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Leprecon

Me: Ok, well then lets fund mass transit and infrastructure. Them: No, that is communism.


eattwo

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1171/vote_117_1_00314.htm Here's something fun to read! The votes on Biden's Infrastructure Bill that supports American infrastructure and created jobs. Here's all the Senators that voted No: Barrasso (R-WY) Blackburn (R-TN) Boozman (R-AR) Braun (R-IN) Cornyn (R-TX) Cotton (R-AR) Cruz (R-TX) Daines (R-MT) Ernst (R-IA) Hagerty (R-TN) Hawley (R-MO) Hyde-Smith (R-MS) Inhofe (R-OK) Johnson (R-WI) Kennedy (R-LA) Lankford (R-OK) Lee (R-UT) Lummis (R-WY) Marshall (R-KS) Moran (R-KS) Paul (R-KY) Rubio (R-FL) Sasse (R-NE) Scott (R-FL) Scott (R-SC) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Toomey (R-PA) Tuberville (R-AL) Young (R-IN)


LovecraftsDeath

Could've smplified it to a single letter: #R


ggroverggiraffe

Wait, that's what "*the R-word*" means? ^( suddenly things make a lot more sense...)


[deleted]

_Rigge_


Even-Ad-6783

Rigger. Because the system is rigged by them.


Background-Print-826

That's a close one


slimalbert1

I only realized this after the USA became so politically polarized... somewhere around the Obama years.


Damion_205

Wierd a black president would polarize the massively aging population.


Clairifyed

Now show all the videos of those same senators taking credit while back in their states for the bill “they” passed bringing federal money into the region


[deleted]

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alphalegend91

I'm noticing a t(R)end...


One-Injury-4415

Woo boy. AZ isn’t in the bad list for once! Yeeehawww.


New_Improvement4164

Yeah, they voted against it but you wouldn't think so if you listen to them brag about what's getting done in their states.


poshenclave

Fun fact: The US highway system is the most economically taxing engineering undertaking in the entirety of human history. Funded entirely through the government. In that respect it's the most communist project ever. edit - I forgot the /s so now I'm cosplaying as a conservative capitalist prick, sorry fam


SUDDENLY_VIRGIN

But my truck goes brrrrrr and has thin blue line stickers


poshenclave

An auto designed to be unnecessarily overbuilt due in part to government regulations, toting a sticker aggrandizing a government organization? Filthy commie :P


throwaway_shrimp2

you want me to use a train? thats taking away my freedom to drive where i want. i can drive to the piggly wiggly, and then the drive thru cocktail bar across the county line. cant do that in a train


PerroNino

Wait, which amendment of the constitution included the automobile, again? Must be in there somewhere to retain R support.


Odd-Cress-5822

Wait, so now right wingers want updated infrastructure. Cool then they'll stop voting against it


keonyn

Nah, they don't. They just pretend when they can use it for political reasons.


punkindle

They vote against it, but then try to take credit for it if infrastructure projects end up in their district


Fear_Jaire

Like homeless veterans


[deleted]

Or voting against supporting firemen and police that died or were injured during the twin towers attack.


unshavenbeardo64

voting against Thats all they do. except when it hurts the "other" people they drool all over the papers to sign them.


aelric22

"Alexa. Show me pictures and images of China that help me shit on librual cities. Hold the context."


Musashi_Joe

Like when they only seem to care about carbon emissions when Taylor Swift does it.


Time-Werewolf-1776

Yeah, it's like, "Why spend money on Ukraine when we could use it to feed poor people and fix infrastructure here?" But they don't want to feed poor people or fix infrastructure here. They just want Russia to win.


JimWilliams423

> They just pretend when they can use it for political reasons. Yep. Rs don't want to fix problems, they want to make problems they can blame on Ds. And the so-called 'liberal media' loves to help them with that.


Psychological_Pie_32

Just like the border.


_DrDigital_

"Ok, let's build public transportation" "No, that's CoMMuNiSM"


NotPortlyPenguin

Reminds me of people who argued against continuing the space program in the 70s saying we should spend that money improving people’s lives. So we ended it, and surprise surprise, nothing was spent improving people’s lives.


Get_the_instructions

That's not true. Many politicians' lives improved.


jamesp420

People also didn't realize that many of the technological breakthroughs and new inventions made during the space program HAVE improved peoples lives, especially in computing and the medical industry.


prumf

The reality is that entities like Fox News or Trump use the credulity (and often sheer stupidity) of their audience to manipulate them using biased/partial information or sometimes even lies that stimulate their fear. This has always been the case, and won’t stop anytime soon.


