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Originally Posted by bunt_q
Look, we're never going to have viable alternatives to the auto for 80% of the population. So you're talking permanent pain. That ship sailed long ago. Our metro areas are already double the size of their European counterparts. Even if every single square foot of development starting today was in the form of infill, we'd still be more spread out than transit can effectively serve. And that's not realistic, given that so much area given over to single family development is not at all amenable to redevelopment. The only good purpose in my mind for increasing the gas tax is to fund infrastructure - that is logical. It makes no sense to use it as a sin tax in favor of...what alternative?
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Sometime you need to see real suffering. I had the misfortune of seeing poverty first hand. Too much poverty is not theoretical. It is dangerous and inevitably produces inceased state and interpersonal violence.
No, I am talking about how human nature actually works. People change when they HAVE too. Otherwise, nothing changes much in terms of changing how people live.
A few romanticize Depressions, as they have not been in one (yet). But, often, cities, states, and, nations need to be galvanized into actually dealing with problems, as most of the time a large enough percentage of the population is doing well enough to maintain the status quo.
Does someone want to loose weight when he or she appears to be doing, Ok, health wise? What happens when that same person is told by his or her doctor that if he or she does not loose a LOT of weight, that he or she just might die this year, medications or not?
Of course, I am an optimist. I am, afraid, however, that most of the herd will look up from their food troughs only when the "man" quits putting food in front of them.
Add $1.00 per gallon tax, and, eliminate income taxes of any kind on the first $50,000 per person, inflation adjusted. That would change things in a hurry. Naw, won't happen unless the US really is confronted by those that want an alternative to the Dollar as world currency. So, I am hedging my bets.
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He would call in and leave a 45-60 minute ramble on the mayor hotline in Boise 3 or 4 times a week back in 1999-2000. My wife working in the mayor's office while we attended Boise State, had the job of listening and then typing out each phone message left on the hotline. His rants were pretty funny the first ten or so times, but after a while I felt bad for her. The guy has been wack for decades. If you meet him he will show you his official letter from an African tribal leader that saw in vision his becoming POTUS. He will then most likely ask for a donation. Every city has them. Only the Idaho Republican Party puts them on public television for a live debate. 
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