If one understands the history of US law enforcement, you will quickly realize they are there to protect wealthy and their property. Anyone below that is shit out of luck.
My brother in-law lives 20 min from Detroit and thinks he will get stabbed the minute he steps out of the car in down town. I’ve been working there for three years and he doesn’t believe me when I tell him its perfectly safe.
Indeed, we walked around the center of Detroit and intentionally drove through the urban decay. Unreal and then everything goes back to normal at Grosse Point. As water supplies smack crisis levels in numerous US cities, Detroit has a very good chance of bouncing back because of the Great Lakes.
Rural Michigan is the real hell hole. Between pseudo military gravy seals militias and pickups fully armed with Punisher logos, I’ll stay downtown.
Same. Homeless guy in downtown worries me less and they are friendlier too.
Uh, liberals say the same thing about random bullets whizzing around. You can see it here on lemmy every day.
Take the suicides and gang violence out (racist code for brown people killing each other, but most of us have a choice not to engage in that scene), take out white trash shooting each other over meth disputes and other family issues, gun violence ain’t so random. Most people murdered and raped knew the aggressor. Doesn’t make it right, but it ain’t random.
Want scary, random violence and death? Get in your car, take a drive. 'Bout the same numbers, per the CDC, give or take, 50,000 a year, gun vs. vehicular deaths. I’m more afraid to drive 700-miles to get my kids 4 times a year. I can’t stay away from bad people and places when I drive.
Why is no one screaming about this?! We don’t see it on the news, because it’s normal. What you see on the news is reported because it’s not normal.
Y’all have no sense of what is truly dangerous in this world.
100% agree. That Kirk quote about the occasional gun death being acceptable applies to people who are pro-cars.
They’re okay with kids getting run over if it means they get to keep driving.
Note: I’m not talking about people in areas where cars are necessary just to get around because public transport is non existent and I know a lot of the US is built around cars. But in places like London where public transport is good and you choose to still drive, then yeah, tacitly you’re saying car deaths are acceptable for your right to continue to drive. And I don’t think car deaths are acceptable.
A lot of people are not vocally pro driving. They get on the highway because that’s the only way to get to work. I forget the study, but I think it’s been shown even in America, when people are shown cheaper options they will take them. Those options have to exist first.
That’s what I meant and I tried to make it clear in my comment. I’m talking about car-brains rather than people who are forced to drive because better infrastructure isn’t there.
But in places like here in London, most places are accessible by public transport or cycling. Most cars that go by as I wait at the bus stop have just the driver in them.
Having said that, the biggest problem I have with public transport is unfortunately the public. I’ve been touched inappropriately by creepy men on the bus and tube. Drug addicts, drunks, people with mental health issues can also be scary to share a bus with. That’s down to mental health and social services in this country being terrible. So I do get why women especially might be put off using the bus.
I’m put off cycling because of the amount of morons riding the wrong way in the cycle lane, or those awful illegal modded throttle bikes that are really unregistered mopeds. Or pedestrians just being dozy or even entitled and deliberately walking on the cycle lane. Ironically, I feel safer riding on the main roads than on cycle lanes.
In reported road collisions in Great Britain in 2024, the final estimates are:
1,602 fatalities, a decline of 1% compared to 2023
29,467 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties, a decline of 1% compared to 2023
128,272 casualties of all severities, a decline of 4% compared to 2023
Over twenty nine thousand people either killed or seriously injured by drivers in one year, but we don’t bat an eyelid. These deaths are acceptable so drivers can continue to drive.
I don’t understand why it’s normalised.
Hang on, Europeans are better drivers and their vehicle technical inspections are nerve racking. There are only a handful of states that require similar vehicle inspections.
Why do you put up with it? Invest more into public transit, segregated traffic lanes for buses/trams/bikes, and more sane transit policy.
Today my wife and I traveled 1.5 hours to the east, barely covered any distance through the Florida panhandle. That was nothing, we weren’t halfway to Tallahassee, the state capitol. Go that far? About halfway through the panhandle, not remotely close to the Atlantic. That little dip in the middle of the panhandle? 5-hour drive.
How would America solve this trip by rail? Love to see it, but damn, this was one small town to an even smaller town. Most people in this state haven’t heard of either destination. Also, we had loads of outdoor gear and a 40-quart cooler. How am I move all that on a train? Will they stop at Dollar General and let me pick up a 12-pack? Also, I want to come and go as I please. Would have brought 3 or 4 kayaks, but that particular state park doesn’t allow them. (it’s tiny)
Maybe it’s the American in me, but I can’t see how rail works unless you’re going city to city, with what you can wear on your back. And how am I to carry my AR-15, Colt .45, backup ankle pistol and pocket derringer? And spare mags for all that?! (Kinda joking, mostly, kinda… Hey, we’re a fascist state now and I have a brown, immigrant wife. 🤷🏻)
Rail can and will stop in smaller towns, but also if you’re going on a camping trip you can drive or rent a car. That’s how everyone else does it.
