Car-dependent suburbia isn't good for your capitalist free-market economy

American cities didn't always have these heavily car dependent suburbs, American cities were all originally built with walkable areas with neighborhoods full of residential homes and small business were allowed to open in these residential neighborhoods, these Car-dependent suburbs only became a thing after World War 2 after car companies lobbied the government. A lot of people thought these car dependent suburbs would be idea living areas but these suburbs actually turned out to be very unsustainable. Heavily car-centric infrastructure actually costs a lot to maintain, the maintenance of the roads heavily used by cars racks up a lot of maintenance costs, more than what taxes can cover even if you raise high taxes on the super rich.

European countries how ever did not make the same mistake America did. European countries didn't allow car companies to Lobby the government and the government kept the cities the way they are to this day. It is a common belief that European countries are 'socialist' but according to The Heritage Foundation's index of economic freedom, countries like The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland are ranked in the top 10 while the U.S. is ranked #25: https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking

Switzerland has a TOTAL population of nearly 9 million people. The United States has a population of 330 million. Different locations, different populations, different economies, different approaches to things. Oh . . . and ditto for Denmark and Sweden.

It is absolutely true that European countries have completely different populations but I think that doesn't always necessarily mean policies that work in Europe don't work in America. Not all European countries are equal, many European countries do a lot of things different than each other. Many of these countries have a lot less unecessary small business regulations than America and what makes Switzerland a lot different than any other country is that it has a gold-backed currency, Switzerland is also a low-tax haven. Don't those sound like policies you would want in America? Getting rid of unnecessary red tape on small businesses? Gold-backed currency? I understand that Europe and America are completely different places but I don't see why America putting a lot of red tape on small businesses is 'necessary'.

Another thing about European countries that are different than one another is Healthcare systems. The UK has a nationalized single-payer Healthcare system which is completely controlled by the government, every other European country including Switzerland have multi-payer Healthcare systems which is a combination of government funding, private insurers and private Healthcare providers. In my view if America where to have a universal Healthcare system, a multi-payer Healthcare system would work better than a completely government controlled system. Many on the left renown European countries as 'socialist havens' and think privatized government services are 'bad' but the left don't realize that the European countries are more free-market than the U.S and many of the social welfare programs are privatized to an extent and it's working just fine in those countries therefore privatization isn't as 'bad' as the left thinks.

European governments are not the world's super power. To achieve and maintain that status the United States has had to continually pour into the military industrial complex all the funding that would have gone instead to all of the wonderful little programs cherished by European countries . . . with, ironically, their security mostly guaranteed by the looming reality of U.S. military might.

Yeah, funny thing about the U.S. military industrial complex: https://youtu.be/a-K4nOBQPFA

I'm sure that was both pithy and cutting edge; but I'm not going to open a youtube video just for this stuff. But if it was bad-mouthing the notorious U.S. military industrial complex then take a number because plenty of us veterans also have our own criticisms of the same. I did not say that it was wonderful, I said that it's where most of our money goes and that without it we would not remain a super power and Europeans would not continue to have their smug and guaranteed little lifestyles.

We're already far ahead of any other military on the planet. How much more powerful do we need to be? Too many sweetheart deals between our armed forces and the industries that supply them.

We could have a frickin' working Death Star but it would amount to nothing if the military's morale and reputation is shot to heck. . .and if it's not the politicians screwing with the former then it's the military industrial complex screwing with the latter.

Well said.

Well, they’re right.

Do you mean me?

No

So many lies, so little time

First off the topography is all different... distances are much shorter in Europe too... Less area has forced them to take other solutions... If you want to compare apples to apples, then you should compare metropolitan to metropolitan and not to American suburbs...

American cities weren't always built with these Car-dependent suburbs. American cities were originally built with cities and surrounding areas being walkable and transit accessible but all those walkable areas were bulldozed to make these suburbs. Also the suburbs aren't that far away from the cities. I am not advocating for the entire country including the rural towns to be a whole walkable area, I just want metropolitan areas and the nearby suburbs to be more accessible. In The Netherlands they also have suburbs but the suburbs near Amsterdam are more accessible by transit so a car is not the only mode of transportation.

so does this about sum it up?

No, I don't really think so and I'm not inclined to make such comparisons. Also one major drawback about heavily car-centric infrastructure is that it's actually unsustainable, the costs to maintain such infrastructure rack up a lot of government debt, more than what taxes can cover even if you raise high taxes on the super rich. One of the main points of my meme is that small businesses that contribute to the economy and generate tax revenue aren't allowed in the suburbs due to strict zoning laws. I really don't see reason of these zoning laws because I don't see why one shouldn't be allowed to open a small business in their neighborhood.

Where I live the population is 6000. Now that may seem like we're suburbia but in truth we are still very rural. For one thing we're surrounded by a whole lot of trees. . .for as much car traffic there is, a person is more likely to smack their head against a tree branch on a small tree while walking down a sidewalk than getting hit by a vehicle.

Looking at the top picture of meme - where are the trees. . .or grass. . .I mean is that the middle of Arizona or somethin'?

Probably Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma or something.