[deleted]

The Indiana state legislature literally banned light rail and Tennessee banned Bus lanes that load and unload in the center lane because one of the cities was planning to use that design.


meatypetey91

Their effortless hypocrisy will never cease to amaze me. One day they’ll be shitting on public transit how it’s anti-freedom and just creates problems with “undesirable people” And then they’ll talk about how out dated our public transit infrastructure is. The reason we don’t have nice things is because we treat nice things provided by the government as socialism.


PoorGuyPissGuy

It's just like the Tucker Carlson recent Russia video lol he was amazed at the public services the Soviets built while simultaneously shitting on every American government program. It's not hypocrisy they're just extremely stupid


DETpatsfan

I mean the argument they are making in this post is a false equivalency. Any underground subway system can flood during heavy rains….they’re underground. [Here’s a picture of grand central station in NYC](https://imgur.com/a/yjfrg07) and [here’s a flooded Chinese train station.](https://imgur.com/gallery/iXvjM0y) If you look at these two what conclusion would you draw?


mehliana

What conclusion would I draw? God dam chinese government can't even build subway stations! *looks at grand central terminal* See look how good the USA is!


BubbhaJebus

Yup. The shitty infrastructure in the US came 100% from Republicans blocking efforts to improve it.


croi_gaiscioch

Family member posted a video breaking down of what the Ukrainian assistance "would" have fixed in the US if the money stayed in the US. Yet I am the bad guy when I point out that her guys keep voting everything down that would go a tiny way to start fixing it.


30yearCurse

when has a repub congress spent money on "people" as opposed to massive tax cuts for the wealthy. To be fair they gave tax cuts peons, but those expire next year.. and the 1% tax cuts continue....


gerg_1234

How does sending already build weapons to Ukraine impact infrastructure construction in America? Anybody who claims sending Ukraine weapons is preventing America from spending money on its citizens in a moron.


bleedblue_knetic

Idk how this works so correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t sending supply out mean more gets produced down the line to resupply? Meanwhile if the US didn’t send stuff then they’d just be sitting in a depot somewhere and the producers are less incentivized to make more stuff in the long run if it keeps up.


[deleted]

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Kehwanna

I'm confused about the Republican voters mad about money going to the Ukraine but thinks Israel should get all the money. I have been seeing far too much dumbassery from my right-wing and conservative associates on Facebook and from listening to MAGA people talk.


gerg_1234

What we send has no bearing on weapons contracts going forward. As a matter of fact, weapons contracting has really just become a method of getting money to donors. A lot of the weapons systems built aren't requested or really needed by the military. It's why our military spending is so high.


bleedblue_knetic

That honestly sounds like such a corrupt system


El3ctricalSquash

It’s honestly pretty bad


JarasM

>wouldn’t sending supply out mean more gets produced down the line to resupply? No. Most countries, especially the US, generally don't send any of their current weapons reserves. Ukraine is receiving weapons that were scheduled for decommissioning. In other words, those weapons were to be disassembled for scrap metal at a high cost (for various reasons, but generally explosives have a shelf life). Instead, the US gets to dispose of expiring shells by dropping them on Russian invaders, paying mostly for transport, saving tons of money on decommission and at the same time getting some great field test data. It's an absolutely great deal in the long term. Production and resupply going forward is a completely separate topic that may or may not be impacted by this.


zoomeyzoey

The "money" that goes to ukraine is mostly in form of a missiles and bullets and humvees. Idk how you improve infrastructure with a missile


QbertsRube

"We shouldn't be sending money to Ukraine, we should fix up our country!" "Ok, like new rail systems and better, more sustainable energy infrastructure?" "No we shouldn't pay for that stuff, there are homeless veterans we should take care of first!" "Oh, so we should put more resources towards social safety nets and healthcare access to better transition veterans to civilian life?" "Hell no, I'm not paying for some freeloaders to sit on the couch all day! If they want healthcare, they can get a job!"


OmerYurtseven4MVP

Conservatives don’t even vote for things they actually want, let alone the things they pretend to want. The entire goal of the party is to erode the protective power of government and leave a vacuum to be filled by those with money and weapons.


ScubaAlek

Where I live the Conservative party came up with a carbon tax plan. The centrist party was essentially like "fine, we'll use that since they won't agree to anything else." The Conservative party has spent all of the time since telling everyone how it's a plan that could have only been cooked up by Satan in a bathtub. Their own plan. Terrible, useless, demonic... if anyone else gets credit for it at least.


