Baton Rouge - New Orleans train needn’t be bullet

2theadvocate ^ | Tuesday, August 17, 2010 | Felix Planche

[BnBlFlag]

“I think Texas neo-Confederate bigotry is an embarrassment to the rest of the nation.”

ROTFLMAO! Damn, you’re as FOS as a Christmas Turkey!

[Willie Green]

It takes you 3 hrs and 20 minutes to hit the post button twice?

LOL! Now that's what I call really being stuck on stupid!

[BnBlFlag]

LOL!! Maybe you’re right!

[rurgan]

Your belief and trust of government is why government keeps growing and America is declining.

Liberals/democrats/marxists believe in public hospitals and a public healthcare infrastructure while conservatives do not. you believe in public roads. So you and liberals are socialists.There is no difference between a government building a road, or a hospital or factory.

Letting the government do any these things people think are beneficial will lead to a socialist dictatorship and starvation plus there is no net benefit only decline.

I'm not an economist. These are just a FEW reasons off the top of my head why government can NEVER work.

No Government, no single person, could make even a quality pencil as efficiently as free market capitalism can. In fact government/socialism is thousands of times less efficient when compared to capitalism. So democrats/marxists/media give up your big government agenda/socialism, ok?

Making a pencil is a problem like any other problem that comes up on our lives. To “solve” this problem of creating a pencil a government or an individual can't just conjure up a pencil but he/it/they have to divide the more complex problem of making a pencil into simpler more manageable parts, making the eraser , painting the pencil, making the little metal band, obtaining the wood etc.

Each of those problems becomes another problems so that problems keep branching out like the branches of a tree.

Making the wood for example becomes creating logging companies,creating companies that create tree cutting equipment, then you need the steel for the saws etc. , then the mining companies for the steel and the steel mill companies and so on and so on.

So you see no one individual at the head of a state or government can plan even this producing a pencil, but capitalism does this effortlessly with not just creating a pencil but millions of products, many of them new that capitalism effortlessly produces every year. The details of the end branches can never be known by an individual or a few government idiots heading a project or running an economy.

Each of those problems becomes another problems so that problems keep branching out like the branches of a tree.

However capitalism/free market works from the details up, bottom up not top down as in totalitarian command economy.

A single individual or a few individuals at the head of a socialist state cannot ever know all the knowledge all the details that millions of people and businesses cooperating in real time in the free market all know

That's just one reason why socialism/government can never work . coupled with that is that government idiots use other people's money and you are never as careful with other people's money as you are with your own money so if you want efficiency you need private property that is the foundation of capitalism and is banned in socialism/marxism/Communism/liberalism.

That's just 2 reasons why socialism doesn't work also, no competition, people won't work without incentive etc.

Letting the government do anything except the powers outlined in Constitution, the military, border control, courts, international issues will lead to economic decline , decline in our freedoms and then a socialist dictatorship. This has be drilled into people's heads. The liberal media has drilled the opposite that government should and can solve most of our problems. Republican President Reagan said it best “Government is not the solution to our problems. Government IS the problem.

What is the difference between a government building and running and owning a healthcare infrastructure, a communications infrastructure as in the Internet,or a road infrastructure. there is none. Private companies like AT & t

[rurgan]

Lots of private roads. I’ve been on some in Texas.

Private railroads too.

read my longer post on just a few reasons why government can never work nor should it be allowed to do anything beyond the military, border control, courts ,police and international issues as doing so will lead to a socialist state which is the worst, hell of starvation and oppression imaginable.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

There is no standardized definition of "high-speed" rail, which leads to considerable confusion in discussion.

Only in the US, because the HSR (High Speed Rail) supporters in the US don't want the pathetic truth - or real costs - known. The EU has a well-defined standard, as do Japan and China (the top 3 HSR markets).

To achieve speeds exceeding that up to 190~200 mph or so would require complete replacement of current infrastructure with technology similar to the Japanese Shinkansen Bullet Trains.

And in the US, that means literally trillions of dollars. Trillions just to deploy the network, never mind operational costs. Never let that number get out there, do you Willie!

Experimental speeds beyond 200 mph have been achieved with the most promising technology being Maglev (which is also incompatible with the other high-speed technologies.)

