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[Rolan7]

It's harder to police large areas with shitty infrastructure
I'd like to see the EU police handle the rednecks of the NC tobacco plains, much less the mountain people of West Virginia.  You learn not to make such people upset on your way through.  Lotsa hog farms around, and strong opinions and buckshot on the speed limit signs.  Maybe cover up the equality sticker, "Yeah of course I go to church".

Whereas if you get jumped in a bad part of a city, someone might hear shots or happen to drive by and see blood.  Same culture of not talking to the police, but a lot less remote so it's harder to fully cover up (so it's less likely to happen).  The nearest patrolling policeman is probably 5 minutes away, not an hour away and oblivious.

Except cities can have bad infrastructure too and then you're back to being at the mercy of locals.

[Orange Wizard]

Is decent infrastructure an impossibility?

[Baffler]

Is decent infrastructure an impossibility?

Not really but it's a multi-billion dollar problem at the very least, and whatever reason the issue doesn't really have all that much attention from policymakers.

[hector13]

Is decent infrastructure an impossibility?

Not really but it's a multi-billion dollar problem at the very least, and whatever reason the issue doesn't really have all that much attention from policymakers.

No glamour in it.

"I'll fix all the roads and make sure y'all have internet!" doesn't sound as good as "I'll get rid of all them illegal immigrants!"

[Frumple]

Is decent infrastructure an impossibility?

In a technical sense, no? There's plenty of places where it's mostly fine, there's just... also a lot of places where it isn't. And the US is effing huge, so keeping it all in good shape is somewhat expensive.

... also a lot of the industries supporting it are corrupt as fuck (road construction is just holy shit what the hell in a lot of places in the US, ferex), which doesn't help with the expense aspect.

Also doesn't help that spending has been fairly steady (relative to GDP, anyway), but we've been expanding our road system at the same time, which... should be an obvious problem. Can't really do sufficient maintenance when huge chunks of the budget are going into expansion (which further increases the maintenance costs and, well. Tantrum spiral.).

And other issues. It's a friggin' gigantic and hella' complex issue.

And yeah, multi-billion is almost understating it. 2014 spending was ~416 billion just for public spending on water and transportation. To frame it to better contextualize things for you, OW, the US infrastructure costs in 2014 was around 2-3x New Zealand's total GDP. And it's still kinda' shitty in a lot of places. Basically it's not impossible, but it takes the concentrated effort of what's equivalent to multiples of entire countries, just to fail slower.

[Orange Wizard]

No glamour in it.

"I'll fix all the roads and make sure y'all have internet!" doesn't sound as good as "I'll get rid of all them illegal immigrants!"

RIP

[ChairmanPoo]

Having been thrice attacked by people who were high on something or other, one of which was nearly able to rip my (deadbolted) back door open before the cops got there, and having had no less than ten close acquaintances beaten and robbed for drug money, I strenuously disagree.

[hector13]

Ha, I like.

People are more inclined to go with their own experience though... Makes more sense to them, prob'ly.

[redwallzyl]

well in some places roads get a lot worse a lot faster. freeze thaw ice wedging and such. their are some really bad potholes in Michigan on some roads. i poped a tire not a half mile down the road from my house. not that the roads aren't well built or something. my dad is actually a road worker and their is constant maintenance. there is just so much damage everywhere all the time and they cant get to a lot of the roads for long periods and the budget to keep up with the backlog is not enough do to it being based on gas tax.

[chaotic skies]

The roads seem like what we would pour a large amount of money into logically, because without roads, most people are totally screwed. In reality, it seems as if we don't put nearly enough money into the budget for transportation. Honestly, the federal government doesn't need to do a lot, just hand out grants for upgrading/fixing a set length/amount of road. Less so for building new ones, but possibly still something for building roads.

[hops]

because the obvious solution to school shootings is to give all the students guns. nothing could ever go wrong i see nothing possibly wrong with this plan...sssssssssaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrccccccccccccaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, less people would die if the other kids kill the kid who pulled a gun.

[hector13]

because the obvious solution to school shootings is to give all the students guns. nothing could ever go wrong i see nothing possibly wrong with this plan...sssssssssaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrccccccccccccaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, less people would die if the other kids kill the kid who pulled a gun.

You're also arming the kids who might be inclined to do something.

Personally, I thinking arming a fleshy bag of neural rewiring and hormones is a pretty shit idea.

[Rolan7]

Well apparently it's illegal to possess a handgun until you're 18 in the USA by federal law.  Hunting rifles and such are apparently fine because good luck concealing those.

@Cinder IKR that's what I was sayin
Also I tried to point out that the so-called "gun show" loophole is way more of a problem than properly vetted gun owners.

@ChairmanPoo
Yeah anyone on the internet could just be lying to sound cool or win a meaningless fight, it does pay to remember that.

This isn't really a structured debate though, and what Shonus described does happen, so...  Personally I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and be respectful.

[Flying Dice]

Teenagers don't have the emotional stability or self-control to handle the ability to communicate with each other without moderation. Tools to help them inflict harm are right out.

[Orange Wizard]

I like how me whining about gun control turned into a massive discussion about demographics and road maintenance.