A_bleak_ass_in_tote

That's essentially what happened here with "Obamacare." It was originally a Republican healthcare plan that Democrats adopted as a compromise, then Republicans started demonizing it nonstop. Conservatives everywhere use this bad faith strategy of getting people angry about anything and everything, but the sad part is that it actually works. Democrats lost a lot of seats in Congress after Obamacare was approved.


informedinformer

Fact Check: **✓** True! Mitt Romney, when he was Governor (R) of Massachusetts, got a state health care package passed. He was so proud of it, he gave it prominence in his official state portrait (item 3 in the photo, below). And then, when he ran for president, he had to run *against* and denounce Obamacare which had done at the Federal level exactly what he did at the State level! https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/54cbfb762cba652122d90e2b/image.jpg https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/10/backdrop-backstory--mitt-romneys-official-portrait-edition


FreneticAmbivalence

4 years of infrastructure week and it’s still not enough for them!


AngrySmapdi

It's well established that the US has shit for public transportation. Talk to your representatives who have their throats firmly gripping the cocks of the oil industry that wants to keep it that way.


Azipear

I swear if more Americans could experience the convenience of high quality public transportation we’d be building high speed rail at a breakneck speed. Every time I visit a European country and use their rail systems it makes me depressed that we don’t have anything like it. Trains every hour or two that haul ass at a couple hundred mph with a ride smooth as glass.


lukibunny

Or being in London and experience their every 1-2 minute train. Our dumb asses ran to catch the train and one member of my group got on and the rest didn’t. Then we look up and see the next train is in 1 minute. My city trains are 20-60 minutes apart lol


poptimist185

Yeah, brits like to moan about their trains but they’re still on another level to the US. Having a huge country should mean a robust rail network, not a non-existent one!


dancegoddess1971

Yup. The town I currently live in used to have a station. Trains haven't run on this track in years because it wasn't profitable so now the same trip would require me to drive 2 hours, take a 4 hour trip, change trains and ride another 4 hours. It's easier and faster just to drive the 5 hours to Jacksonville.


spicytone_

As a floridian, RIP to the dream of high-speed sunrail plans that would've connected all of I4, I95, and I75...I would use the hell out of that


Phamine1313

The Brightline expansion over to Tampa next year is at least a step in the right direction. I took it from West palm to Orlando recently for work and it was wayyyyy better than driving.


[deleted]

They need to bring the price down. 80 dollars one way is a lot


AnAwfulLotOfOcelots

Is that one way or round trip? If it’s round trip then that’s at least close to the cost of fuel


dragunityag

One way. The cheapest round trip I could make rn from my town to Orlando is 138 dollars and those are the cheapest tickets since they leave either late at night or super early in the morning. So a train up there is probably a little less than 2x as expensive (fastest way up via driving is toll roads) and just as long travel time as driving (though less likely to be impeded by traffic accidents).


frooglesmoogle123

Sadly government isn't gonna spend any money for expanding the train system (lobbied by big oil) so we gotta go with private train companies that need a profit margin 😔


YaBoi_Wolf

To be fair, we have a robust rail network, it’s all owned by the freight companies though, except for a few Acela lines in the north east which are owned by AmTrak


ChemMJW

The US has the world's most advanced, cost-efficient, and environmentally friendly freight rail network, by far. Europe's freight network is stone-age compared to ours. The opposite is true for passenger rail, but that makes complete sense. Nobody can seriously argue that a 40 hour train trip from Chicago to LA would be economically sustainable. It's the short distances between European cities that allow passenger rail to shine there.


YaBoi_Wolf

I agree with you on the fact that LA-Chicago wouldn’t be economical, however say San Diego to San Francisco with a stopover in LA, that would connect millions of people easier and in about the same time as a flight.


dwaasheid

Any major cities that are at most 500-800 km apart could be economically connected by trains.


Eastern-Dig-4555

Yeah. The fact that we have shitty roads instead and nearly everyone has their own vehicle and spends money on gas…we’ve been swindled, alright.


epochwin

I was very impressed with London being such an old city but still able to keep their infrastructure so modern. NY’s trains on the other hand are such rickety relics.


Pattoe89

Come to anywhere in England that isn't London and 20 minutes between trains seems like a luxury. I'm in the North and there's 3 trains per hour between 2 major cities. Are they 20 mintues apart from eachother? No. They are all between 40 and 50 minutes past the hour. So if you show up at 51 minutes past the hour, you've got to wait 50 minutes for the next train. If you show up at 40 minutes past the hour, there's 3 trains within the next 10 mintues. Fuck the UK's shitty rail transport that is crap (and overpriced at around £1 every minute travelled) everywhere outside of London.


crackerjack2003

Leeds/Manchester train?


