Dirt Roads in Cities
Nov. 17th, 2021 04:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithOmaha depaved a bunch of urban roads. Residents are pissed. This has several important aspects.
* Infrastructure costs money. If a city runs out of money, it will have to stop doing some things. This is why urban areas need to be concise: so they generate enough revenue to support all that infrastructure.
* If you have a sustainability problem, you'll have to fix that, either by increasing resources or cutting obligations. But you can't cut obligations out of the middle. You have to fold up from the outside in -- or else shift in a particular direction. Cutting holes in the middle doesn't just infuriate people, it causes cascading problems, like how tractors are designed to handle dirt roads but semitrucks certainly are not. Measure twice, cut once, and don't swiss-cheese your civilization.
* Cutting corners causes problems. When a project is proposed, people need a clear plan to pay for it. Skimping on materials is a bad choice for making ends meet.
* Residents pay taxes. They expect these taxes to furnish civilized benefits such as decent roads, utilities, and emergency services. It is reasonable for people to expect these things. That is why we have taxes, supposedly, to pay for things that individuals can't afford. If the public officials have defrauded citizens about costs or coverage, then people will be justifiably outraged. And if taxes don't pay for the things people expect, or grow crushingly high, then citizens will revolt and stop paying them. Like that revolution which started America, as it was largely about paying taxes with little or no return.
* When enough people become outraged, they insist on changes. If they are civilized, they will likely start by ousting the leaders and replacing them with others. If competence is not forthcoming, however, they will get fed up and tear society brick from brick, then attempt to build something that works better.
So if you don't want these problems, then make sure things are built well in the first place, and for fucksake ensure that people get their money's worth in terms of taxes paying for the perks of civilization. Or you will presently find yourself without civilization as people attempt to reconstruct a new one with very loose parts.
* Infrastructure costs money. If a city runs out of money, it will have to stop doing some things. This is why urban areas need to be concise: so they generate enough revenue to support all that infrastructure.
* If you have a sustainability problem, you'll have to fix that, either by increasing resources or cutting obligations. But you can't cut obligations out of the middle. You have to fold up from the outside in -- or else shift in a particular direction. Cutting holes in the middle doesn't just infuriate people, it causes cascading problems, like how tractors are designed to handle dirt roads but semitrucks certainly are not. Measure twice, cut once, and don't swiss-cheese your civilization.
* Cutting corners causes problems. When a project is proposed, people need a clear plan to pay for it. Skimping on materials is a bad choice for making ends meet.
* Residents pay taxes. They expect these taxes to furnish civilized benefits such as decent roads, utilities, and emergency services. It is reasonable for people to expect these things. That is why we have taxes, supposedly, to pay for things that individuals can't afford. If the public officials have defrauded citizens about costs or coverage, then people will be justifiably outraged. And if taxes don't pay for the things people expect, or grow crushingly high, then citizens will revolt and stop paying them. Like that revolution which started America, as it was largely about paying taxes with little or no return.
* When enough people become outraged, they insist on changes. If they are civilized, they will likely start by ousting the leaders and replacing them with others. If competence is not forthcoming, however, they will get fed up and tear society brick from brick, then attempt to build something that works better.
So if you don't want these problems, then make sure things are built well in the first place, and for fucksake ensure that people get their money's worth in terms of taxes paying for the perks of civilization. Or you will presently find yourself without civilization as people attempt to reconstruct a new one with very loose parts.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-11-17 01:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-11-17 03:04 pm (UTC)Condense like an organism going into shock: shock is a response to keep critical systems functioning.
>>Measure twice, cut once, and don't swiss-cheese your civilization.<<
Too late.
>>Like that revolution which started America, as it was largely about paying taxes with little or no return.<<
The taxes were to pay for the military, but there were three issues:
1) the people paying the taxes hadn't gotten any say in making the debts ("nothing for us without us"/"no taxation without representation")
2) the taxes were an example of heavy control after a period of light control; people react very badly to this
3) taxes at the time were commonly charged to the merchants not to the consumer (i.e. the taxes were part of the sale price), while the tea and stamp taxes were added after importation so they were more obvious to consumers.
>>...they will get fed up and tear society brick from brick,...<<
Speaking of, have you seen this? They were comparing it to the GameStop thing...and it seems to be gaining traction.
https://www.aol.com/finance/antiwork-movement-may-long-run-165417484.html
(no subject)
Date: 2021-11-17 04:51 pm (UTC)*That said it is low tech maintenance compared to patching asphalt.