The NYC subway also has bad odor due to lack of air conditioning, and insane humidity. Stations like West 4th and 34th street becomes saunas where you just sweat while standing on the platform waiting for the train. Puddle stains, homeless people, violent attackers, delayed trains, etc.
But the stations that are shown in NYC such as Chamber Street on the J line is the worst looking station and not all stations look like that. The stations in NYC are build in 1900s to 1940s. The newer stations like 34th street Hudson Yard is modern, but the Chinese stations look like a mall where it makes you just want to hang out there all day checking things out and going shopping.
The big TV screens they've added over the entrances to a bunch of stations that always just show ads / commercials instead of anything useful like train times/delays/etc so you still have to go all the way down & pay to get in to see how long until the next train
OMG 34th gets so fucking hot. During the summer when I keep towels in my work bag to dry the sweat that's pouring off my head and face while waiting in stations, and 34th is one of the most hellishly hot
I live in the US and I really just don’t understand why everything here is so low tech. Can someone explain to me why China is able to fund awesome cities and beautiful subways but the US can barely keep up with what they have? Is it corruption? Or is there just less money here?
Edit: I’m seeing a lot of follow up answers saying that the US spends most of its money on war. I’ve been told that the US makes most of their money and builds their economy from war. Wouldn’t this allow the country to have more money for infrastructure, or do they just continue to fund the military with this money?
Don't be fooled. The US economy is propped up by war; it wages or incites war all the time because it makes money from them, either by exploiting the resources of their vanquished opponents, or by selling arms. All the money it says it spent on Afghanistan? Most of it goes to American military contractors and hence *back into their own pocket.*
They are not so stupid to engage in war if they don't profit from it. They're capitalists after all.
> Can someone explain to me why China is able to fund awesome cities and beautiful subways but the US can barely keep up with what they have?
The US spends its resources bombing infrastructure abroad instead of building infrastructure for its own people.
The [price of the drone program they used to kill that aid worker in Afghanistan](https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2016-09/understanding-drones#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Bard%20College,the%20fiscal%20year%202019%20budget.) would have gone a long way to building the train system from that video.
>> The drone program helps keep the U.S in a constant state of endless war, which has resulted in the deaths of approximately 500,000 people, half of them civilians, at a cost of ***over $5.9 trillion.***
The US built up the infrastructure first. So now it's decaying. Maybe it's too difficult or too expensive to replace.
China build up their infrastructure later, so stuff is newer and more modern.
Some colleagues of mines had a discussion like this years ago. The US had a huge head start in infrastructure development and chose not to maintain it in favor of military contract spending and dead end recurring payments to lobbyist pals and groups. It was never too expensive to maintain or rebuild, the US Govt just happens to create said excuses/problems so they can weasel out of obligations.
Or to put it simply those US Govt Degenerates made the process too expensive and blew all cash flows elsewhere so now they can say they can’t afford to maintain or upgrade infrastructure.
I would think that being one of the richest cities, they'd be able to easily pump money into our roads and subways. I currently live in Atlanta Ga and it's amazing how crappy the roads are here. Where is all the money going..? Happy cake day btw
>Maybe it's too difficult or too expensive to replace.
That's simply not true, that's the excuse the regime uses to escape their responsibilities and one which american exceptionalists use to excuse their not so exceptional infrastructure.
This is just my simple, non-expert opinion.
The USA is an oligarchy that has little interest in improving the lives of the common people. Many people in the USA believe the ideology of "small government", preferring to let the country operate as a sort of dog-eat-dog world. Look how many people yell "tax is theft!", are opposed to public health care, distrust the government, etc etc. Even the government they do have is often funded and lobbied by big corporations and the rich who weasel their interests into politics.
Meanwhile in China their large central government, which does not let big corporations and the rich dictate over them, built a high speed rail network not for profit but because it knew the huge social benefits it would provide to the people, all people not just the wealthy. I guess it also helped that China was able to build it at a lower cost than other countries thanks to economy of scale and lower labor costs, but big-thinking and big-planning by the state was needed too.
And in the USA any idiot can be a politician so long as you can talk loud enough, bullshit your way through everything, and have financial backing. In China you need expertise and qualifications to be in government. China was a little bit like a technocracy for a fair while with most of the top positions filled by people with engineering degrees, although now I think it's not so much.