Experimental? Here's a photo I took just a month ago on a fully operational, 20 trip per day HSR line in China:

Three hundred twenty three kilometers per hour. That's just over 200 MPH. No problem at all. It's only experimental to the HSR advocates here in the US, because if they admitted it really existed, then they'd have to admit the cost of trillions of dollars to deploy a HSR network...

So they obfuscate and talk about "unknown/undefined" standards, through out numbers like 90 MPH (which is SLOWER than most slow speed rail in other countries), and never want to talk costs, only how "convenient" it could be.

The reality is that HSR in the US is an economic impossibility. It costs too much, we will not get the return on investment (ever), and it will hasten our bankruptcy as a nation.

But those fast choo choos sure are neat!

[Willie Green]

There is no difference between a government building a road, or a hospital or factory....
I'm not an economist.

You are right. You are obviously not an economist.
In fact, it's doubtful that you ever took (or passed) a basic course in economics.

Roads are significantly different than factories or hospitals.
Private factories and hospitals must compete for customers in the marketplace against other private factories and hospitals.
It is the competition that makes them "efficient", not the mere fact that they are "private".

Roads, on the other hand, occupy a natural local monopoly of the right-of-way between communities, giving the "owner" the ability to restrain community freedom to travel for his own benefit. This is why roads must be publicly owned, so that one "private" owner cannot restrain the rights/freedoms of others to travel and trade.

[rurgan]

Roads do not have to be publicly owned. and nothing is publicly owned as that is impossible.The government is what owns most things they say is public and that is socialism which doesn't work.

Just why do you trust government bureaucrats so much?

You like most people have little knowledge of economics. the fact that there is competition in capitalism is only 1 reason why capitalism works and government/socialism doesn't . There are many private roads in the U.S.A. and some countries have an even higher percentage. you obviously didn't read or didn't understand my post.

In a truly free market there would be competition where roads are concerned.

A road is just like any service where you pay for the privilege that service offers, lower traffic, less traveling time etc.

No private individual company can form a monopoly without government interference. many have said the same thing about Microsoft, wal-mart and other large private companies. and that's all lies.

you are so worried about private companies while government keeps growing. no Private company be it Microsoft or walmart , or AT & T can force any other company from competing with them nor can they force any individual to use their products or services.

What private company can do it now. name one. and there many private roads in the U.S.A so what is you is just liberal/Marxist propaganda.

[Willie Green]

In a truly free market there would be competition where roads are concerned.

No. Roads occupy a natural monopoly over the local right-of-way.
Other roads cannot compete because they lead somewhere else.

[rurgan]

http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0809d.asp

some examples in the United States of functioning private roads.

Probably the most common are in private neighborhoods. Many homeowner associations maintain their own road systems, one of which I described in my article “The Lake of the Woods”.

The Dulles Greenway is a private road built in the western suburbs of Washington, D.C., in 1995. Though constructed with some restrictions set by the state, it was built with private money and is run as a for-profit business. The first year it opened, 6.1 million trips were made on the road. In 2006, 21 million trips were made. This type of private toll road has the ability to move large numbers of people without the aforementioned problems associated with the federal interstates that we are told are indispensable. It has shown its viability, and we might well be seeing many more of these private toll roads in the future.

One interesting example of private roads is in the city of North Oaks, Minnesota. Not only does the city not own the roads, it doesn’t own any property. As it states on its website, “Because residents’ properties extend to halfway across the road, all residential roads in the City are private and for the use of North Oaks residents and their invited guests only.” Perhaps one of these days cities such as North Oaks will be the norm.

Everyone, particularly libertarians, should favor private roads. They have much going for them — they rely on mutual consent for their construction and use, and the market decides what is the appropriate level of their use. People who don’t want to use them are free to spend their dollars on other things that they consider more worthy. And as far-fetched as they seem to some, we have examples of working private roads. I cannot think of a better way for cash-strapped state governments to reduce their budgets than to stop paving the roads.

_____________________________________

private roads don’t violate individual rights but public roads do so in two ways. First, governments use eminent domain to take private property for road construction. We institute governments to protect our property and our rights, but the practice of eminent domain is anathema to both. Despite the fact that compensation is paid, eminent domain is still pure theft accomplished by pure force.

