3 ms·

The exact solution may not work, but the overall approach to finding a solution very well could. I also somewhat disagree with the notion that systems working

The exact solution may not work, but the overall approach to finding a solution very well could. I also somewhat disagree with the notion that systems working in smaller countries cannot work in larger or more diverse countries (esp. regarding free education the US). It may be really, really damn hard, but such is the price of advancement of society.

akjainaj 10y ago
I think "stopping substance abuse" and "free education" are very different problems. The first one is completely social, at least, while the second one has a strong economical component.
DKnoll 10y ago
Calling Iceland even a 'smaller country' seems a bit of a leap, even if it were a city it would still be far from being considered a large one.
- chimeracoder 10y ago
  > Calling Iceland even a 'smaller country' seems a bit of a leap, even if it were a city it would still be far from being considered a large one. Just a few numbers to put in perspective: * Iceland's population (as of 2013) was 323,000. * As of 2015, the US had 58 cities whose population was over 320,000. Combined, these cities account for about 16% of the total population of the US. Though, even that's a bit misleading, because city populations aren't actually as meaningful as metropolitan populations (since city boundaries are arbitrary, and traveling between a city and the adjacent suburbs is easy). Since Iceland is an island, it's more elucidating to compare it to metropolitan areas: * The US has 155 metropolitan areas whose population is larger than the 320,000. Together, these cities account for 74.7% of the US population. So, three-quarters of people living in the United States live in a metropolitan area whose population is greater than that of the entire country of Iceland.
  - mos_basik 10y ago
    That's beautifully put. Thank you.

3 ms·

The exact solution may not work, but the overall approach to finding a solution very well could. I also somewhat disagree with the notion that systems working

by obmelvin 10y ago

akjainaj 10y ago
I think "stopping substance abuse" and "free education" are very different problems. The first one is completely social, at least, while the second one has a strong economical component.
DKnoll 10y ago
Calling Iceland even a 'smaller country' seems a bit of a leap, even if it were a city it would still be far from being considered a large one.
- chimeracoder 10y ago
  > Calling Iceland even a 'smaller country' seems a bit of a leap, even if it were a city it would still be far from being considered a large one. Just a few numbers to put in perspective: * Iceland's population (as of 2013) was 323,000. * As of 2015, the US had 58 cities whose population was over 320,000. Combined, these cities account for about 16% of the total population of the US. Though, even that's a bit misleading, because city populations aren't actually as meaningful as metropolitan populations (since city boundaries are arbitrary, and traveling between a city and the adjacent suburbs is easy). Since Iceland is an island, it's more elucidating to compare it to metropolitan areas: * The US has 155 metropolitan areas whose population is larger than the 320,000. Together, these cities account for 74.7% of the US population. So, three-quarters of people living in the United States live in a metropolitan area whose population is greater than that of the entire country of Iceland.
  - mos_basik 10y ago
    That's beautifully put. Thank you.