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… blue state Americans are still toxically individualist and anti-social… You’ve got the wrong color unless you think right leaning Americans are even worse th

… blue state Americans are still toxically individualist and anti-social… You’ve got the wrong color unless you think right leaning Americans are even worse than this description. … should give up the delusion that they can build large scale public projects… The highway system is a counterexample.

SideburnsOfDoom 3y ago
> unless you think right leaning Americans are even worse than this description That does seem to be exactly the point. Notice the word "still".
- skhunted 3y ago
  I wasn’t sure becuase it seems to me that if the description applies to Democrats and Republicans then just saying Americans would be a better phrasing (given that a large majority of Americans fall into one of these two camps). Singling out blue states is weird if it also applies to red states.
  - inemesitaffia 3y ago
    The Dems are building the rail, Republicans associated with hyperindividualism
  - SideburnsOfDoom 3y ago
    The point being articulated is that although red states are even worse, blue states are still not good by this measure.
    - skhunted 3y ago
      Thank you for the clarification. I was asking if this is what was meant. I asked it poorly though.
  - rayiner 3y ago
    I’m singling out blue state Americans because their professed desires are inconsistent with their natures. Neither California nor Texas have effective public transit—or a populace that could build such a system. But only California is in denial about it. Indeed, California isn’t very good at being a blue state. Its educational rankings are near the bottom. It doesn’t have universal healthcare. It doesn’t have good transit. Its cities aren’t safe and clean and homeless people aren’t taken care of. California—the beating heart of globalist financial capitalism, with some of the highest income inequality in the country—is much better at being a red state than even Texas.
    - skhunted 3y ago
      Looks like I was right that this was an ideological snipe. The others appear to be wrong. Your take, as usual, is badly wrong. You fail to take into account pertinent facts and draw the wrong conclusion. Here’s one pertinent fact: California subsidizes states like Mississippi. California is also hamstrung by the fact that isn’t its own country. There are limits to what it can do given these two facts.
      - rayiner 3y ago
        > California is also hamstrung by the fact that isn’t its own country. How? All the areas where California falls short—education, transportation, housing, healthcare, etc.—are ones left primarily to the states. For example, state and local governments provide 90% of educational funding, while the federal government provides only 10%. No federal law is stopping California from levying Sweden-like taxes to provide Sweden-like education, transportation, healthcare, and housing services. It’s true that, under our system of progressive taxes, Californians pay a disproportionate share of federal taxes—because they make more money. They pay about 13% of all federal taxes, and get back about 83% of what they pay in federal services. That nets out to about $100 billion net transfer out. But that’s out of an economy of $3.9 trillion. That’s just 2.5% of California’s GDP. That money isn’t what’s standing between California and having high quality social services.
      - rayiner 3y ago
        Also, to be clear, it’s not an ideological snipe. I’d like to live in a blue state with good public transit, universal healthcare, good public education, etc. But blue state Americans aren’t capable of building such a society, because above all they prioritize the individual and the self. I’m simply pointing out that at least red state Americans are honest with themselves.
r14c 3y ago
The historical details of the highway system and the motivations behind it are pretty rough though.
rayiner 3y ago
> You’ve got the wrong color unless you think right leaning Americans are even worse than this description. I think in many cases right leaning Americans are even worse in that regard. (E.g. tatted up Trump supporters and anti-vaxxers.) Orderly traditional conservatives are a minority on the right today.

SideburnsOfDoom 3y ago

> unless you think right leaning Americans are even worse than this description That does seem to be exactly the point. Notice the word "still".

skhunted 3y ago
I wasn’t sure becuase it seems to me that if the description applies to Democrats and Republicans then just saying Americans would be a better phrasing (given that a large majority of Americans fall into one of these two camps). Singling out blue states is weird if it also applies to red states.
- inemesitaffia 3y ago
  The Dems are building the rail, Republicans associated with hyperindividualism
- SideburnsOfDoom 3y ago
  The point being articulated is that although red states are even worse, blue states are still not good by this measure.
  - skhunted 3y ago
    Thank you for the clarification. I was asking if this is what was meant. I asked it poorly though.
- rayiner 3y ago
  I’m singling out blue state Americans because their professed desires are inconsistent with their natures. Neither California nor Texas have effective public transit—or a populace that could build such a system. But only California is in denial about it. Indeed, California isn’t very good at being a blue state. Its educational rankings are near the bottom. It doesn’t have universal healthcare. It doesn’t have good transit. Its cities aren’t safe and clean and homeless people aren’t taken care of. California—the beating heart of globalist financial capitalism, with some of the highest income inequality in the country—is much better at being a red state than even Texas.
  - skhunted 3y ago
    Looks like I was right that this was an ideological snipe. The others appear to be wrong. Your take, as usual, is badly wrong. You fail to take into account pertinent facts and draw the wrong conclusion. Here’s one pertinent fact: California subsidizes states like Mississippi. California is also hamstrung by the fact that isn’t its own country. There are limits to what it can do given these two facts.
    - rayiner 3y ago
      > California is also hamstrung by the fact that isn’t its own country. How? All the areas where California falls short—education, transportation, housing, healthcare, etc.—are ones left primarily to the states. For example, state and local governments provide 90% of educational funding, while the federal government provides only 10%. No federal law is stopping California from levying Sweden-like taxes to provide Sweden-like education, transportation, healthcare, and housing services. It’s true that, under our system of progressive taxes, Californians pay a disproportionate share of federal taxes—because they make more money. They pay about 13% of all federal taxes, and get back about 83% of what they pay in federal services. That nets out to about $100 billion net transfer out. But that’s out of an economy of $3.9 trillion. That’s just 2.5% of California’s GDP. That money isn’t what’s standing between California and having high quality social services.
    - rayiner 3y ago
      Also, to be clear, it’s not an ideological snipe. I’d like to live in a blue state with good public transit, universal healthcare, good public education, etc. But blue state Americans aren’t capable of building such a society, because above all they prioritize the individual and the self. I’m simply pointing out that at least red state Americans are honest with themselves.

r14c 3y ago

The historical details of the highway system and the motivations behind it are pretty rough though.

rayiner 3y ago

> You’ve got the wrong color unless you think right leaning Americans are even worse than this description. I think in many cases right leaning Americans are even worse in that regard. (E.g. tatted up Trump supporters and anti-vaxxers.) Orderly traditional conservatives are a minority on the right today.