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While I like trains as much or maybe more than the average person, I find it hard to get excited about long-distance, city-to-city HSR. Given the large distances between major cities here in the West, I can't  imagine a trip where it doesn't work out to be more cost- and time-effective to fly.

I _do_ on the other hand think that rail has a lot of appeal for replacing long commutes and providing connections between major cities and the small cities that surround them.

I've had fun riding things like the EuroStar and the Shinkansen, but what I really envy is that, in those countries, I was able to get around and see sights in smaller towns riding on one- and two-car DMU commuter trains. I envied the locals heading into town for work or shopping without the whole car+driving+traffic+parking mishigas. It was positively genteel.

posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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It's not clear in all of this /why/ governments (and corporations) should fund art and artists in the first place. Is it an general ambient good like street trees? Is it a farm system feeding professional media? Is it the tribute vice (the dull commercial pursuits) pays to virtue (the artistic pursuits)?

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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