We’re remodeling the house, getting it fixed up to put on the market in January. In the middle of this chaos, I went to pick up my Prius after some body work was done. The paint job was stellar, the battery was dead. Wouldn’t jump. Towed it to the dealer got a rental. That only took three hours. But then people in Baghdad today identified the bodies of tortured family and friends so a little perspective is always needed. But I digress.
Did I mention the traffic on the freeway was bad both to and from the auto body shop? A few hours later, Sue called, she was coming back home on the same route. The on-ramps to the freeways were so backed up that it took her 30 minutes to drive four miles just to get on the freeway. Then it was the usual 5-20 mph crawl home. This is “normal” for the terminally dysfunctional Los Angeles traffic system and is one of the main reasons we’re moving. The traffic will only steadily worsen here – and it gets noticeably worse with every passing month.
Under socialism, a government can more easily mandate solutions to terminal traffic messes like the Los Angeles freeway system (surface streets can be equally crowded too.) A socialist government working for the people as a whole might well have not let the mess happen in the first place because they would have created and maintained effective mass transit. Most of the big US cities that have subways and light rail did it decades ago. To do that here in L.A. will take years and billions of dollars. But it needs to be done, and only large government has the power and capability to do it. Under socialism, the duchies of homeowners associations wouldn’t be able to block needed mass transit from happening for decades like they have. But even they are finally realizing, we’re all in this together.
Something needs to be done else L.A. will continue its downward spiral into endless Traffic Hell. Hey, on the way back today in my rental Corolla there was a Lamborghini next to me. We were both going 25. On a freeway at 2:45 pm. Again, this is considered routine traffic for L.A. Owning a $200,000 car doesn’t get you there any faster.
And don’t even get me started about stretch Hummers, the symbol of all that is wrong and stupid about Los Angeles traffic!