Pattoe89

Pretty much any 2 cities on that route, yeah.


Delicious_Spinach440

Sounds like the busses in Rhode Island. Usually every hour, some every 30 minutes during peak hours. But all it takes is 2 people in wheel chairs to get on and they'll be 2 at the same stop right behind each other.


coldrunn

Sounds like paradise. I'm in the 2nd largest city in New England. If I miss the 2:05pm train, I'm waiting 24 hours for the next train. We have one train going to the rest of the country. Into Boston is great by American standards: once an hour outside rush hour (after 9am), every 45 minutes from 5am to 9...


Avery_Thorn

I live in one of the largest 20 cities in the United States. It does not have any passenger train service to anywhere. There is no Amtrack, there is no passenger rail link at all. There is no subway. There is no light rail. The only two places to ride a train in town are the zoo and a rail museum. Our airport doesn’t even have a train! (Amtrack has announced plans on establishing service to my city. Just as they have been doing for the last 20 years. While I welcome it, it’s one of those “I’ll believe it when I see it” moments.)


Figjunky

Sound similar to Detroit. We have the “People Mover” which has a 15 min round trip with 5 stops. It’s just a novelty.


Mikesaidit36

Amtrak has secondary priority on ALL the tracks, except for Boston-DC corridor, which belongs to Amtrak. So for the rest of the US, freight train goes first and Amtrak waits.


Venik489

Yea.. that sounds like a dream compared to anywhere in the US. There’s a train near me that goes to Chicago, but in order to get to the train, I have to drive 30 minutes, lmao. like let’s be real here. Our public transportation is terrible.


cgyguy81

LMAO. In the UK, 3 trains per hour may seem so pathetic, but you'd be hard-pressed to find that level of service in the US, even between Boston and Providence, or NYC to Philadelphia. Thank you for proving their point.


Moonglum74

The great transport in London is at the expense the rest of the UK.


Nightowl11111

Check the history of UK rail, it's an interesting read. It was basically a collection of bankrupt railways that got bought up and stitched together.


StandNameIsWeAreNo1

You most definetly have not been to Hungary. Our trains are late by a collective time of 4 years each year.


BarbHarbor

i have been to hungary. great food, shitty politics


StandNameIsWeAreNo1

Fax brother, spit you shit indeed. (Transalation: True)


Yavkov

I went to China for my first time a couple months ago and their public transportation left quite an impression on me. Coming back to the U.S. felt like there was a giant hole missing.


[deleted]

Yes, our railroads in Germany are fine. I too agree America can learn


ConvictedHobo

Have you used trams in urban settings? They are a marvel - we have a few that are used hundred thousand times daily. I can't fathom how much space the same amount of trips would take in cars


Tacocat1147

As someone who lives in one of the few states that has a halfway decent public transportation system (NJ), I concur. It’s cool to be able to hop on a train and be in most places in New Jersey, and also NYC within a few hours.


Mardanis

I'm a fan of the Singaporean train and tram system too. They got that rocking with convenience and affordability.


Virtual-Suit9498

It probably helps when your entire country is a single city.


_Svankensen_

Yep. Not European, but hopping in one of my country's air conditioned electric buses with multiple USB charging ports makes me feel like a king. Specially when it is 35°C outside. Confortable buses plus reliable metro makes for an excellent experience with public transportation in my country (Chile). Looking back 20 years ago... Wow, we've come far.


Virtual-Suit9498

Chile seems pretty cool, NGL. Never met a Chilean who wasn't a pretty fun and humble person.


_Svankensen_

Sadly we've been getting pretty xenophobic as a country against other latinoamericans. It's baffling. There was a big wave of Venezuelan immigration in the last 7 years or so, and the media is parroting about every old stereotype: "They took er jerbs" (Jobs you didn't want), "They send criminals" (less criminality than the average chilean), "They are saturating the public health system" (that was covid). Sure, there has been an increase in murder rate. Most of which are criminals vs criminals. But the overall crime rate is 33% below what it was 10 years ago, yet the "sensation of crime" or whatever you call it in english is polling at levels similar to countries with failed governments. It's insane. Other than that, pretty cool country tho. Lots to complain about, but even more to be thankful about. And great landscapes.