Second, public roads use tax money for construction and maintenance. The same force used to wrest people’s property away through eminent domain is used again to wrest away their money. If one citizen decides that he doesn’t want to finance a bridge in Alaska, he faces fines or imprisonment if he refuses to comply. Private roads do not have these immoral attributes.

Moreover, public roads distort the economy in several ways. By using taxes for construction and maintenance, people have less money that they may have used to purchase other things. Thus, the burden of public roads falls especially hard on people who don’t use them very much.

Public roads also distort the market for transportation by subsidizing the auto industry. If interstates did not crisscross the nation, it is unlikely that automobiles would be used as much as they are now. It is impossible to predict what forms of transportation would have been chosen had the market for transportation been left unmolested by the government. More people might be using bus, plane, or some other form of private transportation. Even more tantalizing is to think of the forms of transportation that were never introduced because the government gave automobiles an incredible advantage. Government subsidies in any market put existing substitutes at a competitive disadvantage and quell the innovation of new substitutes.

[Willie Green]

Probably the most common are in private neighborhoods. Many homeowner associations maintain their own road systems, one of which I described in my article “The Lake of the Woods”.

There's nothing wrong with people pitching in to maintain their own neighborhoods. As far as I'm concerned, a "homeowner's association" is a form of local government anyway, even if you claim it's "private".

The Dulles Greenway is a private road built in the western suburbs of Washington, D.C., in 1995. Though constructed with some restrictions set by the state, it was built with private money and is run as a for-profit business. The first year it opened, 6.1 million trips were made on the road. In 2006, 21 million trips were made.

Why don't you mention that the Dulles Greenway is a failed investment, and that the original investors defaulted on their construction loans because there was insufficient toll revenue??

This is an example of private sector FAILURE.
If the government had constructed this road, OTOH, it would receive revenue not only from toll collections but also from the expanded tax base due to commercial stimulus around the road. A private company can't collect such tax revenue, and it starves commercial development by having to charge excess tolls to pay for highway construction. The Dulles Greenway is a LOSER.

One interesting example of private roads is in the city of North Oaks, Minnesota. Not only does the city not own the roads, it doesn’t own any property.

North Oaks isn't a city.
It's a pretentious housing development...
... a gated residential community lacking any significant commercial activity.

[rurgan]

You believe in socialism . it doesn’t work.

and you are lying. There are many private working roads in the U.S. and the world. I’ve been on several private roads in Texas in which there are many.

Governement (anything “public” or socialism) works with other people’s money not their own so if you want efficiency then you want private property (capitalism). That’s reason 10001 why socialism doesn’t work and capitalism does.

You socialists/democrats believe that one government idiot can all at one time run thousands of businesses better than those milliions of business owners can all at the same time. And each businnes has millions of techical details that change on by the minute . Each detail would take a week to reach a government “decider” at the top if the info could reach there in an accurate manner if at all. These details, millions of them , need to be changed every second in an economy and free market. So socialism doesn’t work.

you liberals/socialists/democrats nor your government idols can even run a lemonade stand much less a single technical business much less millions of buissinesses at the same time.

In your government run utopia Each businness owner at best acts on regulations made by the director at the top of government. There is no freedom and so no change can happen nor can it even be planned in the first place.

[rurgan]

F. A. Hayek had a remarkable career pointing out the flaws in collectivism/socialism/government ownership. One of his keenest insights was that, paradoxically, any collectivist system necessarily depends on one individual (or small group) to make key social and economic decisions. In contrast, a system based on individualism takes advantage of the aggregate, or ‘collective,’ information of the whole society; through his actions each participant contributes his own particular, if incomplete, knowledge—information that could never be tapped by the individual at the head of a collectivist state

[Willie Green]

You are ridiculous.

[rurgan]

The “ridiculous”, absurd and totally idiotic thing is that you and democrats trust government burocrats and government to do the right thing or do anything at all.

If you love government so much then move the Cuba or North korea.

[rurgan]

The “ridiculous”, absurd and totally idiotic thing is that you and democrats trust government bureaucrats and government to do the right thing or to do anything at all.

If you love government so much then move the Cuba or North Korea.

[Willie Green]

If you love government so much then move the Cuba or North Korea.

