you belong to the best democracy on earth, with the best economy, systems, and opportunities, you’ll never be able to seriously consider real change. It shocks me how a country that identifies so thoroughly with Christianity is so uncharitable, glorifying bad behaviour and capitalism. Say what you want about other countries--I have never been to so many cities with so many homeless people, or so many major cities that literally have human feces on the street--that’s not normal in a culture that cares about its most vulnerable.
Anyway. The long and short of it is that this is very sadly true.
Yep, spot on—American who just became a Canadian citizen and has travelled and lived in multiple countries. This is exactly part of why I left—another symptom of this is despite coming from a relatively privileged background, going to a good university in the US, and knowing many people there in these circles, who have post graduate degrees and good jobs who are part of the lucky group of Americans that have “made it,” they’re still under a lot of stress and paranoia, and even if they agree with me about all the problems of the US, I’m 99% sure none of them will ever leave as I did, it would be considered insane—in part because if you have a good job in America, you can get paid so much more than almost anywhere else, despite other drawbacks in society, it stops people from reflecting too deeply—and if you’re not in this group, you can’t even consider leaving, and/or you’re too ignorant in many cases to even be aware it’s a possibility.
This is such a good perspective to hear from an American. I only have my Canadian perspective so I’m happy to hear my observations are true from the other side as well. And welcome to Canada, we’re so happy you’re here ❤️
Thank you—on the flip side, things Canada needs to be aware of and improve on is—it’s a strange situation because it’s really such a small country population size vs the US (who it is still really dependent on, for better or worse), and Canadians tend to have an inferiority complex about that, there is not as much drive to innovate, I find people very risk-averse, and the government is depending heavily on huge numbers of immigrants and multi culturalism for the future of Canada, which I very much support in principle..yes the truth is there are not enough good jobs out there, and there are way too many stupid roadblocks from highly skilled immigrants who can’t get hired in their field because they lack the dreaded “Canadian experience.”
Absolutely and agreed. Canada will only thrive if we allow immigrants to enrich our population--my husband is a Brit and has been living and working in Canada since 2012--he’s only on track for citizenship now. Our government can be a bit archaic and short sighted. The upside is that they are usually predictable and stable, but not that innovative.
The inferiority complex is also real. It drives me personally nuts when Americans talk about how large Texas is when we all live in these huge provinces that never seem to interest them 😂
How old are you? Your experience is opposite of mine. Most people in my age group(20-30) in a medium sized southern US city think the US is the worst country to ever exist in human history, every other (Western) country is literal paradise on earth etc. I am not questioning your experience but I feel like your characterization of the US is adept for Bush era conservative Americans not today. Even conservatives I know online and in real life have very negative views of the US(albeit for opposite reasons as the progressives). I think the only people who have positive views of the US are center right and center left Americans over the age of ~40.
Hmm. That’s a good question. I’m 46 and my colleagues range from mid-twenties to mid-sixties. I predominantly work in Portland and I have to say my younger colleagues are a mix of really dynamic “change the world” types that show up for their communities in amazing ways. None of them are particularly well travelled though, and some just avoid the news entirely. I’ve met a lot that refuse to vote because people like Trump keep getting in (fair, honestly). My most recent experiences have been in Chicago, Seattle and Portland. I’ve been consistently surprised by folks I thought had values more in alignment with my own--when it comes to guns, healthcare, education--you’d be surprised what I’ve heard from some really wonderful people. I blame the news, maybe?
I hear what you’re saying, and I do believe you. It’s very hard to be a young person in the US today. I’ve often told people Canada is a very viable option and the cold is truly a small inconvenience when you consider the other benefits. Our politics are positively dull compared to the US. I don’t know how you guys deal with all the drama, it’s stressful even from a distance.
I will have to say even your positive views of Canada reflects your age. People say Reddit is not real life but it accurately reflects the view of a large percentage of people in real life.
I have been using Reddit for 10+ years and while in early 2010s Canadians couldn’t praise Canada enough, for the last 5 years or so, the view of Canada has turned extremely negative. It’s not just limited r/Canada but also extends to other topics such as career, education, housing etc. subreddits. Whenever Canada comes up it’s always in a negative context. This is not just limited to Reddit, this extends to all other social media I consume. Given practically everyone these days uses social media, this must reflect reality to a large extent, at least of my age group. It’s almost surreal to see you being so proud of Canada. I have not seen that in many years.