Local networks service the smallest towns and get them connected to regional networks. So say you take the train from wakulla to Tallahassee. Tallahassee is the main hub.
If you’re in say Alligator Point then you will take a train to Wakulla then to Tallahassee.
I imagine a Tallahassee main line would run the panhandle and stop in the larger towns along the route like Mariana and down to Pennsacola
Visit Japan, there are towns with 20,000 people and a Shinkansen (High-Speed Rail) station for the tourism and commuting.
in america? do you understand the scale of things here? the 2nd largest state is bigger than any country in europe except russia, and much of the population is spread out. like a hundred miles from the city isnt a crazy distance. it isnt densely packed little states. itd be a project on a massive scale to serve few people spread out all over, and even then some people wouldnt have access.
most cities here do have mass transit, but for those not living close enough a car is the fastest choice to get to their destinations.
i would 100% love trains and high speed rail everywhere don’t get me wrong but id likely still need a car/uber/taxi to get to the stations
in america? do you understand the scale of things here?
Yes. And yes.
and much of the population is spread out. like a hundred miles from the city isnt a crazy distance. it isnt densely packed little states.
You do realize that was a deliberate choice, right? It isn’t like that just happened out of no-where and now it is suddenly immutable, right?
itd be a project on a massive scale to serve few people spread out all over, and even then some people wouldnt have access.
Imagine if what was spent on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System was instead spent on rail. 34 year project costing over half a trillion in today’s USD. Why is this generation so scared of massive infrastructure projects?
most cities here do have mass transit, but for those not living close enough a car is the fastest choice to get to their destinations.
And the mass transit is deliberately hobbled (busses/light rail/tram sharing the same lanes as cars, not funded adequately to be scheduled frequently enough to not have to overly plan your day, etc) . And again, the choice to live far away from economic hubs is a result of poor policy (zoning, parking lot minimums, building height restrictions, etc).
But really, these are all self-inflicted problems that can be solved, if only you dreamed a little bigger.
Mostly agreed! The interstate highway system is one of America’s greatest achievements, and sorely underrated. And yes, we could do the same with passenger rail. I’d shit to hop a train, burn down the track to the French Quarter (New Orleans), get hammered, party down, sleep all the way back to Florida.
But as to my other comment, I got questions.
A cultural point you may be missing, if you’re not American, not all of us want to live in big cities. I know, far more efficient, no arguments there, but I refuse to live my only life packed in like rats.
I’ve lived in Chicago, my current suburb of 9,000, my camp in a town of 900, and everywhere in between. I’m no misandrist, love people in general, but I’m not living that close to them. I get a little freaked out going to Pensacola! (54,000 souls) Been there, done that, need space and forests and waters.
I can walk out my door and in 20 minutes disappear into hundreds of acres of forests, creeks and swamps. That is how I want to live the only life I got.
We can talk park-and-ride systems?
You do realize that was a deliberate choice, right? It isn’t like that just happened out of no-where and now it is suddenly immutable, right?
what? lmao what a dumb take. some people want to live on land
if you live too far from the city to access mass transit just move to the city and change zoning laws and build housing on parking lots LOL here’s a meme that i think is apt but really isnt at all
“Do I need to bring my gun???”
Every time I see this meme, I see my friend from Elementary School that went full chud. The guy is his fucking clone.
Not included: Glock 19 with 2x scope that’s never been fired
2x scope on a pistol?
Plus laser and under barrel flashlight. And a little dangly charm of Calvin pissing.
Don’t forget the Punisher logo
2x pistol scopes are definitely things that exist. Trying to mount one on a Glock 19 would be a massive pain in the dick.
Not to mention completely useless
They really show they’re just posturing cowards when they pull the whole “lawless warzone” shtick about cities.
They’re also pedophile defenders.
It’s just what they tell themselves while their rural hellscaie is hollowed out by meth, decades after the jobs all left.
Fuck. That’s pretty much all dudes in my town. I’m doomed.
Your town may be, but you can move.
It’s never that easy, for a multitude of reasons.
I didn’t say it would be easy. I just said you are not doomed.
No, you said I could move; to which, no I cannot.
Is it really impossible? Or you choose not to for various reasons.
You seem to have this bad habit of putting words in other people’s mouths. I never said it was impossible. I just said I cannot. There are reasons; they are personal, and very important to me.
I asked you a question. I didn’t put words in your mouth. You even answered it. A lot of people say “I can’t” when they mean “I choose not to for a combination of reasons.” Just be a grownup and own your choices. Nobody’s knocking them.
I can’t believe they sold out of everything except this and the Gabaghoul. 😩
Huh, could’ve sworn that was Taylor Swift’s fiance. lmao
This is wildly accurate
“We are the true victims, pal!”
It needs sunglasses, a fish, and a truck.
Needs an RM Williams t-shirt in my experience.
