• leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    23 hours ago

    The reason the project is so delayed is because of democracy.

    Next four largest high speed rail networks are in Spain, Japan, France, and Germany… which might not be perfect democracies, but are certainly far from the worst.

    Democracy isn’t the problem, and you certainly don’t need to be a dictatorship to get things done.

    • anomnom@sh.itjust.works
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      19 hours ago

      It’s our court system specifically. Anyone can sue for anything, and litigation is used to solve the problem. It takes forever and billions are wasted on lawyers. That’s a big reason. Also the fuck-you-I-got-mine culture (NIMBYs) that use the courts disingenuinly.

      A good listen that explains a lot of the reasons is The Big Dig, about Bostons huge infrastructure debacle.