Also this not just limited to Canada. Practically everyone in the Western world has quite negative views of their own country. Everyone in my age group and below senses a decline and that the future is not going to be any better. In contrast people in the developing (Asian) countries seem to have a feeling that their best days are ahead(again the ones I have seen online).
I suspect this is more a reflection of the Reddit userbase than any sort of larger societal phenomena. Selection bias and whatnot. I have found that particular site's community to be, at risk of generalizing, very insulated, cynical, downwardly mobile, left/liberal to a degree that is very unrepresentative of the larger population. The perspectives that get amplified on Reddit are not neutral, objective, or representative.
The thing is r/Canada is incredibly left wing on most topics. Their country is run by the same left wing Prime Minister that they were all gushing over in 2015. It would make sense for them to be pessimistic if Canada was run by some Trumpian figure or even the supposedly right wing Canadian "conservatives". But that's not the case.
Well I can tell you why they are pessimistic. They absolutely hate the insane levels of mass immigration(mostly from few states in India) that Trudeau has allowed in the last 5 years. Being pro-immigrant is fine when it's just something you can feel morally superior about and the scale of immigration is steady and controlled. But when there's a sudden massive wave that will only keep increasing in the coming years, the negatives become more apparent. Housing prices shooting up, wages stagnating or declining, social cohesion gone. Even the Canadian redditors who would gladly implement mandatory gender change surgeries and atheism classes in kindergarten are becoming right wing when it comes to immigration and that's making them feel miserable because they can't square that with their identity as nice, left wing, good Canadians.
That’s fascinating! I don’t use Reddit, I’m not on Twitter, I rarely use instagram. I’m not surprised that you’ve observed people being negative there. I’m here to tell you it’s actually pretty great here. We have some of the same issues the US has, but on the whole I feel like we’re much more like European cities. If you ask a conservative Canadian what they think of Canada, you’ll get a negative answer. I live in Alberta (arguably the most insane right wing province, not at all like the rest of Canada) and I still feel very safe and happy in my country. Do I think our Premier is a nut job? Yes. Do I believe my vote counts and that my city is safe? Yes. It’s not one or the other.
I can assure you being 46 doesn’t mean I’m out of touch with younger people. I know I lucked out, generationally, with when I purchased my house, etc but Gen X’ers have not had an easy time by any means. And I get that Asian countries feel hopeful, they’ve got a lot to be excited about.
I stand by my statements about American exceptionalism. Canadians are aware of where we can improve, we are well aware of our actual place in the world. I have spoken to many Americans of all ages who have echoed their deep belief about how wonderful the US is to me, and I think it might be rooted in the very US centric education. Maybe they truly believe it 🤷🏻♀️
I believe your experience. Negativity is exaggerated for most countries. Life in the US is also great for most people. As an outside observer you think US is quite bad, perhaps you can even list all the different stats, surveys, and anecdotes to prove that point. They are all probably true but as an outside observer of Canada, I think the same, and I can come up with all the stats, surveys, and anecdotes to prove it. Rarely do outsiders to any country get the full picture. Its either heaven or hell. Nothing in between. I am sure Canada is a fine country notwithstanding the negativity I am blasted with talking to people in real life and online. I hope you extend the same charity to your neighbor to the south.
I respect your perspective and I agree, I know many folks who are happily living in the US. I spend a lot of time in the US, and work specifically with teams that design schools on the west coast. I have a lot of love for the US and my colleagues, who do great work.
I guess what frustrates me is that my initial comment led to this wider discussion. My observations in the US make me sad as I know my colleagues lives would be vastly improved by good healthcare, safe transit, legal abortions, rational government, and a little more exposure to the rest of the world. No shade. Just stating what I see.
Homogeneous societies tend to be safer as there are higher levels of social trust; Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Poland, usw. Regardless of where your stance on immigration it’s fairly clear to anyone who opens their eyes
I’m an OTR Truck Driver. Ed Dowd put it perfectly. 58% of the American population got 2 Shots & a Booster. One third of American workers are working chronically sick from the shots, are disabled or dead. The workers I see today are the 2nd or 3rd tiered workers. The ones that wouldn’t have been hired to work with the public! I’ll be lucky to still have my current job for the first half of the year providing that the narcissist boss they hired to replace the guy that hired me doesn’t fire me. I have a clean driving record, but not a Simp for management.