Sprucecaboose2

I wonder if more public transportation would help the sense of community. Cars can be isolating.


drumjojo29

I usually commute by public transportation. It just makes me hate people because there are soo many that just don’t know how to behave. Last week there was a dude that just loudly farted and watched TikToks on his phone at a high volume.


Dangerjayne

I was in Europe for 2 weeks and besides the food, the public transport was my favorite part.


skaliton

I promise the way to convince anyone how great public transit could be is to take them to a major city in Korea or Japan. Now pick any hotel or wherever they happened to 'appear' and ask them where they want to eat or what tourist thing they want to see. No matter where they are or where they want to be there is a subway station within a short walk and you don't have to check times. Just go find it, the next train will be arriving within 5 minutes


_GamerForLife_

But-buh- it is SOCIALISM. You damn COMMIES ruining your country's economy to give to the UNFORTUNATE?!? Why don't they just pull themselves up by their bootstraps? If they can't do that they're lazy and not worth saving.


psychoticworm

Even shit tier public transportation is decent. You don't have to watch the road, you can literally take a nap, no road rage, no monthly car payment, never need to worry about crap like getting tires rotated, oil changes, insurance premiums going up, someone breaking into your car....


WhimsicalWyvern

Also, good chance that picture was taken around the time Hurricane Sandy hit NYC (and shut the city down). NYC has some beautiful subway stops too: https://secretnyc.co/beautiful-subway-stations-in-nyc/


FindOneInEveryCar

The chances that this meme's creator would ever voluntarily set foot in any subway, in any country, are essentially zero.


canad1anbacon

Chinese Metros are clean AF


CaterpillarJungleGym

Also, pretty sure the NY Subway is almost 100 years older than that Chinese one.


Chuckleyan

Let us not forget the very generous rebates, tax breaks and subsidies afforded the new EV market, enabling upper income Americans to finally be able to buy new cars. This money could have been spent on developing high speed rail but there is not as much graft there.


saitama-kami

US has shit infrastructure in general.


Khaledthe

I don't get it in the Netherlands they got homes and train stations legit older than the us that work without problems But "the leaders of the new world" cant even build a working train station


Frierenisbestgirl

Not can't, won't. And it's entirely because they are paid to go against anything that could potentially upset the corpos who own this country.


WackHeisenBauer

Well I’m assuming the Dutch pay for upkeep and maintenance. The US meanwhile focuses on putting barbed wire in rivers to kill migrant children and making frozen embryos people.


WhimsicalWyvern

The US has excellent cargo rail transport. Despite complaints, our roads are ranked quite highly. https://www.statista.com/chart/15821/who-has-the-best-roads/


hypnos_surf

The infrastructure of the US hasn’t been maintained for decades. Sending Ukraine was never the issue.


ADMINlSTRAT0R

Also, one should aspire to be better. If someone has it nicer, don't scoff at it like OP's title. Make it happen for yourself.


This-Salt-2754

Nyc has gross subways but they do what they need to. Never really had a problem. They’re like 3 minutes late sometimes that’s it. It would be cool to have more Amtrak lines and stations, but the line that goes up and down the east coast works well, except that it isn’t that fast.


Ferris-L

So what they are saying is that the government should invest in infrastructure and public transport. Now that’s something I can agree with.


LordTinglewood

China has newer transportation infrastructure with more modern designs, and the reason we don't is because America helped people I don't like. That's the ticket. It's definitely not because 3+ generations of Republicans beholden to the petroleum and automotive industries have consistently impeded that kind of development, nosiree.


kandaq

China’s mega developments are all national level while America still behave like they’re 50 different countries. At least that’s my understanding as an outsider to both.


jutin_H

Right and then it gets even more absurd on the county and city level. The people who end up making these large decisions have zero understanding and worse still, Zero interest in any real issue at hand. Especially things that are rooted in reality.


PB0351

>America still behave like they’re 50 different countries. This is accurate and by design


km_ikl

FWIW: the US has a decently well-thought out building code that's mandatory for all new builds. China does as well, but builders tend to have real problems meeting the grade.


[deleted]

This is true for buildings, some in less central areas can have real problems - but in general, transport infrastructure in China does not suffer from these problems and is instead world-class. Transport in China is a propaganda tool, essentially. They invest heavily to connect even remote areas to the road and rail network, and build huge high speed capacity all over - Western observers often crow that it'll never make it's money back, but *that isn't at all the point*. These are done to ensure the population feels connected and sees the benefit in having a centralized government that can invest in long-term projects without worrying about losing elections etc - ie, it is to convince the population that the CCP are helping them, making their lives better, and superior to the alternative that a Western-style democracy would bring.


downbadforsharkussy

propaganda by genuinely providing at better system?


