4 ms·

a "noble excuse" like "I don't want the goverment to spend over a third of what it gets in taxes on a massive ponzi scheme"? I'm going to assume you are french

by ondo 9y ago

a "noble excuse" like "I don't want the goverment to spend over a third of what it gets in taxes on a massive ponzi scheme"? I'm going to assume you are french, and invite you to come to Spain, where we have a flamboyant highspeed railroad service in which there's not a single line that covers costs (not even Madrid-Barcelona). And guess what, we keep throwing money to that thing. As for "money not disappearing", you are falling for the "parable of the broken window". Wikipedia has a much better explanation for it. Once you're done with that, I suggest you to look at how 10 years ago Spain redid all it's public walkways (that were mostly ok) to "improve the economy". It was a massive waste of resources.

adamlett 9y ago
[I] invite you to come to Spain, where we have a flamboyant highspeed railroad service in which there's not a single line that covers costs (not even Madrid-Barcelona). And guess what, we keep throwing money to that thing. What if you let go of the notion that public transportation must be profitable? I don't know anything about the railroad service of which you speak, but I find it incredible if the cost of running it is more than the value it creates (although I concede that it's possible in principle). Do you know what else most societies keep throwing taxpayer money at? Roads. Yet you don't find very many people having a hard time accepting that the cost of building roads exceeds the value created by doing so. As for "money not disappearing", you are falling for the "parable of the broken window". I don't know what you mean by this. Wikipedia has a much better explanation for it. I'm sure they do. Once you're done with that I have this principle which is that if you can't or won't make the argument, I'm not going to go elsewhere and read someone else make it for you.

by ondo 9y ago

adamlett 9y ago

[I] invite you to come to Spain, where we have a flamboyant highspeed railroad service in which there's not a single line that covers costs (not even Madrid-Barcelona). And guess what, we keep throwing money to that thing. What if you let go of the notion that public transportation must be profitable? I don't know anything about the railroad service of which you speak, but I find it incredible if the cost of running it is more than the value it creates (although I concede that it's possible in principle). Do you know what else most societies keep throwing taxpayer money at? Roads. Yet you don't find very many people having a hard time accepting that the cost of building roads exceeds the value created by doing so. As for "money not disappearing", you are falling for the "parable of the broken window". I don't know what you mean by this. Wikipedia has a much better explanation for it. I'm sure they do. Once you're done with that I have this principle which is that if you can't or won't make the argument, I'm not going to go elsewhere and read someone else make it for you.