I wouldn't discount a lack of social cohesion as a big problem in NYC and the rest of the country, but most of the problems you cite stem from clear 20th century policy failures that can be rectified with enough political will.
1) The mass closures and outlawing of SROs directly correlated to the spike in street homelessness. Cheap housing for single people would get a lot of people out of subway cars
2) The mass closure of mental hospitals and asylums was a failure, and doomed many mentally ill people to homelessness because facilities weren't created to replace what was the lost. The hospitals had many problems but they needed to be reformed, not shut down
3) The MTA in NY should be run by Japanese or Europeans. If the planned subway expansions of the 1920s and 30s actually happened, commuting wouldn't be so dismal. Infrastructure costs are bloated in NY and the US. A lot of terrible waste and bad planning at the MTA.
Ross, thank you for the thoughtful comment. I don't disagree, especially with 2), and especially when you factor in changes in policing over last few years (this is where I disagree with a lot of the left), because while Rikers is a true shit-hole (that should be a top federal priority to be replaced, since the state and city can't get it done), being in an upstate facility, or mandated rehab, serves to provide a lot of very desperate people with basic resources.
I've even seen friends I know get tossed into Rikers for a six month stint that ended up helping them -- giving them resources, from simple things like glasses, to daily group rehab meetings.
That isn't my preferred solution (A healthy functional society, with high social trust, doesn't require a lot of police, or prisons and jails) but it's better than nothing, where there is no check on anti-social behavior, which is what we are moving towards now.
In the same vein, I also disagree with a lot of the left on de-criminalization of drugs. So if we manage to fix the other three things, and we have low social trust, and drugs are as available, and as destigmitized as they are now, then we will still have big problems.
Back to the social cohesion issue. I think all the changes you suggest (and I support), will make the symptoms less dramatic (which is good), we still will have the problem that public spaces can't count on unwritten rules of social behavior (on social cohesion) -- so they will have to insert policing -- which, as I wrote above, while preferred to chaos, isn't optimal.
Or to put it another way, when the State becomes the sole moral and behavioral arbitrator, as we have here in the US, your choices fall between chaos, or what end up becoming effectively police states, with a heavy handed state.
Neither is a place I want anyone to go, and right now it feels like we are in Chaos, and the backlash to that will be advocating for even more and more police, until we end up in a police state.
Oregon is going back to criminalization of some drugs but I do not know how that will work out. They will probably hide it better and not do it on the street in Portland,
Now the Oregon state hospital is crammed full of people with meth psychosis. with no room for other cases.
Chris, I just don't think that you have a good handle on social policy in the US. The reason why there are so many homeless people in the US compared to say Central America is due to the cost of housing and the inability of the DEA to crack down on the supply of drugs coming into the US. The US has the smallest amount of public housing by far of any industrialized country and much of what was built was either privatized our demolished over the past forty years. (To that end, I'd highly recommend the Pruitt-Igoe Myth documentary.)
You also neglect to discuss the decline of labor unions, which has been a deliberate policy choice over the past 45 years under bipartisan leadership. (One important union that has been crushed is the Greyhound bus drivers' union.) From 1941 until 1979 or so, the best way for someone to get rehabilitated with a criminal record was to get a union job--this provided employment, benefits, meaning, and community. It was a critical way for people with addiction problems to stabilize themselves enough so that they would keep showing up to AA and NA. The destruction of these modes of communal life in the US has had grave consequences for social cohesion as you note. And the solution for them is not harping on the effects, as you seem to do, but to address the causes. The PRO Act, for example, would go a long way towards addressing this issue, combined with putting somebody like Lori Wallach in charge of the Commerce Department. We seem pretty far away from that.
The long term solution is staring Americans in the face. Pay for nice things. Consider that government, and taxes, are for a reason. Subways, medical care, education, safety nets, and yes military too--all are choices and are funded. Hey it’s great to run around with minimal taxation--free societies yay!--but if that’s the choice, embrace the squalor.
I didn't realize that the subways are packed with service and construction workers already at 4am. Thanks for helping me to understand how hard these people's lives are. I can't imagine how difficult it is to manage this schedule while also raising children or taking care of elderly parents.
