Hello nihilism, my dark friend.
edit: anyone downvoting me really needs to use one of their 5 llm subs and ask what america is ahead on atm
music
movies
microcode (software)
high-speed pizza delivery”
Pretty much every one of these is a boring example. Abortion access is a debatable topic, most people who want public transit want it so they can get OTHER people off the road, lots of major cities have both public transit and walkability, many states and cities have significantly higher minimum wages, etc.
None of these are things most Americans are absolutely clamoring for - you just want to live in Europe without moving there.
Well, maybe the concept of free healthcare.
> Abortion access is a debatable topic
It's a simple debate though, one we can speedrun:
Objections to abortion access are rooted in religious concerns.
The first amendment guarantees separation of church and state.
Birth control of all sorts are the best method of reducing generational poverty.
It is also medically necessary in some cases to save the life of the mother, especially in the case of a non-viable fetus.
QED: If you don't like abortion, don't get one. It has multiple societal benefits.
> most people who want public transit want it so they can get OTHER people off the road
Forget free healthcare, it's about affordable healthcare. For the outcomes we get, the US has extremely expensive healthcare. Many, many other countries have better outcomes for way less money.
Get sick, can't keep up at work so you get fired, can't afford treatment because healthcare insurance is tied to employment.
You will never get well, you get evicted. Then you can decay on the streets if not jail.
Compared to Europe.
Get sick. Have real labor protections so you won't get fired, and generous benefits to keep you afloat. Get free healthcare, get well.
Sip fine wine while reading horror stories about the US healthcare system.
America is basically a giant casino. A small percentage of gamblers win, but even they are a bad roll of the dice away from destitution.
Simple, the US Fossil Fuel Industry + Political Contributions, or as all other countries call these contributions, bribes.
Also, I heard today the last remaining law that restricts these bribes is up before the US Supreme Court. We all know how they will rule, soon anything goes. Soon in the US, getting elected to a Federal Office will be much better than winning a lottery. Free Dinner, Free Vacations, Free Housing and a padded bank account can be fully legally had by any US Congress Person.
Edit: forgot, getting elected as President pretty can much makes you a billionaire.
We were left behind because we shelter our own car companies in a gentle cradle where they don’t have to compete. Both parties did this while saying they wanted to “level the playing field” but chose rates that were protectionist and made competitive products prohibitive not rates that actually created a level field.
We were left behind because we tried to protect our companies from facing the future. People in this country expect that one can stand on the shore of a beach and vote on whether the tide should go in or out, and that’s just not how the world works.
I get that there are some real (or perceived) issues that are trying to be solved with these tariffs, but that doesn't magically make the realities of what tariffs do to a market go away. "Just do something" is a good way to get a "solution" that makes you worse off.
Tariffs are the worse sort of tax, massive amounts of deadweight loss, and a burden specifically on the pooorest. Perhaps that second part is why they are so popular.
How does that fact correlate to China's EV segment booming?
So...China. They have zero standards for anything. The cars probably do poorly in crashes. The industries making the batteries pollute the shit out of everything. The batteries probably don't last as long as indicated, probably half as many cells as was advertised. The tires are thinner, the glass is thinner, the paint is barely applied. Is this really what we want?
There has to be some middle way.
RE China: They also make the cheapest and best qualities Telsa which are shipped around the world. They can make the best and worst quality depending on your price point.
I've driven a MG ZS EV for a month a year or two ago and it was an equal in terms of "feel" to my current to VW id3, but way better equipped. The tyres are just normal bridgestones or michellins etc.
Can't comment on the paint or if they're lying about the battery capacity, but they genuinely seem like decent cars, at least the ones in the UK. I am sure there are cheaper-made ones for the domestic china market, but the export stuff seems good.
Taking a mature industry and adding protectionism because of underperformance is a disaster on all fronts.
We were in the middle of a huge industrial investment buildout, absolutely untold of in modern history, for solar and batteries. But with the goal of undoing anything the prior administration has done, we are abandoning the good that a little protectionism could have for a growing battery and solar industry in the US.
We are toast without big changes. The world is leapfrogging us, and with every dozen GW that China exports, it is permanently lowering demand for US natural gas and oil, which will eventually torpedo the industry, or leave the US with far higher energy prices than the rest of the world, both of which are disastrous for industry.
So what is it now? Best country or totally behind?
With that, good luck moving to China.
There is a significance portion of the US populace that is vehemently opposed to the very concept of electric cars, claiming to be "Dark MAGA" isn't going to fix that.
The US is #2 in the world in EVs behind China. Tesla leads the US in EVs, and is #2 in the world.
A sample of more reasonable titles:
1. US is #2 in EV manufacturing and sales, can they catch up to China?
2. How did BYD catch up so quickly to Tesla?
3. Why can't Europe create its own Tesla?
_aavaa_•1h ago