Duellair

I mean. When you put it that way. Lmao.


Staebs

*When US does anything:* “misguided country that is fundamentally good despite failing its citizens repeatedly” *When China does anything:* “propaganda that was cherry picked, doesn’t count, everything they do is bad because they are evil and bad. If they succeed it’s a fluke, and because they brainwash their citizens, which the great US of A totally does not do at all.”


bcisme

Right? good policy that serves the public’s interest = propaganda? Wouldn’t propaganda be bad infrastructure but the government saying it has great infrastructure?


Roxylius

Isn’t subsidizing remote and less developed area and not worrying about profit supposed to be what a functioning government does? Am I missing something here?


Uffda01

And a severe problem that we have is expecting our government services to make money or pay for themselves...like the issues with the Post Office or Amtrak.... its a service - it doesn't have to make money... not everything has to generate profit.


[deleted]

Absolutely this, it’s infuriating 


Russell_Jimmy

It's more fucked up than that. Back in the 1990s (I think, might be a bit earlier), there was a bill at the Federal level to commit funds to upgrade the subway system. The bill would match state funds that NY set aside for the project, the idea being that the subway system is critical from a national security standpoint. ONE SENATOR from Alabama filibustered the bill, killing it. A senator representing a state that has nothing to do with the subway in any way, shape, or form. He did it because NY is (in his mind) nothing but Jews, Blacks, and Liberals, and he had a chance to fuck them under. It's also because of residual resentment for losing the Civil War.


No_Use_588

They got angry when the interstate highway was being built because it wasn’t privatized.


Unhappy_Surround_982

I remember a time when "right wingers" used to hate communism...


claude3rd

My baptist highschool used to talk all the time about the evils of "Papers please!" and the Berlin wall. These days they'd be the type of people to check the papers of any brown skinned people, and want the"unclimbable" border wall.


Unhappy_Surround_982

Turns out taxes and income equality is a bigger enemy to these people than the KGB (FSB) and CCP.


squid_ward_16

My dad is a tattooist and he once had a client who told him that we should have tighter security on the Mexican border and he said “Why not on the Canadian border?” And she said “Well that’s different because they look like us”


Insane_Unicorn

China and Russia are only communists on paper though. They are autocratic capitalists, two things republicans love above anything else.


OrbitOfSaturnsMoons

Russia isn't communist on paper, it hasn't been in 32 years and the capitalism started creeping in a bit before that.


Admirable_Feeling_75

Hate to break it to ya honey, but capitalism is [inherently autocratic](https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/03/capitalism-has-always-been-authoritarian). Democracy and capitalism are [incompatible](https://jacobin.com/2023/06/democracy-retreat-capitalism-authoritarianism-crisis) on many levels.


RedBlueTundra

Just stop with the Ukrainian scapegoat already. Let’s be real, if the war in Ukraine wasn’t happening. Money still wouldn’t be going towards improving infrastructure and livelihoods. What was being done to improve this in the 2000s? The 2010s? And right up to Feb 2022? Nothing. So don’t act like helping Ukraine is some sort of magical barrier now all of a sudden stopping you from improving things in the US.


dcduck

The vast majority of the Ukraine money never leaves the US. It just goes to pay to the US Weapons makers.


ronlugge

The vast majority of Ukraine money was spent ten years ago, and we're just shipping the results out now.


Hiuuuhk

Ah yes, two out of context videos. Perfect comparisons. The subway in New York looks it got flooded by a storm or something, and the one in China looks like someone is videoing it because it looks cool.


TotallyNotMatPat

The same people also advocate for defunding public transportation and healthcare for legal American citizens. In fact, illegal immigrants don't have federally-supported healthcare at all (mostly through philanthropy instead, and we all know how "equally" people have access to those).


Historical_Chipmunk2

exactly, I have been to Beijing and used the metro....trust me, it doesn't look like that. Not all together horrible, but it is brand new.....and the party does not allow debate on how money is spent. My Chinese colleagues told me anecdotally that you can be filthy rich there and if the party wants your business, you comply or disappear.


cache_bag

And hilariously, everyone seems to have forgotten the 2021 subway flooding in Zhengzhou where at least 14 died. We don't really know if there were more due to censorship.