When I commuted from outer London into the centre of town, I used to enjoy watching the demographic shift depending on how I early I travelled. The 05:35 was entirely male, mainly white British construction workers; the 06:02 was 80% female, service sector I guess and seemed to be predominantly from overseas. By 06:45 it was civil servants and City boys (and girls).
I loved this post!! This is the type of travel I want to read about. And experience. You really captured how the state of our public transportation systems compared to the rest of the developed nations is so shameful and disappointing!
Ethan Strauss wrote a similar Substack post a few weeks ago about why baseball free agents seem to be avoiding playing for the San Francisco Giants. He had a to write a followup about the hysterical reaction from sportswriters blaming him of being a Fox News mouthpiece.
Weirdly Chris, the email notifying me of this post was right after a really nice Philadelphia Inquirer profile about an “older” Rockette (she’s 28) who commutes from Pennsylvania. In the offseason, she has a a second job. In the high season (right now) they do four shows and she estimated 650 of the famous high leg kicks per day.
Man that Sophia station is gorgeous
I am in a different part of 🇺🇸 and am strongly considering leaving for good…seems there’s less and less keeping me here a lot of the time. I remember 🇬🇷 being nice, and nearly stayed last time I went
I often wonder if coming back here at all was a mistake and about what might have been
Because it’s a low trust society here and I have no trust in it
In Europe there are cities 10x smaller than a us city with far superior , clean infrastructure, medical, transport, layout of city, everything. It makes Americans look really dumb. I mean they are half as rich or less and produce space age 22nd century infrastructure while USA people wallow in 3rd world slightly above medieval quality of life and they think they have it so good, or go to war with other nations. The hubris is the biggest in the world and probably the Downfall of the nation.
We were in Valencia, Spain, not long ago. It's a city of less than a million, yet there is a subway to take you from the airport with little fuss, busses and bicycles all over, and it's easy to walk if you want to do so. It's quite clean and feels safe. We saw a few homeless people, but I think I could have counted them on one hand. I contrast this with Omaha, with a metro area of a little more than a million and by comparison, is just a sprawling mess of traffic and no walkability whatsoever other than the four or so blocks made up for tourists (Les Nessman, anyone?). The notion of a subway is just unthinkable. And Spain is not a rich country compared to many. It's hard for me to wrap my head around how the US has become what it has.
I came into Newark yesterday, and there were two border agents for at least one flight. We waited for at least 30 minutes, and were at the front of the queue when flight disembarked. My first thought was: Biden administration cut the budgets for TSA and all of border-related services as a political move. Can somebody help here? Naturally, this only addresses a part of your post.
Car culture is ruining life in the USA. Public transportation, walking and bicycling need more financial support and safe comfortable infrastructure.
Americans truly believe that their country is best, often without any global context. I live in Canada, a massive landmass that Americans consider beneath their attention. I work for a US based office and the most consistent question I get is about our healthcare. Despite being a short drive or flight away, they often have never been to Canada and have bizarre ideas of what it’s really like. They sigh about things like healthcare as if it’s an insane concept far out of reach and only available in distant socialist paradises, “over there.” When you find proponents of a wall, it’s as much to keep them in as the rest of the world out. Their news is alarmist and usually incorrect. Very dystopian.
If you’re conditioned from birth to think you belong to the best democracy on earth, with the best economy, systems, and opportunities, you’ll never be able to seriously consider real change. It shocks me how a country that identifies so thoroughly with Christianity is so uncharitable, glorifying bad behaviour and capitalism. Say what you want about other countries--I have never been to so many cities with so many homeless people, or so many major cities that literally have human feces on the street--that’s not normal in a culture that cares about its most vulnerable.
Anyway. The long and short of it is that this is very sadly true.
Yep, spot on—American who just became a Canadian citizen and has travelled and lived in multiple countries. This is exactly part of why I left—another symptom of this is despite coming from a relatively privileged background, going to a good university in the US, and knowing many people there in these circles, who have post graduate degrees and good jobs who are part of the lucky group of Americans that have “made it,” they’re still under a lot of stress and paranoia, and even if they agree with me about all the problems of the US, I’m 99% sure none of them will ever leave as I did, it would be considered insane—in part because if you have a good job in America, you can get paid so much more than almost anywhere else, despite other drawbacks in society, it stops people from reflecting too deeply—and if you’re not in this group, you can’t even consider leaving, and/or you’re too ignorant in many cases to even be aware it’s a possibility.
