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The last election I voted in was in 2008, voting in California against this stupid boondoggle-in-the-making. At the time, I lived in the northern third of the s

The last election I voted in was in 2008, voting in California against this stupid boondoggle-in-the-making. At the time, I lived in the northern third of the state which won't even share a line of latitude with a roadmapped high-speed rail line, but I knew my taxes would have to pay and pay and pay for this anyway. But I've since been fortunate to move out of the state so now I get to witness the predictable from afar. I know we are all in love with the idea of high speed rail. I've been to Japan and have ridden the shinkansen alongside Mt Fuji (which is even larger in real life than it looks in pictures), so I definitely get the appeal. But I have zero faith in any state agency to be able to do it sensibly. Get private investors to do it. They will do it affordably, financially sustainably, and safely, and they won't steal money from all the citizens of the state to build something which won't be of use to many of them.

growlist 6y ago
> I definitely get the appeal. But I have zero faith in any state agency to be able to do it sensibly This is how I feel about goverment in general - I want a country that spends enough to look after the less fortunate, but with the administrators' incompetent/thieving/malign hands removed from the till (preferably by slamming it shut on them).
xorcist 6y ago
> Get private investors to do it [...] they won't steal money from all the citizens Yes, that's completely unheard of.
apexalpha 6y ago
>Get private investors to do it. They will do it affordably, financially sustainably, and safely, and they won't steal money from all the citizens of the state to build something which won't be of use to many of them. This is such a weird position to hold. Are Japanese high speed trains build by private investors? Are American interstate highways? Highways are build by the government because they are enablers of society. They don't need to make a profit themselves, they lift society as a whole. Similar with high speed train. It's infrastructure, not an investment portfolio.
- Cyberdog 6y ago
  > Are Japanese high speed trains build by private investors? Early shinkansen lines were built by Japanese National Railways, a state-owned enterprise; currently they are operated by Japan Railways Group, a private company. Certainly there is still a lot of government integration/interference with their operation, but JR won't, for example, build a shinkansen line which they know will never be able to pay for itself. At any rate there is much less of an expectation that large infrastructure projects will be over schedule and over budget and that's just the way things are. > Are American interstate highways? Of course not, and that's why highways are prone to the exact same schedule and budget overruns. > Highways are build by the government because they are enablers of society. Society can operate just fine without government.
  - arethuza 6y ago
    "Society can operate just fine without government." Any examples you could cite to support that assertion?
    - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
      One with Feudal lords, perhaps?
      - arethuza 6y ago
        Didn't feudal societies typically have kings who were the ultimate central power and who, in theory at least, only answered to God?
        ClumsyPilot 6y ago
        But if that's government, then so is having a tribal chief. What is this society without government meant to be,some kind of anarchy-heaven?
    - Cyberdog 6y ago
      Do you want to kill your neighbors and rob the convenience store down the street? If the government were to disappear right now and there were no more government-imposed consequences for doing so, would your answer to this question change? Don't you think most people in society would answer the same way?
Keverw 6y ago
Yeah I been following California's rail project, last I heard they were far behind past deadlines they have to give some money back to the feds. Maybe getting private investors could be the answer, Florida is working on their own rail project of going from Miami to Orlando which seems cool, could fly to the theme park capital of the world for a few days and then take a train to the cruise ship capital of the world. I know people like theme parks but some don't really feel relaxed after running around the parks all day and waiting in lines and stuff haha. So pack your vacation with some action, and then be a lazy at sea for some slower pace. I know Disney sometimes have deals for both a cruise and theme park, but they have the Magical Express bus.

growlist 6y ago

> I definitely get the appeal. But I have zero faith in any state agency to be able to do it sensibly This is how I feel about goverment in general - I want a country that spends enough to look after the less fortunate, but with the administrators' incompetent/thieving/malign hands removed from the till (preferably by slamming it shut on them).

xorcist 6y ago

> Get private investors to do it [...] they won't steal money from all the citizens Yes, that's completely unheard of.

apexalpha 6y ago

>Get private investors to do it. They will do it affordably, financially sustainably, and safely, and they won't steal money from all the citizens of the state to build something which won't be of use to many of them. This is such a weird position to hold. Are Japanese high speed trains build by private investors? Are American interstate highways? Highways are build by the government because they are enablers of society. They don't need to make a profit themselves, they lift society as a whole. Similar with high speed train. It's infrastructure, not an investment portfolio.

Cyberdog 6y ago
> Are Japanese high speed trains build by private investors? Early shinkansen lines were built by Japanese National Railways, a state-owned enterprise; currently they are operated by Japan Railways Group, a private company. Certainly there is still a lot of government integration/interference with their operation, but JR won't, for example, build a shinkansen line which they know will never be able to pay for itself. At any rate there is much less of an expectation that large infrastructure projects will be over schedule and over budget and that's just the way things are. > Are American interstate highways? Of course not, and that's why highways are prone to the exact same schedule and budget overruns. > Highways are build by the government because they are enablers of society. Society can operate just fine without government.
- arethuza 6y ago
  "Society can operate just fine without government." Any examples you could cite to support that assertion?
  - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
    One with Feudal lords, perhaps?
    - arethuza 6y ago
      Didn't feudal societies typically have kings who were the ultimate central power and who, in theory at least, only answered to God?
      - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
        But if that's government, then so is having a tribal chief. What is this society without government meant to be,some kind of anarchy-heaven?
  - Cyberdog 6y ago
    Do you want to kill your neighbors and rob the convenience store down the street? If the government were to disappear right now and there were no more government-imposed consequences for doing so, would your answer to this question change? Don't you think most people in society would answer the same way?

Keverw 6y ago

Yeah I been following California's rail project, last I heard they were far behind past deadlines they have to give some money back to the feds. Maybe getting private investors could be the answer, Florida is working on their own rail project of going from Miami to Orlando which seems cool, could fly to the theme park capital of the world for a few days and then take a train to the cruise ship capital of the world. I know people like theme parks but some don't really feel relaxed after running around the parks all day and waiting in lines and stuff haha. So pack your vacation with some action, and then be a lazy at sea for some slower pace. I know Disney sometimes have deals for both a cruise and theme park, but they have the Magical Express bus.