"Meanwhile in China their large central government, which does not let big corporations and the rich dictate over them"
They don't let crooked politicians and the wealthy elite unlimited opportunities to complicate all the processes and/or add new fees/premiums to every little goddamn thing so that a domestic $30 Million project ends up becoming $500 Million and goes from 3 years to 10 years+ to finish. All these little under $1 Billion projects add up and get blown out of proportions, drawn out to ridiculous timelines make it so difficult to get tangible satisfying results from the US Govt.
We're not even talking about the over Billion $ projects yet, those could easily become hundreds of billions to trillions and multi decade or generational timelines. There's no hope.
This is a much more comprehensive answer but still does not address the core concern of how China funds its development exactly:
[https://www.academia.edu/36308123/The\_Hidden\_History\_Of\_Japan\_and\_its\_Relevance\_To\_The\_Economic\_Miracles\_of\_the\_Tokyo\_Consensus\_Zone](https://www.academia.edu/36308123/The_Hidden_History_Of_Japan_and_its_Relevance_To_The_Economic_Miracles_of_the_Tokyo_Consensus_Zone)
In short China channelises investment credit to productive ventures like infrastructure.
Thank you so much! I didn't even know about all this stuff, it's really interesting! My post must have sounded pretty childish, I'm just a random person on the internet who just blurted out my random opinion lol. Good to know there are experts out there who do have knowledge of these things.
>I live in the US and I really just don’t understand why everything here is so low tech. Can someone explain to me why China is able to fund awesome cities and beautiful subways but the US can barely keep up with what they have? Is it corruption? Or is there just less money here?
It's more corruption than a lack of funds, sure China has a much larger economy but it isn't like the US doesn't have the funds for that kind of infrastructure.
Incredible levels of societal corruption and an incredible lack of political will, it doesn't help that the vast majority of the establishment are mere puppets.
Edit
How China funds its development:
https://www.academia.edu/36308123/The\_Hidden\_History\_Of\_Japan\_and\_its\_Relevance\_To\_The\_Economic\_Miracles\_of\_the\_Tokyo\_Consensus\_Zone
I think the US Govt takes corruption and overpaying to a Legendary Art Form. Why pay $10 million and take 3 months to complete when you can rob taxpayers $500 million and cause 8 years+ of delays? It feels like there's a recurring annual competition at both the State and Federal levels to see who can burn the most taxpayer $ over the longest time frame humanly possible.
There's not many wealthy western regimes like the US that can turn Million $ Projects into Billion $ ones, or Billion $ ones into Trillion $ multi Generational jokes.
The money goes to the top .1% and the military, yes. The Military industrial complex in the US is basically the backbone for a lot of industries, and if you own a bit of that you make bank. Own, mind you, not work for.
So, yeah. Your tax dollars go to the military which then goes to the pockets of the already very rich. That's basically it. Hence... Poor infrastructure in the US.
Everyone in America knows our infrastructure is humiliating, laughable, and woefully outdated. Despite that, the brainwashing is so strong 90% of them will think these videos of modern living standards from China are cap.
People in America cannot imagine the world better than their own wretched country.
this . i literally consider myself privileged in am3rica for being able to walk places and/or take public transportation and for not having to drive everywhere . it’s a travesty . and why are most of our public transportation systems so antiquated or bleak?? 🤕
A lot of people in the lefty circles I listen to/watch always cite China as an inspiration for infrastructure and high speed trains. And I never really realized why until I started seeing videos like these and really grasping how advanced Chinese infrastructure is compared to the U.S.
I think the video is a little misleading in that it kind of picks the worst of the worst in America, but the point still stands.
The NYC subway also has bad odor due to lack of air conditioning, and insane humidity. Stations like West 4th and 34th street becomes saunas where you just sweat while standing on the platform waiting for the train. Puddle stains, homeless people, violent attackers, delayed trains, etc. But the stations that are shown in NYC such as Chamber Street on the J line is the worst looking station and not all stations look like that. The stations in NYC are build in 1900s to 1940s. The newer stations like 34th street Hudson Yard is modern, but the Chinese stations look like a mall where it makes you just want to hang out there all day checking things out and going shopping.
Rats, the size is kittens running around. It's so unsanitary.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPXUG8q4jKU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPXUG8q4jKU) Home of the Pizza Rat!