This is such a good perspective to hear from an American. I only have my Canadian perspective so I’m happy to hear my observations are true from the other side as well. And welcome to Canada, we’re so happy you’re here ❤️
Thank you—on the flip side, things Canada needs to be aware of and improve on is—it’s a strange situation because it’s really such a small country population size vs the US (who it is still really dependent on, for better or worse), and Canadians tend to have an inferiority complex about that, there is not as much drive to innovate, I find people very risk-averse, and the government is depending heavily on huge numbers of immigrants and multi culturalism for the future of Canada, which I very much support in principle..yes the truth is there are not enough good jobs out there, and there are way too many stupid roadblocks from highly skilled immigrants who can’t get hired in their field because they lack the dreaded “Canadian experience.”
Absolutely and agreed. Canada will only thrive if we allow immigrants to enrich our population--my husband is a Brit and has been living and working in Canada since 2012--he’s only on track for citizenship now. Our government can be a bit archaic and short sighted. The upside is that they are usually predictable and stable, but not that innovative.
The inferiority complex is also real. It drives me personally nuts when Americans talk about how large Texas is when we all live in these huge provinces that never seem to interest them 😂
How old are you? Your experience is opposite of mine. Most people in my age group(20-30) in a medium sized southern US city think the US is the worst country to ever exist in human history, every other (Western) country is literal paradise on earth etc. I am not questioning your experience but I feel like your characterization of the US is adept for Bush era conservative Americans not today. Even conservatives I know online and in real life have very negative views of the US(albeit for opposite reasons as the progressives). I think the only people who have positive views of the US are center right and center left Americans over the age of ~40.
Hmm. That’s a good question. I’m 46 and my colleagues range from mid-twenties to mid-sixties. I predominantly work in Portland and I have to say my younger colleagues are a mix of really dynamic “change the world” types that show up for their communities in amazing ways. None of them are particularly well travelled though, and some just avoid the news entirely. I’ve met a lot that refuse to vote because people like Trump keep getting in (fair, honestly). My most recent experiences have been in Chicago, Seattle and Portland. I’ve been consistently surprised by folks I thought had values more in alignment with my own--when it comes to guns, healthcare, education--you’d be surprised what I’ve heard from some really wonderful people. I blame the news, maybe?
I hear what you’re saying, and I do believe you. It’s very hard to be a young person in the US today. I’ve often told people Canada is a very viable option and the cold is truly a small inconvenience when you consider the other benefits. Our politics are positively dull compared to the US. I don’t know how you guys deal with all the drama, it’s stressful even from a distance.
I will have to say even your positive views of Canada reflects your age. People say Reddit is not real life but it accurately reflects the view of a large percentage of people in real life.
I have been using Reddit for 10+ years and while in early 2010s Canadians couldn’t praise Canada enough, for the last 5 years or so, the view of Canada has turned extremely negative. It’s not just limited r/Canada but also extends to other topics such as career, education, housing etc. subreddits. Whenever Canada comes up it’s always in a negative context. This is not just limited to Reddit, this extends to all other social media I consume. Given practically everyone these days uses social media, this must reflect reality to a large extent, at least of my age group. It’s almost surreal to see you being so proud of Canada. I have not seen that in many years.
Also this not just limited to Canada. Practically everyone in the Western world has quite negative views of their own country. Everyone in my age group and below senses a decline and that the future is not going to be any better. In contrast people in the developing (Asian) countries seem to have a feeling that their best days are ahead(again the ones I have seen online).
I suspect this is more a reflection of the Reddit userbase than any sort of larger societal phenomena. Selection bias and whatnot. I have found that particular site's community to be, at risk of generalizing, very insulated, cynical, downwardly mobile, left/liberal to a degree that is very unrepresentative of the larger population. The perspectives that get amplified on Reddit are not neutral, objective, or representative.
The thing is r/Canada is incredibly left wing on most topics. Their country is run by the same left wing Prime Minister that they were all gushing over in 2015. It would make sense for them to be pessimistic if Canada was run by some Trumpian figure or even the supposedly right wing Canadian "conservatives". But that's not the case.
