[...]
Post by Alex W.Post by Rick JohnsonSure, PT will always have the advantage of decongesting
the roadways, but if you can sip coffee and surf the web
or sleep in your own private transport "pod" instead being
pestered by the noise and flatulence and BO of the other
obnoxious riders, i think the personal transport pod will
win every day of the week and twice on sunday. Not to
mention the personal safety issues we see in large cities
with people being robbed and raped on PT (or while
navigating through subway terminals).
For every crime committed on public transport, I will show
you ten cases of car theft, traffic accidents, and car-
jackings.
If your numbers are correct, that's a one to ten ratio. Hmm,
for every PT rider, I wonder how many autos are on the road?
Post by Alex W.Where are you really safer, on a New York subway platform
or in your car?
That question couldn't honestly be answered without some
reliable statistical data. And you couldn't just compare
crime stats without also considering the aggregate number of
cars on the road / and PT riders.
We know that airline travel is safer than automobiles, but
outside of rare events like hijackings (which are almost
unheard of these days), violent crime is rare during air-
travel and/or in airport terminals. Not sure why this is? My
suspicion is that we've always known airline travel to be a
ripe target for terrorist, and has been long before 9/11.
And as such, the security is aggressive.
However, in the case of PT, i'm highly skeptical of crime
reporting as these projects are typically "pet projects" of
city managers or mayors, and they have a tendency to keep a
tight lid on anything that would undermine the public's
faith in their "pet projects", yes, even violent crimes,
because when the public feel unsafe in their own city, they
vote for new management.
Why, just this year, BART refused to release a videos that
captured multiple incidents involving gangs of violent teens
attacking and robbing riders. And in one of the more
troubling cases, a group of approx. 60 teens boards a train
and robs seven people.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/07/09/bart-withholding-surveillance-videos-of-crime-to-avoid-stereotypes/
We've seen these "flash mobs" engage in all sorts of
thuggary in major cities across the US. And, AFAIC, these
flash mobs are a form of terrorism.
And even BART has admitted the crimes rates are up. But of
course, they try to spin the stats as much as they can:
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Crime-stats-show-where-surge-in-BART-robberies-is-11108092.php
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/01/mapping-crime-at-bart-stations/
Suppressing evidence of gang violence is a betrayal of the
public's trust in government, and in any sane political
environment, would be a high crime. This anti-transparency
and elitist attitude that is sweeping through our federal
and local governments mush be brought to an end. Democracy
is undermined when the public is denied valuable
information. And crime data is arguably one of the most
important pieces of information that a citizen can utilize
to protect themselves, and their loved ones, from becooming
victims. But more importantly, the public has a right to
know if their elected officials are incompetent.
I hereby propose that rigorous audit of the Bay Area's local
governmental budgets be conducted by an independent special
prosequtor, with the goal of uncovering every waste, fraud
and abuse that is undermining the Bay Area's ability to fund
more aggressive security measures at _all_ points along the
BART system. If BART sees a rise in ridership, then a
proportional rise in security must be implemented
immediately. And for the local managers to throw up their
hands and say "Well, the public will just have to accept
that more riders means more crimes"... is an abject failure
of duty, and constitutes willful neglect of public safety.
The first directive of _all_ governments is to provide a
safe environment for _all_ citizens who fall under its
jurisdiction, and any government who cannot provide a
reasonable expectation of public safety has _itself_ become
a danger to the public, and henceforth, every duty that
proceeds _after_ the first directive must be ignored, with
all funds and governmental resources reallocated and laser
focused on the first directive until such time as a
reasonable expectation of safety can be enjoyed by each and
every citizen of said jurisdiction. Futhermore, if said
managers cannot restore the public safety in a reasonable
amount of time, they must be relieved of their duties, and
an interim team of emergency managers must be brought in to
restore this safety so new election can be held.
It as often been stated that the Untited States Constitution
is not a suicide pact, but year after year, we watch
helplessly as our infrastructure slowly deteriorates; our
national debt skyrockets; our political atmosphere becomes
evermore polarized; and our major cities become cesspools of
crime where roving bands of punk-ass thugs commit violent
crimes against our fellow citizens with absolute impunity.
And while we are being preyed upon, and while our cities
crumble around us, our leaders are living the 1% lifestyle
with tax payer funded armed guards and gated communities.
Something is wrong with this picture. And, for the most
part, we as citizens, only have ourselves to blame.
We allowed this to happen.
We allowed this to happen we stopped caring about real
issues, and allowed ourselves to be lead around by the nose
with the emotional pandering of political Charlatans.
We allowed this happen when we stopped holding elected
officials responsible for their abject failures and in-our-
face corruption.
We allowed this happen when we stood by idoly as the binary
party system build impenetrable fortresses around itself,
walls that no other party could ever hope to breech!
But most of all, we allowed this to happen when we forgot
that freedom and liberty are far more important than a few
petty priviledges or self gratifying handouts. We've allowed
this to happen because we've allowed greed and envy and
jealousy to consume us. To blind us to the real truth. The
truth that, we, the people, are being preyed upon by our
elected officials. The "political class".
Because, believe it not, we are the ones in control. We are
the ones who hold the power over this great nation. But
we've got to take our faces out of our telescreens for five
minutes to look around, and ask ourselves who is the _real_
enemy to our freedom? Who is the _real_ enemy to our safety?
And who is the _real_ enemy to our liberty?
Is it really those mean old republicans?
Or those mean old democrats?
No.
Those are our shipmates, and regardless of the petty
difference we may harbor against them, we are all trapped on
this same ship, and bound by the same fate. And our capitans
are drunken filthy blowhards who care nothing for our safety
or well being. And their negligence and incompetence is
going to get us _all_ killed. Or worse.