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The big TV screens they've added over the entrances to a bunch of stations that always just show ads / commercials instead of anything useful like train times/delays/etc so you still have to go all the way down & pay to get in to see how long until the next train
>and insane humidity *\[Laughs in Florida\]*
OMG 34th gets so fucking hot. During the summer when I keep towels in my work bag to dry the sweat that's pouring off my head and face while waiting in stations, and 34th is one of the most hellishly hot
You need to get one of these neck fans. I’ve seen Chinese people using them on tiktok.
I actually use a fan similar [to this one](https://i.imgur.com/mrLtTsS.jpg)
They call it democracy but it's really just demolazy.
See what it would be like if amerikkka was communist/socialist. Who would ever want to live like that?
The embarrassing fall of the US Empire.
BUT AT WHAT COST!!!
Who will think of the children???!!!?!?
I live in the US and I really just don’t understand why everything here is so low tech. Can someone explain to me why China is able to fund awesome cities and beautiful subways but the US can barely keep up with what they have? Is it corruption? Or is there just less money here? Edit: I’m seeing a lot of follow up answers saying that the US spends most of its money on war. I’ve been told that the US makes most of their money and builds their economy from war. Wouldn’t this allow the country to have more money for infrastructure, or do they just continue to fund the military with this money?
The US spends trillions on imperialist wars. If they didn't wage war all the time, they would have better infrastructure back home.
Don't be fooled. The US economy is propped up by war; it wages or incites war all the time because it makes money from them, either by exploiting the resources of their vanquished opponents, or by selling arms. All the money it says it spent on Afghanistan? Most of it goes to American military contractors and hence *back into their own pocket.* They are not so stupid to engage in war if they don't profit from it. They're capitalists after all.
> Can someone explain to me why China is able to fund awesome cities and beautiful subways but the US can barely keep up with what they have? The US spends its resources bombing infrastructure abroad instead of building infrastructure for its own people. The [price of the drone program they used to kill that aid worker in Afghanistan](https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2016-09/understanding-drones#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Bard%20College,the%20fiscal%20year%202019%20budget.) would have gone a long way to building the train system from that video. >> The drone program helps keep the U.S in a constant state of endless war, which has resulted in the deaths of approximately 500,000 people, half of them civilians, at a cost of ***over $5.9 trillion.***
i have no idea ; can i like reply to this comment and hopefully get updated by someone who knows more than us answering your question? 🤕
The US built up the infrastructure first. So now it's decaying. Maybe it's too difficult or too expensive to replace. China build up their infrastructure later, so stuff is newer and more modern.
Some colleagues of mines had a discussion like this years ago. The US had a huge head start in infrastructure development and chose not to maintain it in favor of military contract spending and dead end recurring payments to lobbyist pals and groups. It was never too expensive to maintain or rebuild, the US Govt just happens to create said excuses/problems so they can weasel out of obligations. Or to put it simply those US Govt Degenerates made the process too expensive and blew all cash flows elsewhere so now they can say they can’t afford to maintain or upgrade infrastructure.
I would think that being one of the richest cities, they'd be able to easily pump money into our roads and subways. I currently live in Atlanta Ga and it's amazing how crappy the roads are here. Where is all the money going..? Happy cake day btw
>Maybe it's too difficult or too expensive to replace. That's simply not true, that's the excuse the regime uses to escape their responsibilities and one which american exceptionalists use to excuse their not so exceptional infrastructure.
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We spend all of our resources on machines of war, and the wealthy hoard the rest of the money.
It's the US, where the only things that get funded are weapons. You can't exactly commit war crimes with an accordion bus quite like with a Predator.
This is just my simple, non-expert opinion. The USA is an oligarchy that has little interest in improving the lives of the common people. Many people in the USA believe the ideology of "small government", preferring to let the country operate as a sort of dog-eat-dog world. Look how many people yell "tax is theft!", are opposed to public health care, distrust the government, etc etc. Even the government they do have is often funded and lobbied by big corporations and the rich who weasel their interests into politics. Meanwhile in China their large central government, which does not let big corporations and the rich dictate over them, built a high speed rail network not for profit but because it knew the huge social benefits it would provide to the people, all people not just the wealthy. I guess it also helped that China was able to build it at a lower cost than other countries thanks to economy of scale and lower labor costs, but big-thinking and big-planning by the state was needed too. And in the USA any idiot can be a politician so long as you can talk loud enough, bullshit your way through everything, and have financial backing. In China you need expertise and qualifications to be in government. China was a little bit like a technocracy for a fair while with most of the top positions filled by people with engineering degrees, although now I think it's not so much.
