- The world produces far more food than necessary to feed everyone. The fact Americans are rich enough to e.g. let a pack of strawberries rot in the fridge is

- The world produces far more food than necessary to feed everyone. The fact Americans are rich enough to e.g. let a pack of strawberries rot in the fridge is not a huge moral failing. Hunger is a political problem, not a logistics problem. America donates more than any other country in the world, not just in absolute terms but a per capita basis. - We wouldn’t understand the economics of externalities without freedom of thought and expression necessary to cultivate vibrant academic life. China is on a trajectory to become the #1 environmental polluter on a per capita basis. No, it’s not because America outsources industrial production to China. China also severely overfishes. Bad economic decisions and neglect of externalities are not exclusive to democracy. - China’s capacity and political will to build infrastructure is impressive. (Though plenty of countries like Norway also do that.) The problem with the authoritarian style of unchecked decision making is that they built far, far too much HSR. Without any cost/benefit analysis, they’ve ended up with a huge maintenance burden and many lines that are rarely used money pits. https://youtu.be/ITvXlax4ZXk https://youtu.be/ITvXlax4ZXk American governance does suffer from a culture of adversarial legalism, and an excess of citizen voice. That includes NIMBYism, environmental review, multiple conflicting layers of government, and other features that give small groups the ability to mount challenges to or veto beneficial projects. https://www.vox.com/22534714/rail-roads-infrastructure-costs-america https://www.vox.com/22534714/rail-roads-infrastructure-costs...