Basic sound proofing can make apartments very quiet. We could pass regulations requiring sound proofing

In the US you can be kicked out of your apartment with only 60 days of warning without cause (the owners only have to claim they need it for personal use or some other bs).

That is part of why people hate renting. 60 days isn’t enough time to find a new place, pack everything up, and move all while working 50 hours a week.

The people who have the most wealth and power over the markets are the very same people who bribe / lobby/ donate to politicians to write the zoning laws that contribute to the housing crisis.

Consider this, you are a wealthy property developer. Are you going to lobby the government to do things to bring down the cost of housing? Fuck no. You’re going to do the opposite. The more expensive housing is the more money you make.

People need to realize the US only pretends to be a democracy. We get to pick which individuals get to sell us out to the lobbyists and donors and without fail both parties put on a big show of political theater but then meet with lobbyists in private and sell us out. A democratic republic if only democratic if the elected reps represent the will of the people, which they don’t.

I would even argue that a two party system is deeply undemocratic and that we will never be a real democracy until we adopt a multiparty system, ban super PAC donations, and ban paid lobbyists.

Neither shows a completed city, but with a little imagination you can imagine businesses on the ground floor of the apartments and dense walkable areas connected by light rail or bus. The example on the right has room to build all the stuff people need.

But the urban sprawl development doesn’t have room to build businesses. It would need to destroy another island and build roads for every individual to commute each and every day.

So would you rather have dense, walkable cities that destroy half of nature, or would you rather have urban sprawl which destroys all of nature and then has a housing crisis because it is logistically impossible to build individual houses for 10 billion people?

Let me guess, the walls seemed “paper thin”? That is very easily fixed by basic sound proofing and insulating shared walls. Or by using brick or concrete. I lived in an apartment with 3 other guys that had brick walls and I could scarcely hear anyone. It was amazing.

A good start, but Jesus, why haven’t they planted any trees?

Too true. I would give my right hand to live in Europe rather than the US.

Ugh, this conversation has reminded me of how much I hate that woman is pronounce wo-men and women is pronounced like wimmen.

Why can’t we just spell words as they are pronounced or pronounce words as they are spelled? It would make the language much easier to learn for future generations

Is it not dehumanizing to call veterans psychotic? Seems a bit like kicking someone while they’re down. The military broke them enough, the last things veterans need is to be mocked, dehumanized and treated like creeps.

When I worked in healthcare there were days where I clocked in at 7am and was forced to keep working until 11pm without any lunch or dinner break. Worker rights in the US are almost completely non-existent and the way some workers get treated is hellish

Critical thinking is essentially learning to ask good questions and also caring enough to follow the threads you find.

For example, if mental health is to blame for school shootings then what is causing the mental health crisis and are we ensuring that everyone has affordable access to mental healthcare? Okay, we have a list of factors that adversely impact mental health, what can we do to address each one? Etc.

Critical thinking isn’t hard, it just takes time, effort.

Especially in the US where we have nearly 10x the traffic fatality rate of countries like Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, etc.

I think devil horns would actually make him look less evil. It would distract from the deep void that hid behind his sunken black eyes and reptile smooth head, the void where his humanity and compassion for the safety of others had once been many decades ago.

After reading the title and seeing the black abyss in the eyes of the great-value Voldemort wannabe, I was scared for a moment that someone who was so openly hostile towards the safety of cyclists could win an election. It brings me great relief to know that is not the case.

Late stage capitalism has grown unbelievably short sighted and obtuse: companies cannot see behind their quarterly profits and labor that doesn’t directly grow the wealth disparity is criminally undervalued. Accountants who erode society by finding clever ways to help the rich cheat their tax obligations are showered with wealth while teachers, caretakers, and social workers who are the backbone of civilization are given poverty wage.

I rode my bike instead of driving today. It took twice as long, and the hills kicked my ass, but I felt amazing afterwards. Evem hours later I am still riding the endorphin high. Hearing traffic used to give me anxiety, but I used noise cancelling earbuds so I could listen to an audio book and that made a huge difference

Mind you, living in the Europ I’m pretty happy that at this point in time the impression that people here have of America is pretty low, so people don’t have as much the “I want to be like an American” effect that would otherwise push “American practices” (what people think they are from what they see on TV) here.

For now. Right wing politicians are working tirelessly to make Europe like the US and every election they win will slowly ratchet Europe close to becoming a brain washed consumerist society

Get snow tires. It makes a HUGE difference. There have been so many times that a large pickup was spinning out on a hill of ice while my tiny compact car went past them.

Farmers owning a truck makes sense (although I hate how blocky and dangerous the hoods are), but what about all the tech bros and finance bros who drive giant pickups? I swear half of the men who work white collar jobs and live in the suburbs drive giant pickups and SUVs these days

There are many reasons: marketing propaganda, sexism, insecurity, politics, and selfishness. Americans are seemingly very susceptible to propaganda and marketing has convinced people that the type of products and brands we consume define who we are.

Sexusm. They have tricked us into believing that small cars are feminine and that huge trucks are for manly, rugged, outdoorsy types.

Insecurity. Even if someone realizes that judging people based on what vehicle they drive is stupid, lots of people are very insecure and are worried other people will judge them for driving a small car.

Politics. Leftists advocated for smaller cars because they care about urbanism, pedestrian fatalities, and the environment. In response, conservatives have turned large tank sized vehicles in a conservative political statement.

Selfishness. Engineering can only do so much to cheap physics so bigger / heavier vehicles are a little safer for the passengers of the larger vehicle when crashing into smaller cars but at the cost of the safety of the smaller car. It is far from a 1 to 1 exchange, large vehicles greatly increase the traffic fatality rates, but large pickup owners don’t give a shit about the safety of others. They have no love for their fellow countrymen which means they have no love for their country.