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Another story about the same person and topic that I found insightful: "America is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People" - https://www.ineteconom

by prawn 9y ago

Another story about the same person and topic that I found insightful: "America is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People" - https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/america-is-regressing-into-a-developing-nation-for-most-people https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/america-is-r... I have visited the US most years out of the last 5-10, including a trip through 25ish US states a couple of years ago. It's easy to get the impression that competing interests maintain a problematic or worsening status quo - infrastructure that has to be OK until it collapses because no one wants to prioritise the money to fix it (many roads in California are shocking). A voting system (as mentioned by @kristofferR) that makes it difficult for a viable third party to emerge. Health, education, private prison industries, etc. There are parts of the United States that feel like they are struggling to survive - including areas that are quite eye-opening like Bombay Beach and Wonder Valley. In Australia, we see lobbying groups dictate terms increasingly often too and I don't know that our country is better for it.

tptacek 9y ago
Bombay Beach? Wonder Valley? I had to look both of those places up, and both are places with tiny populations. Can you help me understand why I should be thinking about places like those and not, say, Youngstown Ohio?
- tryitnow 9y ago
  Good question. I had never heard of Bombay Beach but it's a fascinating story: http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/salton-sea http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/salton-sea Having said that, I think it has absolutely nothing to do with the article. Wonder Valley also has an interesting story: https://www.citylab.com/equity/2014/12/the-last-homesteads-of-wonder-valley-california/383372/ https://www.citylab.com/equity/2014/12/the-last-homesteads-o... There's a theme here of Southern California desert wastelands.
- prawn 9y ago
  They were just two that I could easily remember driving through and with easy-to-Google names for anyone who wanted to see. We were driving through 25 states in two months with a couple of toddlers, so details are all over the place. Obviously as a visitor, you are taking in a whole range of things - ruinporn, state of urban areas (footpaths, cleanliness), retail, etc - rather than relying on data.
alexandersingh 9y ago
I don't know about Bombay Beach but I was just in Wonder Valley in January and that town is a unique place with a self-selecting population that values isolation. There are larger towns and cities in the U.S. which more accurately depict the broader economic challenges the country is facing.

by prawn 9y ago

tptacek 9y ago

Bombay Beach? Wonder Valley? I had to look both of those places up, and both are places with tiny populations. Can you help me understand why I should be thinking about places like those and not, say, Youngstown Ohio?

tryitnow 9y ago
Good question. I had never heard of Bombay Beach but it's a fascinating story: http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/salton-sea http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/salton-sea Having said that, I think it has absolutely nothing to do with the article. Wonder Valley also has an interesting story: https://www.citylab.com/equity/2014/12/the-last-homesteads-of-wonder-valley-california/383372/ https://www.citylab.com/equity/2014/12/the-last-homesteads-o... There's a theme here of Southern California desert wastelands.
prawn 9y ago
They were just two that I could easily remember driving through and with easy-to-Google names for anyone who wanted to see. We were driving through 25 states in two months with a couple of toddlers, so details are all over the place. Obviously as a visitor, you are taking in a whole range of things - ruinporn, state of urban areas (footpaths, cleanliness), retail, etc - rather than relying on data.

alexandersingh 9y ago

I don't know about Bombay Beach but I was just in Wonder Valley in January and that town is a unique place with a self-selecting population that values isolation. There are larger towns and cities in the U.S. which more accurately depict the broader economic challenges the country is facing.