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> The key problem the UK is facing is that a load of good investment ideas get announced and then proceed to spend decades drowning in red tape. you just descr

by kmlx 3y ago

> The key problem the UK is facing is that a load of good investment ideas get announced and then proceed to spend decades drowning in red tape. you just described most of the western world :)

permo-w 3y ago
this is a narrative pushed for the sake of vested interests who would rather these things be privately owned democratic governments are perfectly capable of developing new technologies and do so all the time. the issue is the level of investment and public interest, not anything else
- kmlx 3y ago
  no narrative, real world experience + stats. democratic governments are much slower of developing anything because of their bottom-up nature. of course china will build the fastest, most developed railway system in the world when their process is top-down. compare that with california's infamous projects, or even london's crossrail which took 12 years to complete. there is no solution to this problem.
  - tonymillion 3y ago
    12 years for cross rail, considering it’s scope and unique problems tunneling through some of the most developed subterranean land in the world, isn’t a length of time that most of us would consider absurd. For instance check out the precision and work required to pass (and link to) Tottenham court road. As a counterpoint look at the “new” underground Muni line in San Francisco that is a tiny fraction of the length of the cross rail project and hindered traffic and other infrastructure development for 15 years
  - permo-w 3y ago
    does the headline “Waste Disposal Services Efficient Again This Year” make you want to read the newspaper? does it make you feel you need to know more information about a threat to you? perhaps you’re very experienced in working on public projects, but if you aren’t, your experience is likely reading the news or talking to people who’ve read the news. even ignoring the fact that most major news outlets are owned by right-wing corporatists who benefit from this kind of ideology, reporting on the myriad successful public projects that exist just isn’t attention-grabbing profitable news

by kmlx 3y ago

> The key problem the UK is facing is that a load of good investment ideas get announced and then proceed to spend decades drowning in red tape. you just described most of the western world :)

permo-w 3y ago

this is a narrative pushed for the sake of vested interests who would rather these things be privately owned democratic governments are perfectly capable of developing new technologies and do so all the time. the issue is the level of investment and public interest, not anything else

kmlx 3y ago
no narrative, real world experience + stats. democratic governments are much slower of developing anything because of their bottom-up nature. of course china will build the fastest, most developed railway system in the world when their process is top-down. compare that with california's infamous projects, or even london's crossrail which took 12 years to complete. there is no solution to this problem.
- tonymillion 3y ago
  12 years for cross rail, considering it’s scope and unique problems tunneling through some of the most developed subterranean land in the world, isn’t a length of time that most of us would consider absurd. For instance check out the precision and work required to pass (and link to) Tottenham court road. As a counterpoint look at the “new” underground Muni line in San Francisco that is a tiny fraction of the length of the cross rail project and hindered traffic and other infrastructure development for 15 years
- permo-w 3y ago
  does the headline “Waste Disposal Services Efficient Again This Year” make you want to read the newspaper? does it make you feel you need to know more information about a threat to you? perhaps you’re very experienced in working on public projects, but if you aren’t, your experience is likely reading the news or talking to people who’ve read the news. even ignoring the fact that most major news outlets are owned by right-wing corporatists who benefit from this kind of ideology, reporting on the myriad successful public projects that exist just isn’t attention-grabbing profitable news