LogFAQs > #971116216

Judgmenl posted...

Also the whole fact that many people don't want it.

Which is mostly a product of the aforementioned investment by pro-car lobbyists. Auto industry propaganda and lobbying has shaped American culture and city design to an absolutely absurd degree, hence you get so many people believing that it's impossible to be independent without a car (and city designs that reinforce that). It's also a product of poor existing transit infrastructure: People won't take the bus if taking the bus sucks. Induced demand is a major part of bringing any transit initiative online, and that requires municipalities to seriously invest in it before that demand appears.

Judgmenl posted...

Public transportation is also a huge issue outside of what? 3 metro areas?

Pretty much every urban or suburban area could benefit from having better public transit and city planning that works around that instead of personal cars. Personal cars are hideously inefficient in cities, given how much space they take up and how little actual use they see. Design cities around transit, and you get less space wasted as parking lots (which means more commercial space and more housing space), small businesses thriving because they don't need to worry about people's ability to park, and better traffic for those that do drive. It's more environmentally friendly, it's healthier for everyone (both because they get more exercise and because there's less air/noise pollution), it's safer for everyone (not only are fewer people driving, but those who can't/won't drive safely can have the privilege taken away from them without crippling them, raising average competence)...

But people are too married to cars as status symbols and the myth they've been fed from birth that having one is the only way to be independent, so all of that gets pushed aside in the hopes that this time adding an extra lane will totally fix the traffic problems and not just make traffic worse because of induced demand.

Judgmenl posted...

The issue that I see is that companies see healthcare as a cost center and will get the cheapest garbage plans (the plan I now have from work is terrible) available and promote s*** like HSAs because they are cheaper on the company. I don't think my company offers non-HSA plans anymore (like an HMO or PPO). My knowledge on healthcare is just generally awful so I could be wrong. Also the deductables for these new plans are terrible.

It's more that the lack of a cohesive health care system leaves the medical and pharmaceutical industries free to charge prices that are all but impossible for most people to afford, which insurance companies then exploit by being the only hope anyone has (while also exploiting their greater leverage to negotiate service prices lower than an individual could). Having for-profit middlemen defining the entire health care system is an insanely broken idea through and through.