America = 20th Century, Rest of World = 21st Century

[FrostyBoy]

Sloww, wait till they die, or evict them into another place (usually much nicer, for the same price).

Crappy buildings, houses, definitely, but the nice ones far far far out-weigh the crappy ones, and those crappy ones will eventually be upgraded (short-term), for those that are not upgraded, it's probably because of the character, the old design of the old times, a lot of people like it, and its good for tourism. These places aren't houses, (they used to be), but they are now shophouses, I think its acceptable.

Old, abandoned, rusty, broken windows, etc, like you will find in Detroit is not acceptable.

As much as I like the fallout kind of thing, I don't want to actually live in it, I hope for a more Star Trek like future.

[Colon™]

I had a cracked window for a few months once and my government didn't do a damn about it.

[Deity Dude]

I still want an answer from Frosty:

Is he saying "America is behind the Rest of the World" or is he saying "Chicago is behind Singapore"

By the way both are wrong but the first premise is way more absurd than the second.

So to sum it up so there is no reason to dodge or BS. 1 simple question. (Please pick an answer before you pontificate)

Was your point that:

a) America was behind the rest of the world
b) Chicago is behind Singapore
c) Both

Again please choose one answer before you give me a long speech.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by SlowwHand


What are they doing with the people?

Turning them into mindless sheep who have no initiative and are paralyzed by decision-making because they're used to the government doing everything for them, or at least telling them exactly what to do.

I have in front of me, right now, the Singapore government's pamphlet on how to use government emergency services. They actually have to say -- to explicitly spell out -- that you should not call the police if your air conditioner is leaking.

Singapore's a nanny state. Guess what that makes its citizens.

[GePap]

I know of a woman here in the US who was not getting seated at a Dinner and called 911 FIVE times to get the police to come and deal with her complaint.

What then is wrong about a government pamphlet that explicitly tells people not to do something dumb? Hell, have you looked at a bottle of some harsh chemical? Are you telling me that in the free-thinking USA they don't put "do not drink" on bottles of say Anti-Freeze?

[FrostyBoy]

Originally posted by Deity Dude
I still want an answer from Frosty:

Is he saying "America is behind the Rest of the World" or is he saying "Chicago is behind Singapore"

By the way both are wrong but the first premise is way more absurd than the second.

So to sum it up so there is no reason to dodge or BS. 1 simple question. (Please pick an answer before you pontificate)

Was your point that:

a) America was behind the rest of the world
b) Chicago is behind Singapore
c) Both

Again please choose one answer before you give me a long speech.

I exaggerated the topic on purpose (as stated in my first post), obviously to 1. grab attention (worked too well) and stir people up (also worked too well), kind of working against me now...

The simple answer is: Chicago is behind Singapore with regards to upgrading infrastructure. The question: Why? And what is being done about it? Especially considering America is more than capable of doing something about it.

[Bosh]

My understanding is that most of Singapore's more silly laws aren't very strictly enforced. For example my taxi driver talked about how its against the law not to flush the toilet in a public bathroom but they really don't do anything about it. My (rather limited) impression is that Singapore's authoritarianism isn't really all its cracked up to be.

Personally I wouldn't mind living inSingapore for a bit simply for the amazing variety of great Asian food from across the continent. Indian + Chinese + SE Asia = drool Beats the hell out of Korean food. And fish head curry is awesome. I'd definatley adjust better there than going back to the states, the kind of sprawl you get around most cities just drives me crazy.

[FrostyBoy]

Rufus, I often think the US is a lot like sheep too.

In fact, it's more like sheep who think they're wolves. Jus the way the US government wants it.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The food rocks. Living someplace this clean and green rocks. I saw an excellent concert in the fantastic concert hall at the Esplanade, Singapore's Lincoln Center. Living in Singapore is very nice, and I'll miss it when I go. But pretending that Singapore can be duplicated in large countries, or free counties, or even countries with free-market economies is just silly.

[FrostyBoy]

Well Rufus, I can see why Singapore cannot be duplicated in other cities too, but that's not my question, the question is why is Chicago, a city of great and mighty America, not upgrading infrastructure such as buses and trains to a much needed state?

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by FrostyBoy
Well Rufus, I can see why Singapore cannot be duplicated in other cities too, but that's not my question, the question is why is Chicago, a city of great and mighty America, not upgrading infrastructure such as buses and trains to a much needed state?

much needed why exactly? you said the infrastructure was ugly and had smelly passengers using it.

[FrostyBoy]

When I was down in those subways, when I was on the train and the buses, people looked down and unhappy, they looked miserable.

People moving about in ergonomic, clean, efficient buildings and transportation are happier and satisfied, even proud.

How is this clean, ergonomic and efficient? How can you be proud and satisfied with this?

[FrostyBoy]

I get it, it's "Chicago" and you don't want to change it, it has history, it's Chicago's culture, its where you grew up and your memories are there.

But come on, by the same ideology, you should never upgrade your car, just keep using the same old petrol guzzling automobile, popping and banging everywhere you go. So the younger have to suffer, coz the elder don't want to let go.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by FrostyBoy
Well Rufus, I can see why Singapore cannot be duplicated in other cities too, but that's not my question, the question is why is Chicago, a city of great and mighty America, not upgrading infrastructure such as buses and trains to a much needed state?

Simple answer: Chicago is a city, Singapore is a country; Chicago doesn't have the money Singapore does. In America, city taxes are quite low; the lion's share of Chicagoans' taxes goes to the federal government, not the city.

Now, if you want to ask why the federal government doesn't spend more on infrastructure updates, that's a great question -- and not one to which I have an answer, except that Americans in general don't care much about their cities, and Republicans in particular don't (since urban areas vote Democratic). So getting money for urban infrastructure has always been difficult, and has probably been more difficult in the last 28 years, when the GOP has controlled either the presidency, the House, and/or the Senate. If the Dems control all three starting in 2009, it will be interesting to see if cities benefit.

[FrostyBoy]

It took 10 pages to get that answer.