I'm currently on an Amtrak train between Philadelphia and NYC.
Especially in leafless winter, the sheer uglyness of this swath of in-disrepair America is almost shocking.
Abandoned factories and houses. Lifeless downtowns. Trash along the tracks. Non-sweet graffiti.
Paying people to do nothing when there is so much to be done seems crazy to me. It's not like we have figured out how to solve these problems with AI or robots yet.
I could listen to an argument for paying people to participate in FDR-style public works programs. Building a bicycle lane network. Planting flowerbeds. Demolition and recycling and then re-urbanization or re-forestation of those crumbling factory grounds. And so many more things that would make this a better place to exist.
Especially in leafless winter, the sheer uglyness of this swath of in-disrepair America is almost shocking.
Abandoned factories and houses. Lifeless downtowns. Trash along the tracks. Non-sweet graffiti.
Paying people to do nothing when there is so much to be done seems crazy to me. It's not like we have figured out how to solve these problems with AI or robots yet.
I could listen to an argument for paying people to participate in FDR-style public works programs. Building a bicycle lane network. Planting flowerbeds. Demolition and recycling and then re-urbanization or re-forestation of those crumbling factory grounds. And so many more things that would make this a better place to exist.