No thanks... that would be almost as bad as those dumbass deed restrictions that the homeowners association crams down your throat in those stupid gated communities that we have in this country.

[rurgan]

democrats don't understand economics.

A private organization you have a choice whether or not to use their product or service or be a part of it.

No private organization can make anyone buy anything. Walmart has no army and Walmart can't make anyone shop in their stores. Walmart is the largest corporation in the world. if they can't have a monopoly no one can. the only way a monopoly can exist is by government laws or regulations that restrict entry into a market.

If you don't like a privately owned store, hospital, community, or road then go somewhere else as it won't be the only one or create one yourself.

In capitalism there are millions of private owners so the power is distributed among all these.

The government already has most of the power, guns, police , armies etc. but you and democrats want to give the government more and more power . That is the real monopoly , the government monopoly on the use of force and the growing monopoly of government ownership.

private businesses are accountable to the market ,to efficiency, and to customers. Private businesses have to produce a quality product efficiently that their customers are willing to pay hard earned money for. but you and democrats prefer unnaccountable government bureaucrats who use other people's money and are accountable to no one. they are unaccountable because most of them are in unions and it's almost impossible to fire them and other reasons for example government bureaucrats are not accountable to the people.

Government agencies don't work , are not accountable to anyone, and don't do what they were set up for, proof:
Look at NASA. What are they supposed to be doing? Going to the moon to pick up rocks (like that is needed). But instead NASA is global warming research, and doing Muslim outreach. This nut from NASA , Hansen, is one of the biggest global warming crusaders and it gets a 6 figure salary for that and millions more in grants:

Believe it or not, Al Gore isn't the creepiest moonbat to exploit the global warming hoax. Creepier still is his friend James Hansen, the NASA bureaucrat who during the 70s prostituted science for global cooling. Hansen, who provided propaganda support for Gore's A Convenient Lie, is making a pretty penny from the pernicious hoax. Revealing the Bolshevik red that can always be found beneath the green facade of environmental fanaticism, Hansen is now calling for the arrest of oil company CEOs.
http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2008/06/hoax_whore_jame.html

[rurgan]

democrats don't understand economics.

With a private organization, you have a choice whether or not to use their product or service or be a part of it.

No private organization can make anyone buy anything. Walmart has no army and Walmart can't make anyone shop in their stores. Walmart is the largest corporation in the world. if they can't have a monopoly no one can. the only way a monopoly can exist is by government laws or regulations that restrict entry into a market.

If you don't like a privately owned store, hospital, community, or road then go somewhere else as it won't be the only one or create one yourself.

In capitalism there are millions of private owners so the power is distributed among all these.

The government already has most of the power, guns, police , armies etc. but you and democrats want to give the government more and more power . That is the real monopoly , the government monopoly on the use of force and the growing monopoly of government ownership.

private businesses are accountable to the market ,to efficiency, and to customers. Private businesses have to produce a quality product efficiently that their customers are willing to pay hard earned money for. but you and democrats prefer unnaccountable government bureaucrats who use other people's money and are accountable to no one. they are unaccountable because most of them are in unions and it's almost impossible to fire them and other reasons for example government bureaucrats are not accountable to the people.

Government agencies don't work , are not accountable to anyone, and don't do what they were set up for, proof:
Look at NASA. What are they supposed to be doing? Going to the moon to pick up rocks (like that is needed). But instead NASA is global warming research, and doing Muslim outreach. This nut from NASA , Hansen, is one of the biggest global warming crusaders and it gets a 6 figure salary for that and millions more in grants:

Believe it or not, Al Gore isn't the creepiest moonbat to exploit the global warming hoax. Creepier still is his friend James Hansen, the NASA bureaucrat who during the 70s prostituted science for global cooling. Hansen, who provided propaganda support for Gore's A Convenient Lie, is making a pretty penny from the pernicious hoax. Revealing the Bolshevik red that can always be found beneath the green facade of environmental fanaticism, Hansen is now calling for the arrest of oil company CEOs.
http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2008/06/hoax_whore_jame.html

[Willie Green]

Walmart is the largest corporation in the world. if they can't have a monopoly no one can.

Walmart can't have a monopoly because they only deal in cheap quality crap,
Like defective mice that cause people to double post (or are you just a spaz of some sort?)