5 ms·

We could have that too if our government had unchecked eminent domain power. Is that what we want? Seems to be one or the other.

mcculley 8y ago
I am not convinced that lack of unchecked eminent domain power is the only thing keeping the United States from building modern infrastructure.
- Mizza 8y ago
  I've been on the train that OP is talking about. It's only possible because they built it through the slums, which are essentially in medieval conditions. The train terminates in the region where the people had enough political/actual capital to object to it going through their neighborhood. But it is very, very fast.
  - mcculley 8y ago
    I’m not disputing that other communities benefit from unchecked eminent domain power. I see lots of other problems in the United States more fundamental than land acquisition.
orev 8y ago
Not saying it’s the solution, but giving the government that power might incentivize people to be more involved with local government and demand more accountability. Right now nobody really pays attention to what they are doing.
- marnett 8y ago
  The US government could build out infrastructure if it desired. We did in the past and we could today. It doesn't meet the profit margins that the MIC can.
- jjeaff 8y ago
  Hmm, nobody pays attention... So let's give the government even more power... Maybe that will wake everyone up. And it doesn't really matter how involved you are in local politics. The federal government can already take your land with emminent domain.
marnett 8y ago
The U.S. federal government used unchecked eminent domain power when building out interstate system infrastructure. So this is not really applicable.
snowwrestler 8y ago
U.S. governments basically do have unchecked eminent domain power, see the Kelo Supreme Court decision.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
Varcht 8y ago
Helps to have millions of workers willing to work for pennies a day as well. edit: I guess that is redundant under unchecked eminent domain power.
- baby 8y ago
  you mean waiters in the US?
  - seandoe 8y ago
    Waiters and service industry people have done pretty well in every state I've lived in... minimum wage plus tips would equate to $20-$30/hr or more. But I could see it being tougher in states where the minimum wage is far less for service industry jobs.
    - cannonedhamster 8y ago
      Waiters and some service industries where tips are expected are not paid standard minimum wage typically. They are paid a separate, lower minimum wage which essentially pays the tax and are taxed on income expected even if they don't receive 15% tip.
      - barrow-rider 8y ago
        In VA that was $2.13/hr + tips, with tips to be declared at the end of the shift. Obviously, you could declare lower tips than what you made, but if the customers paid by credit cards then you could get nailed if/when you got audited; cash was a different story. If your hours + declared tips were less than minimum wage then they had to pay you minimum wage. That only happened at one large chain I worked at but not at the local, one-off places. Tips were large enough on weekends that it didn't matter much, or at least not enough to risk your job complaining. The locally run bars I worked at didn't care about tip ratios, but the corporate chains expected you to average 18% tips and would penalize you if you were pulling less than 13% for several weeks -- cuz it either meant you were absolutely terrible at your job, or else you were lying.
simplecomplex 8y ago
Having a political party that wasn’t intent on destroying the government itself would be a start. A president that isn’t a man child too.
ordinaryradical 8y ago
It seems like everyone forgets this when these kind of stories appear. Soft authoritarianism looks impressive in these kind of results, but its means are often ugly if not anathema to Western values. Hitler built the autobahn, a road system that is still enviable to this day—doesn't mean we want the system of governance that guided this project into being. This isn't a necessary dichotomy either, you can invest in infrastructure without being authoritarian. But I think we celebrate China forgetting how some of these projects are greased through the system and carried out.
Redoubts 8y ago
Given how far California has swung in the other direction; yes, yes I do.
coldtea 8y ago
Because good construction projects take "unchecked eminent domain power"? Japan, Korea, EU countries et al seem to make modern train lines and other infrastructure just fine without that. Or how about modernizing the NYC subway for example? No "domain power" needed for that, just political will...
Haga 8y ago
Like in Europe?

mcculley 8y ago

I am not convinced that lack of unchecked eminent domain power is the only thing keeping the United States from building modern infrastructure.

Mizza 8y ago
I've been on the train that OP is talking about. It's only possible because they built it through the slums, which are essentially in medieval conditions. The train terminates in the region where the people had enough political/actual capital to object to it going through their neighborhood. But it is very, very fast.
- mcculley 8y ago
  I’m not disputing that other communities benefit from unchecked eminent domain power. I see lots of other problems in the United States more fundamental than land acquisition.

orev 8y ago

Not saying it’s the solution, but giving the government that power might incentivize people to be more involved with local government and demand more accountability. Right now nobody really pays attention to what they are doing.

marnett 8y ago
The US government could build out infrastructure if it desired. We did in the past and we could today. It doesn't meet the profit margins that the MIC can.
jjeaff 8y ago
Hmm, nobody pays attention... So let's give the government even more power... Maybe that will wake everyone up. And it doesn't really matter how involved you are in local politics. The federal government can already take your land with emminent domain.

marnett 8y ago

The U.S. federal government used unchecked eminent domain power when building out interstate system infrastructure. So this is not really applicable.

snowwrestler 8y ago

U.S. governments basically do have unchecked eminent domain power, see the Kelo Supreme Court decision.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

Varcht 8y ago

Helps to have millions of workers willing to work for pennies a day as well. edit: I guess that is redundant under unchecked eminent domain power.

baby 8y ago
you mean waiters in the US?
- seandoe 8y ago
  Waiters and service industry people have done pretty well in every state I've lived in... minimum wage plus tips would equate to $20-$30/hr or more. But I could see it being tougher in states where the minimum wage is far less for service industry jobs.
  - cannonedhamster 8y ago
    Waiters and some service industries where tips are expected are not paid standard minimum wage typically. They are paid a separate, lower minimum wage which essentially pays the tax and are taxed on income expected even if they don't receive 15% tip.
    - barrow-rider 8y ago
      In VA that was $2.13/hr + tips, with tips to be declared at the end of the shift. Obviously, you could declare lower tips than what you made, but if the customers paid by credit cards then you could get nailed if/when you got audited; cash was a different story. If your hours + declared tips were less than minimum wage then they had to pay you minimum wage. That only happened at one large chain I worked at but not at the local, one-off places. Tips were large enough on weekends that it didn't matter much, or at least not enough to risk your job complaining. The locally run bars I worked at didn't care about tip ratios, but the corporate chains expected you to average 18% tips and would penalize you if you were pulling less than 13% for several weeks -- cuz it either meant you were absolutely terrible at your job, or else you were lying.

simplecomplex 8y ago

Having a political party that wasn’t intent on destroying the government itself would be a start. A president that isn’t a man child too.

ordinaryradical 8y ago

It seems like everyone forgets this when these kind of stories appear. Soft authoritarianism looks impressive in these kind of results, but its means are often ugly if not anathema to Western values. Hitler built the autobahn, a road system that is still enviable to this day—doesn't mean we want the system of governance that guided this project into being. This isn't a necessary dichotomy either, you can invest in infrastructure without being authoritarian. But I think we celebrate China forgetting how some of these projects are greased through the system and carried out.

Redoubts 8y ago

Given how far California has swung in the other direction; yes, yes I do.

coldtea 8y ago

Because good construction projects take "unchecked eminent domain power"? Japan, Korea, EU countries et al seem to make modern train lines and other infrastructure just fine without that. Or how about modernizing the NYC subway for example? No "domain power" needed for that, just political will...

Haga 8y ago

Like in Europe?