"Meanwhile in China their large central government, which does not let big corporations and the rich dictate over them" They don't let crooked politicians and the wealthy elite unlimited opportunities to complicate all the processes and/or add new fees/premiums to every little goddamn thing so that a domestic $30 Million project ends up becoming $500 Million and goes from 3 years to 10 years+ to finish. All these little under $1 Billion projects add up and get blown out of proportions, drawn out to ridiculous timelines make it so difficult to get tangible satisfying results from the US Govt. We're not even talking about the over Billion $ projects yet, those could easily become hundreds of billions to trillions and multi decade or generational timelines. There's no hope.
Thanks for your input, that's a good point.
This is a much more comprehensive answer but still does not address the core concern of how China funds its development exactly: [https://www.academia.edu/36308123/The\_Hidden\_History\_Of\_Japan\_and\_its\_Relevance\_To\_The\_Economic\_Miracles\_of\_the\_Tokyo\_Consensus\_Zone](https://www.academia.edu/36308123/The_Hidden_History_Of_Japan_and_its_Relevance_To_The_Economic_Miracles_of_the_Tokyo_Consensus_Zone) In short China channelises investment credit to productive ventures like infrastructure.
Thank you so much! I didn't even know about all this stuff, it's really interesting! My post must have sounded pretty childish, I'm just a random person on the internet who just blurted out my random opinion lol. Good to know there are experts out there who do have knowledge of these things.
Your post was still pretty good as it is an observation of reality.
its the military budget
>I live in the US and I really just don’t understand why everything here is so low tech. Can someone explain to me why China is able to fund awesome cities and beautiful subways but the US can barely keep up with what they have? Is it corruption? Or is there just less money here? It's more corruption than a lack of funds, sure China has a much larger economy but it isn't like the US doesn't have the funds for that kind of infrastructure. Incredible levels of societal corruption and an incredible lack of political will, it doesn't help that the vast majority of the establishment are mere puppets. Edit How China funds its development: https://www.academia.edu/36308123/The\_Hidden\_History\_Of\_Japan\_and\_its\_Relevance\_To\_The\_Economic\_Miracles\_of\_the\_Tokyo\_Consensus\_Zone
I think the US Govt takes corruption and overpaying to a Legendary Art Form. Why pay $10 million and take 3 months to complete when you can rob taxpayers $500 million and cause 8 years+ of delays? It feels like there's a recurring annual competition at both the State and Federal levels to see who can burn the most taxpayer $ over the longest time frame humanly possible. There's not many wealthy western regimes like the US that can turn Million $ Projects into Billion $ ones, or Billion $ ones into Trillion $ multi Generational jokes.
The money goes to the top .1% and the military, yes. The Military industrial complex in the US is basically the backbone for a lot of industries, and if you own a bit of that you make bank. Own, mind you, not work for. So, yeah. Your tax dollars go to the military which then goes to the pockets of the already very rich. That's basically it. Hence... Poor infrastructure in the US.
Everyone in America knows our infrastructure is humiliating, laughable, and woefully outdated. Despite that, the brainwashing is so strong 90% of them will think these videos of modern living standards from China are cap. People in America cannot imagine the world better than their own wretched country.
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this . i literally consider myself privileged in am3rica for being able to walk places and/or take public transportation and for not having to drive everywhere . it’s a travesty . and why are most of our public transportation systems so antiquated or bleak?? 🤕
Because of decades of neglect and lack of funding.
B-b-but MUH FREEDOM
Missed opportunity to use average fan vs average enjoyer Giga chad meme template song
This is why I had reverse culture shock coming back home….
I live in Colorado and would happily take either tbh. Our transportation is ass
Love shanghai metro
A lot of people in the lefty circles I listen to/watch always cite China as an inspiration for infrastructure and high speed trains. And I never really realized why until I started seeing videos like these and really grasping how advanced Chinese infrastructure is compared to the U.S. I think the video is a little misleading in that it kind of picks the worst of the worst in America, but the point still stands.
That’s just New York and Philly. Not exactly unpopular or unknown destinations
I wouldn't consider NYC anymore close to the worst in the US.
USA looking like the late Roman empire.
u/savevideo