The symbol of modern conservatism is the SUV that pulls in and out of the garage of the front yard-free McMansion placed inside a gated community, a perfect little system that allows the conservative base voter to leave their home and run errands with an absolute minimum of contact with the outside world. Trains are basically the opposite of that—everyone buys a ticket (which may involve pressing “1†for English), and you sit down basically wherever, and anyone can sit in your car or even your aisle. If SUVs are the symbols of everything wrong with conservative America to liberals, then trains are definitely a symbol of everything wrong with liberal America to conservatives—the egalitarian nature of them, the prioritizing of fuel efficiency over living like a little pretend king in a little pretend castle, the lack of airs that are associated with train travel. Once the trains come in, it becomes easier not to own a car, and next thing you know, people are walking more, which means even more shoulder-rubbing with the hoi polloi. It’s all very disconcerting. No wonder Republican politicians want nothing to do with it.
Comment of the Day
QotD: Justin Webb appreciation society
Glad to see we’re not the only one to fully appreciate Justin Webb, as this extract from Chicken Yoghurt shows:
ITEM: Using the voice of John Humphrys ‘to scare off hungry deer from eating gardeners’ prized fruit and vegetables’ is a great idea. His voice certainly scares me away from listening to Radio 4′s Today programme. No doubt the voices of the programme’s other presenters could also be put to good use. When I hear Justin Webb’s voice, for instance, it always scares off feelings of wanting to be alive.
QotD: Death of a thousand budget cuts
Whitehall Watch gets the real impact of the proposed ConDem budget exactly right:
But the real impact is going to be not on public jobs – important as they are – as on the services that people get. The poorer you are, the more dependent you are on public services and provision. The more money you have, the more you have options to provide for yourself if you need to and public services fail to deliver. This doesn’t show up in any of the economic analysis of the impact of the Budget on the population, because public services aren’t priced. The effect on many vulnerable people will be devastating.
It’s not just the people dependent on disability or unemployment benefits who are vulnerable, but also the many more families who need public services to survive, as their wages are not enough to pay for all their necessities. These people may not be exactly poor now, but will be if the budget is enacted.
CotD: American Chernobyl edition
Jim Henley on the wider implications of the BP oil spill:
There can’t be three foreigners not in the employ of Rupert Murdoch who, today, can read about the “American model of democratic capitalism†without sniggering. This is a country whose elites can cry real tears about the pensions of Britons while regarding the pensions of American autoworkers as the next thing to a crime. While there is a real principle at stake in the difference, it’s not one you’re supposed to voice: Concern for British pensions is a way to keep powerful and connected people unaccountable for their actions; Auto worker pensions can only cost such people money.
You would’ve thought though that Katrina would’ve done this already.
QotD: how is Israel like North Korea
From Jamie:
Is it extreme to raise parallels between Israel and North Korea? I don’t think so. Both countries are highly militarized and intensely nationalistic, quite a lot of the time to the point of messianism . Both regard themselves as lights unto the nations, as the saying goes. Neither consider themselves bound by treaty arrangements, and are indeed generally suspicious of them. Both believe themselves to be under existential threat and neither acknowledges that their own behaviour may have anything to do with whatever hostility they face. Both pursue a strategy of active deterrence, based on a philosophy of applying disproportionate force. Both countries enjoy active, committed support from within a diaspora population. Both have nuclear weapons and neither subscribe to the anti-proliferation regime. Both economies depend heavily on arms sales abroad. While both countries consider themselves to be friendless, and use this perception to mobilise support among their respective populations, each enjoys close relations with a major sponsor.