Well I can tell you why they are pessimistic. They absolutely hate the insane levels of mass immigration(mostly from few states in India) that Trudeau has allowed in the last 5 years. Being pro-immigrant is fine when it's just something you can feel morally superior about and the scale of immigration is steady and controlled. But when there's a sudden massive wave that will only keep increasing in the coming years, the negatives become more apparent. Housing prices shooting up, wages stagnating or declining, social cohesion gone. Even the Canadian redditors who would gladly implement mandatory gender change surgeries and atheism classes in kindergarten are becoming right wing when it comes to immigration and that's making them feel miserable because they can't square that with their identity as nice, left wing, good Canadians.
That’s fascinating! I don’t use Reddit, I’m not on Twitter, I rarely use instagram. I’m not surprised that you’ve observed people being negative there. I’m here to tell you it’s actually pretty great here. We have some of the same issues the US has, but on the whole I feel like we’re much more like European cities. If you ask a conservative Canadian what they think of Canada, you’ll get a negative answer. I live in Alberta (arguably the most insane right wing province, not at all like the rest of Canada) and I still feel very safe and happy in my country. Do I think our Premier is a nut job? Yes. Do I believe my vote counts and that my city is safe? Yes. It’s not one or the other.
I can assure you being 46 doesn’t mean I’m out of touch with younger people. I know I lucked out, generationally, with when I purchased my house, etc but Gen X’ers have not had an easy time by any means. And I get that Asian countries feel hopeful, they’ve got a lot to be excited about.
I stand by my statements about American exceptionalism. Canadians are aware of where we can improve, we are well aware of our actual place in the world. I have spoken to many Americans of all ages who have echoed their deep belief about how wonderful the US is to me, and I think it might be rooted in the very US centric education. Maybe they truly believe it 🤷🏻♀️
I believe your experience. Negativity is exaggerated for most countries. Life in the US is also great for most people. As an outside observer you think US is quite bad, perhaps you can even list all the different stats, surveys, and anecdotes to prove that point. They are all probably true but as an outside observer of Canada, I think the same, and I can come up with all the stats, surveys, and anecdotes to prove it. Rarely do outsiders to any country get the full picture. Its either heaven or hell. Nothing in between. I am sure Canada is a fine country notwithstanding the negativity I am blasted with talking to people in real life and online. I hope you extend the same charity to your neighbor to the south.
I respect your perspective and I agree, I know many folks who are happily living in the US. I spend a lot of time in the US, and work specifically with teams that design schools on the west coast. I have a lot of love for the US and my colleagues, who do great work.
I guess what frustrates me is that my initial comment led to this wider discussion. My observations in the US make me sad as I know my colleagues lives would be vastly improved by good healthcare, safe transit, legal abortions, rational government, and a little more exposure to the rest of the world. No shade. Just stating what I see.
*literally have human feces on the street as I have in the US (correction, pardon me)
Homogeneous societies tend to be safer as there are higher levels of social trust; Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Poland, usw. Regardless of where your stance on immigration it’s fairly clear to anyone who opens their eyes
Fascinating!
I’m an OTR Truck Driver. Ed Dowd put it perfectly. 58% of the American population got 2 Shots & a Booster. One third of American workers are working chronically sick from the shots, are disabled or dead. The workers I see today are the 2nd or 3rd tiered workers. The ones that wouldn’t have been hired to work with the public! I’ll be lucky to still have my current job for the first half of the year providing that the narcissist boss they hired to replace the guy that hired me doesn’t fire me. I have a clean driving record, but not a Simp for management.
I wouldn't discount a lack of social cohesion as a big problem in NYC and the rest of the country, but most of the problems you cite stem from clear 20th century policy failures that can be rectified with enough political will.
1) The mass closures and outlawing of SROs directly correlated to the spike in street homelessness. Cheap housing for single people would get a lot of people out of subway cars
2) The mass closure of mental hospitals and asylums was a failure, and doomed many mentally ill people to homelessness because facilities weren't created to replace what was the lost. The hospitals had many problems but they needed to be reformed, not shut down
3) The MTA in NY should be run by Japanese or Europeans. If the planned subway expansions of the 1920s and 30s actually happened, commuting wouldn't be so dismal. Infrastructure costs are bloated in NY and the US. A lot of terrible waste and bad planning at the MTA.
Ross, thank you for the thoughtful comment. I don't disagree, especially with 2), and especially when you factor in changes in policing over last few years (this is where I disagree with a lot of the left), because while Rikers is a true shit-hole (that should be a top federal priority to be replaced, since the state and city can't get it done), being in an upstate facility, or mandated rehab, serves to provide a lot of very desperate people with basic resources.
