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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.