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But none of that solves the fundamental problem. ie - the cool kids still want to hang out with the cool kids. Where do those losing to income inequality come

But none of that solves the fundamental problem. ie - the cool kids still want to hang out with the cool kids. Where do those losing to income inequality come in? You haven't changed the nature of the jobs. They still require a level of education and training that the people you're not thinking about don't have. Think of it this way, you had a nice party with all of your old friends. Awesome. But how does the lady living in the trailer park, or the guy living in the ghetto start making connections among your friend group? How do they start launching businesses with you guys in the hypothetical urban model that you've put forth? Those answers are not so easy, because they have a lot to do with people. So if you like this model better, then by all means implement it, just don't expect it to help those at the bottom. A little honesty, and an acknowledgement that it's a model that's better only for some group of the people at the top, basically only for their convenience, would be appreciated. Society at large would still have the inequality problems it has now after the changes are made. In fact, the problems would be worse, because right now we're only pushing inner-city people out, under the proposed changes, people in suburban and rural areas would be pushed out too. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

zwayhowder 8y ago
I think I wasn't clear enough. By making transport and movement accessible you can get that mix. I went to high school in a low socio-economic area and most of my school friends (myself included) were parents by 21 or younger. Most still live on the fringes of Sydney and don't get to mix with opportunities. Last night was a mix like that, people like me who were lucky enough to get the opportunities to move up (and driven enough to take them when they appeared) and many who didn't. I was able to offer two people last night referrals to opportunities they wouldn't have otherwise had. All because transport became easier. I'm pretty far left, I think public transport should be free for anyone earning less than lets say $50,000pa, I think that entry to cultural institutions should likewise be free for the same demographic. The idea that some of my high school peers have never seen a play or gone to the museum because the cost is too high upsets me. I have very vivid memories of the anger & shame I felt when my power was cut off because I couldn't pay the bill with a child under 6 months in the house. I couldn't pay the bill because I hadn't received my unemployment benefit that fortnight, because I couldn't afford the $2.50 for a bus into town to hand in my compulsory forms. I didn't have a job because I was still very much in the youthful stage of my life when I thought everyone should accept me for the way I am, instead of to paraphrase George Thorogood, getting a hair cut and getting any job. In the last month I've been binge reading books on closing the gaps such as Richard Florida's new book "The New Urban Crisis", "How Children Succeed" by Paul Tough, "Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends on it" by Ian Leslie and more. I acknowledge there is no silver bullet that makes everything better. But there are a lot of things that could be changed to make things easier. There are also a lot of things we just don't know, and to be sure a lot of unintended consequences for the changes we are trying to make now.

zwayhowder 8y ago

I think I wasn't clear enough. By making transport and movement accessible you can get that mix. I went to high school in a low socio-economic area and most of my school friends (myself included) were parents by 21 or younger. Most still live on the fringes of Sydney and don't get to mix with opportunities. Last night was a mix like that, people like me who were lucky enough to get the opportunities to move up (and driven enough to take them when they appeared) and many who didn't. I was able to offer two people last night referrals to opportunities they wouldn't have otherwise had. All because transport became easier. I'm pretty far left, I think public transport should be free for anyone earning less than lets say $50,000pa, I think that entry to cultural institutions should likewise be free for the same demographic. The idea that some of my high school peers have never seen a play or gone to the museum because the cost is too high upsets me. I have very vivid memories of the anger & shame I felt when my power was cut off because I couldn't pay the bill with a child under 6 months in the house. I couldn't pay the bill because I hadn't received my unemployment benefit that fortnight, because I couldn't afford the $2.50 for a bus into town to hand in my compulsory forms. I didn't have a job because I was still very much in the youthful stage of my life when I thought everyone should accept me for the way I am, instead of to paraphrase George Thorogood, getting a hair cut and getting any job. In the last month I've been binge reading books on closing the gaps such as Richard Florida's new book "The New Urban Crisis", "How Children Succeed" by Paul Tough, "Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends on it" by Ian Leslie and more. I acknowledge there is no silver bullet that makes everything better. But there are a lot of things that could be changed to make things easier. There are also a lot of things we just don't know, and to be sure a lot of unintended consequences for the changes we are trying to make now.