malaph

If only communism could function under voluntarism.

Take China for example. A middle class person in China today lives like an upper class person compared to the 1700s. A poor person on average anywhere is doing way better than ever before..

Has there actually been a better century in terms of comfort and stability for most people

I mean.. Successfully privatizing reusable rocketry and making domestic launches possible in the states again is amazing even if you hate him.

Odd to me that you equate productivity with the value of a person.

Wouldn't that be to trade for imports? Because their currencies aren't accepted ?

The reasons for farm subsidies are.. Debatable. If you keep food cheap people don't notice currency debasement as much. Personally I think it might make more sense for prices to rise to a point where farmers are profitable without subsidies. Those subsidies are value extracted from the tax payer anyway.. You're paying for it.

You're right too in that buses and trains are a lot cheaper and should always out compete cars. How much do you think fares would have to rise to make public transport self sufficient ? Make it so it funds its own expansion and service improvement.

The Toronto Transport Commission is my local example. From what I can napkin math they get about 1 billion dollars in subsidies per year from the city (maybe some provincial and fed money too.. I rounded up generously). They collect a little over 700k fares a day. Wouldn't take much of an increase with like almost 250 million fares a year to close that gap.

Privatize the roads and have cars users pay their share of that infrastructure cost and get the burden off of working people and I bet a small share increase would be pretty affordable.

Like you say avoiding liability is in everyone's interest. In a utopian libertarian society maybe an inspector someone you'd want to pay electively like an engineer.

Someone who could coordinate consultations with surrounding properties and engage others who are experts with say surface water etc.

The other option might be your insurance company would require inspection for you to receive coverage.. In the event of say an HVAC electrical fire. Then the cost is certifying the build is covered by a private company instead of being a state operated service which is free from the pressures of competition. Also then delays in permitting could also incur liability :)

In reality if permitting is quick, affordable and isn't weilded like a political weapon Im mostly fine with it. The federal government is using it to pretty much shut down oil and gas development in Canada. Municipal permitting is partly why we have a massive housing crisis.

If you rented or bought a house close to a grocery store you'd mostly be able to do it. European cities were built when horse and carriage were still the best option. I think if city centres were designed to be car free and have everything organised to be walkable that'd be great for people who want that.. There are certainly a lot of situations where someone needs to have a car .. Here and in Europe.

A world where roads and public transit are all operated as for profit ventures without any tax ? Man now you're talking .. I'd love that