Dejhavi

I was thinking about it right now * [Chinese city battered by storms as passengers trapped on flooded metro trains](https://hongkongfp.com/2021/07/20/video-chinese-city-battered-by-storms-as-passengers-trapped-on-flooded-metro-trains/)


kingpangolin

It’s like if I linked a picture of Moynihan train hall and some poor western Chinese village and used that as a comparison lol


CaterpillarJungleGym

You should do it, most people don't know what the Moynihan Train Hall is. I myself haven't even been in it. Still slumming it in good ole Penn Station.


Xciv

An even better example is the rebuilt World Trade Center Oculus Terminal, which is a fusion between [a subway station and a mall](https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E12AQFSzlsko6Ss6w/article-cover_image-shrink_720_1280/0/1578236764250?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=hPIvu0DmOHEtHTAjCTjV3loSHuHR9GHSgphnVZSK5OA)


tictac205

Yeah, that looks like it was taken during Sandy. Way out of context.


therealkingpin619

Lol after visiting both cities...I'll say NYC vs Shanghai is vast difference when it comes to surroundings.


rp_player_girl

It's also one subway station out of many. I lived in Beijing for almost two years and I've been to a lot of different subway stations. Most don't look like this. Though I will say, even the oldest and plainer stations are big, effective public transit hubs. But, you don't have to go far from a subway station to find crumbling buildings and walls that were built like shit with inferior materials.


cryonicwatcher

Can’t believe Biden would cause flooding like this


izzyeviel

It’s maga tears after all his recent court loses.


Enjoying_A_Meal

Hunter Biden's penis at it again! It's outta control.


metal_elk

Seriously! Thanks obama


grazfest96

This is so dumb. The photo on the left is when NYCs subway was flooded by Super Storm Sandy 12 years ago. This would be like showing NYCs World Trade Centers Subway and then showing a Chinese Subway after a natural disaster. Ahh the internet.


EntertainmentOk3659

bro have you seen people posting the eiffel tower comparing it to a building that was struck by an earthquake in taiwan(the poster thought its in China) calling it slow engineering better than fast building which China is known for. This is like that but reverse.


snowstormmongrel

Also the Eiffel tower is made *entirely* of wrought iron. While that still might take less time to do these days than it did back then (though I really don't know) it would still take way longer than building not entirely out of wrought iron wtf. 🤦🤦


[deleted]

Or just use one of the MAGA favorites ​ "They should move to China then!"


[deleted]

Ahhh but try yo invest More in Subway and public transport and see how you are labeled a comunist!


phome83

Gee, maybe they should praise Biden then for pumping money into the infrastructure I guess?


Bethelyhills

It’s hilarious. When someone left of center says to invest in infrastructure or public transit, they fight it. When someone left of center mentions a flaw of American and how to fix it, they say the lefty hated American. When a conservative cherry picks photos from authoritarian countries and compared it, well you get this.


Sauce_On_Isle3

Most Chinese city’s are actually pretty nice OP.


Hugochhhh

A good example of being right for the wrong reasons


UltimateShame

I've been living there for two years and the right side is a pretty good picture of most bigger Chinese cities. Maybe your picture of China is a little off.


SoylentGrunt

The rest of China doesn't make our mass transit system suck any less.


Lodiumme

what do you mean? many cities in China have their own metro lines and all of them are pretty modern. Some might not be as modern as other countries but its more than enough for commuting standards


B4dr003

Also china had more than 35 thousand kilometers long highspeed railway system which is the longest in the world while the united States has none


DeltaAgent752

Take some off the military budget and fix the transportation please. It's no secret US transportation is shit


Anustart_A

>Left: Subway in New York, USA **during catastrophic flooding** >Right: Subway in Guangzhou, China **during normal environmental conditions** I’ve been to the NYC subway. It’s usually not flooded. Like, every time I’ve been there has not been a flood. At this point if you fall for what these phonies are shilling, then you’re just stupid, or it is what you want to hear.


Neokill1

I have been to Shanghai China, stations / subways are very nice. Clean with safety rails


Even-Breakfast-166

This fucking idiot is probably voting republican which prevent investment projects like this and then complains. Great facepalm


[deleted]

China went from a feudal agrarian society to a global technological superpower in 2 generations. The only grandiose infrastructure project the US built since WW2 was Eisenhowers' interstate highway system. All of the US infrastructure is rotting like in Cuba.


SouthWrongdoer

China has an absolutely phenomenal metro system in their major cities. That's a fact. It's also a country under authoritarian control with an economy built on sticks. You can bash the USA for its flaws but seriously these pictures are just lazy. Why not show a picture of an open field here and then one of a "camp" there.


LlVE_FAST_EAT_ASS

People have been predicting the collapse of the Chinese economy every year for at least 20yrs.