I've even seen friends I know get tossed into Rikers for a six month stint that ended up helping them -- giving them resources, from simple things like glasses, to daily group rehab meetings.
That isn't my preferred solution (A healthy functional society, with high social trust, doesn't require a lot of police, or prisons and jails) but it's better than nothing, where there is no check on anti-social behavior, which is what we are moving towards now.
In the same vein, I also disagree with a lot of the left on de-criminalization of drugs. So if we manage to fix the other three things, and we have low social trust, and drugs are as available, and as destigmitized as they are now, then we will still have big problems.
Back to the social cohesion issue. I think all the changes you suggest (and I support), will make the symptoms less dramatic (which is good), we still will have the problem that public spaces can't count on unwritten rules of social behavior (on social cohesion) -- so they will have to insert policing -- which, as I wrote above, while preferred to chaos, isn't optimal.
Or to put it another way, when the State becomes the sole moral and behavioral arbitrator, as we have here in the US, your choices fall between chaos, or what end up becoming effectively police states, with a heavy handed state.
Neither is a place I want anyone to go, and right now it feels like we are in Chaos, and the backlash to that will be advocating for even more and more police, until we end up in a police state.
Oregon is going back to criminalization of some drugs but I do not know how that will work out. They will probably hide it better and not do it on the street in Portland,
Now the Oregon state hospital is crammed full of people with meth psychosis. with no room for other cases.
Chris, I just don't think that you have a good handle on social policy in the US. The reason why there are so many homeless people in the US compared to say Central America is due to the cost of housing and the inability of the DEA to crack down on the supply of drugs coming into the US. The US has the smallest amount of public housing by far of any industrialized country and much of what was built was either privatized our demolished over the past forty years. (To that end, I'd highly recommend the Pruitt-Igoe Myth documentary.)
You also neglect to discuss the decline of labor unions, which has been a deliberate policy choice over the past 45 years under bipartisan leadership. (One important union that has been crushed is the Greyhound bus drivers' union.) From 1941 until 1979 or so, the best way for someone to get rehabilitated with a criminal record was to get a union job--this provided employment, benefits, meaning, and community. It was a critical way for people with addiction problems to stabilize themselves enough so that they would keep showing up to AA and NA. The destruction of these modes of communal life in the US has had grave consequences for social cohesion as you note. And the solution for them is not harping on the effects, as you seem to do, but to address the causes. The PRO Act, for example, would go a long way towards addressing this issue, combined with putting somebody like Lori Wallach in charge of the Commerce Department. We seem pretty far away from that.
The long term solution is staring Americans in the face. Pay for nice things. Consider that government, and taxes, are for a reason. Subways, medical care, education, safety nets, and yes military too--all are choices and are funded. Hey it’s great to run around with minimal taxation--free societies yay!--but if that’s the choice, embrace the squalor.
Minimal? More than half the world has like a 10 to 20% tax rate and better infrastructure. It's not about taxes! It's about a nation of morons!
I didn't realize that the subways are packed with service and construction workers already at 4am. Thanks for helping me to understand how hard these people's lives are. I can't imagine how difficult it is to manage this schedule while also raising children or taking care of elderly parents.
When I commuted from outer London into the centre of town, I used to enjoy watching the demographic shift depending on how I early I travelled. The 05:35 was entirely male, mainly white British construction workers; the 06:02 was 80% female, service sector I guess and seemed to be predominantly from overseas. By 06:45 it was civil servants and City boys (and girls).
I loved this post!! This is the type of travel I want to read about. And experience. You really captured how the state of our public transportation systems compared to the rest of the developed nations is so shameful and disappointing!
Ethan Strauss wrote a similar Substack post a few weeks ago about why baseball free agents seem to be avoiding playing for the San Francisco Giants. He had a to write a followup about the hysterical reaction from sportswriters blaming him of being a Fox News mouthpiece.
I mean someone as iconic as a Rockette commutes from Trenton on NJ transit.
Weirdly Chris, the email notifying me of this post was right after a really nice Philadelphia Inquirer profile about an “older” Rockette (she’s 28) who commutes from Pennsylvania. In the offseason, she has a a second job. In the high season (right now) they do four shows and she estimated 650 of the famous high leg kicks per day.