So America's culture of individual liberty is why people don't have the freedom to build whatever they want on the land that they own?

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Someone1234 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

American's culture of me, me, me, now, now, now is why.

If it doesn't benefit the individual almost immediately they're strongly opposed.

They want the benefits of strong infrastructure but let someone else build it without inconveniencing ME or costing ME a dime.

It is a culture that teaches greed is good and society should be built around all gain no cost.

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socalgal2 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> They want the benefits of strong infrastructure but let someone else build it without inconveniencing ME or costing ME a dime.

Which is what the Japanese have. private railways

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antonymoose 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

As an American, I always hear all these weird stories about New York and its subway system. All the random busker type nonsense, the petty crime and the “mugger wallet” type jokes. Not to mention the major crimes that make the news.

I’d rather not deal with it? Yes I know roads are dangerous. I’d still rather not deal with the expected culturally imposed insanity that the Japanese curiously seem to lack.

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OneDeuxTriSeiGo 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> All the random busker type nonsense, the petty crime and the “mugger wallet” type jokes.

Most of this is stories. Yeah there are buskers but tbh I like buskers. Music in the public square is a plus not a minus even if it's not my personal preference of music.

Subway crime rates are around 2-4 incidents per million rides. There was a spike during covid and it started to rapidly trend down afterwards. That corresponds with economic desperation during that period pretty cleanly.

But that 2-4 incidents per million rides is roughly comparable to the crime rates at gas stations, etc. The difference is that density is lower so you just see it less often. It happens just about as frequently but you are less likely to witness it because you are less likely to be present when it happens to somebody else at a gas station.

> I’d still rather not deal with the expected culturally imposed insanity that the Japanese curiously seem to lack.

Trust me Japan has just as much of an issue with crime on rail. Arguably they have higher rates but the Japanese police often just don't consider sexual harassment or sexual assault a serious crime and would rather brush it under the rug or otherwise deal with it outside the criminal system to avoid harming the abuser. (ex: an incident that I'm familiar with: "oh we gave the guy who assaulted you on the train your address so they could mail you a hand written apology note instead of charging them with assault")

And the "wacky in your face" crime (intoxicated, mental illness, etc) is still very much an issue in Japan but it's cracked down on by police in places that tourists frequently visit during the day and otherwise everyone just expects it so people who live there don't really mention it to tourists.

I mean hell look at Shibuya Meltdown for some of the more mild "funny" examples.

The only real difference between the NYC metro and the Japanese metro is that it's louder because there's not a social norm to limit talking on the train (until people are drunk ofc). Otherwise it's all the same shit and you see it all when you start commuting.

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mmooss 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> I always hear all these weird stories

The weird stories, about anything, are nonsense; sensationalized to either be emotoinally compelling or even active disinformation to serve some political end (especially about American cities, especially about NYC.)

It's just induced fear. Just go to NY and ride the subway. Millions do all the time without any problems, without a second thought. It's really no problem and amazingly convenient. (Busking is people playing music.)

Of course some crime occurs among millions of people but so do lottery grand prizes and heart attacks. I've been on many subway rides without experiencing one crime or even seeing one, and much other public transit.

And when you do, you'll know what to think of the stories and people who tell them.

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superdisk 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It's extremely common for there to be human shit in the train cars, and lunatics going nuts. It's absolutely nothing like Japan.

	▲	mmooss an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> It's extremely common for there to be human shit in the train cars, and lunatics going nuts Where does that come from? Not from your experience. You've never been on NY subways, clearly. I've never seen feces - and anyway, how could you tell if it's from a dog? Did you examine it? Take it home and test it? It's one of the stories that maybe is slightly plausible, and which yields such strong disgust that rationality is overwhelmed and it makes a sensation - perfectly constructed misinformation or urban myth. Like waking up in a bathtub with a kidney missing. 'Lunatics' is such a loaded (and hateful) word you'll have to specify what you mean, but the occasional person talking to themself is harmless and completely uninterested in you (thus the conversation with themself) - I have never had any problem with such people on public transit or elsewhere. They are the most vulnerable people and compassion is the appropriate response. As I wrote above, the stories are nonsense and it's induced fear.

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4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[deleted]

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hirpslop 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Yes, that’s exactly right. Maximal ‘individual liberty’ is my right to maximize my land’s value. My neighbors either agree to maximize theirs in a way that increases, or doesn’t hinder, mine, or they are my enemy to be litigated to death by my lawyers for damages.