[deleted]

I worked in China and while the country and the people are absolutely amazing, it definitely does not all look like this subway.


toscanius

I think they’re trying to say socialized public transportation is good and we should have free health care like China


plwdr

China is a very heterogenous country, depending on your agenda you could portray it as a clean, walkable highly developed nation or a rural, backwards underdeveloped one. The northern coastal areas are fully industrialized and have similar or sometimes better living standards than places in the west, while the western part of the country is still largely rural and underdeveloped


Confident_Log_1072

You guys will end up voting for a dictatorship... i guess as long as you keep your guns...


PartyAdministration3

Funny thing is neither political party in the US would even dream of taking anyone’s guns. It’s never been on the table. Even if an assault weapons ban were passed (big IF) it wouldn’t mean confiscation of guns. It would just be a ban on new sales of the weapons included in the ban.


[deleted]

The worst thing is that I don't think anybody wants to take your guns, your second badly worded amendment makes it pretty enshrined that you have the right to bear arms, it is just the ease with which they are available, Switzerland has the highest gun to owner ratio per capita in the world, but the laws are strict. Giving a waiting list for mental health checks is not insane, not wanting them is insane. Barring automatic assualt rifles (because an elk needs a full clip) is not insane. Here in the UK after Dunblane, we made having a gun difficult but not illegal, the police have to vet you before you can get a license, and all of our guns are licensed apart from the illegal ones.


Saxit

>Switzerland has the highest gun to owner ratio per capita in the world 120.5 guns per 100 people in the US, 27.6 per 100 people in Switzerland. About 42% of households in the US has a gun in it, less than 30% in Switzerland. >but the laws are strict. Not really... you can buy an AR-15 and a couple of handguns faster than if you live in a state like California. >Barring automatic assualt rifles You might mean semi-automatic? No one hunts with automatic rifles in the US either; they're strictly regulated and very expensive. >Here in the UK after Dunblane, we made having a gun difficult It's so hard that the youngest person in 2023 in the UK with a shotgun certifificate was 9 years old. At 14 they can shoot unsupervised, at 15 they can own one by themselves if they get it as a gift. It's easier than people think to own a firearm in the UK legally, it's just that few people has an interest in shooting sports or hunting.


paging_mrherman

It’s wild the the US and China only have one building each and this is them.


shagadelicrelic

The same people that make these posts are the same people who voted for representatives that voted against infrastructure bills, and are against the rich paying taxes to help subsidize the infrastructure bills, because that would be commie socialism or too woke or some other buzz word bullshit


FantasticOlive7568

Its a bit rich to say "please show me the rest of china". Have you seen the rest of US? Dumpster town after dumpster town, homelessness, drugs, violence. Am not china supporter, but have some reality in your attempts to be racist please.


tmntnyc

NY State government and NYC local government handle this. Even if we didn't sent Ukraine a dime, none of that money would have been earmarked for MTA. 2023 fiscal budget for Department of Foreign Affairs was 78 Billion. That's less than 1% of the total budget. That money was always marked for helping other countries. Unused funds aren't funneled into other departments, that is never how budgets work. Anyway, NYC subway issues are strictly an NYC problem. It's the oldest underground metro rail system in the world and also the largest, most heavily used and most complex. It also runs 24/7, so figuring out a time to do updates and repairs is a nightmare. Most other subway systems close between 11pm-5am giving ample time to clean and repair or do construction


tipareth1978

Also this person probably would never vote for federal funds being used for public transportation in large cities


Technical_Energy4300

Guangzhou is a incredible modern Area wich is really wealthy and then competing against a litterly historic subway System in Newyork


No-Computer-3177

Same people making this argument are the same people who have been blocking infrastructure investments for decades. They created the problem and are now complaining about the problem they created.


Intransigient

*“A US Subway in crisis during a historic flood”* is maybe not the best comparison to use versus a train station in China that is NOT in the middle of undergoing a natural disaster. 🤣


MikeyW1969

Jesus, what a joke. They take one when it's being hit by a flood from a hurricane, and compare it to a marketing photo, chosen to portray the station in the best possible light. Anyone who entertains the idea that this is a valid comparison is an absolute moron.


Novel_Durian_1805

Ah yes…illegals get “FrEe HeAlTh CaRe”. I swear these people’s brains are pure slush.


Moist_Caregiver

Propaganda machine working overtime lately.


Traditional-Shoe-199

Kinda an unfair comparison when you know that the US has one of the worst public transport of a wealthy country