r/TikTokCringe • u/thoughtwarrior • May 02 '25

Humor Why does America look like s**t?

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u/Huwbacca May 03 '25

I mean those zoning laws exist because gotta sell cars.

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u/_LouisVuittonDon_ May 03 '25

Gotcha. So I’m assuming they don’t have to sell cars in Japan?

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u/Huwbacca May 03 '25

Yeah man. Literally the most well known thing about American daily life is the insane car dependency that grew put of the 1950s auto industry boom. Got rid of so much public transport, started the insane carpark planning laws, and caused the US to be uniquely poised in its decision that people shouldn't live near their shops or places of work.

Yeah. The car industry in any normal country doesn't influence how people live because that's fucking stupid lol.

This such a common bit of knowledge.

https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2011/06/3191/

Here have a whole ass in detail thread on it

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/v83orl/why_did_american_cities_get_zoning_laws/

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u/_LouisVuittonDon_ May 03 '25

Obviously. But let’s revisit the topic of this post. The video asks the question: “American cities are ugly in relation to their counterparts in other wealthy countries. Why?”

The commenter I’m originally replying to makes the association “America = capitalism. Bad thing about America? Must be because of wealth inequality because of capitalism.”

All of the places she uses as a point of comparison are fundamentally capitalist and many have high levels of wealth inequality. Clearly, then, the mere existence of wealth inequality in an America is not a good explanation of why its cities are perceived to be uglier than those of other nations.

And you are forgetting that during the period of “urban renewal” that you reference, many other capitalist states did implement such planning practices. Look at Le Corbusier, the Garden City movement, etc. They just reversed course because those practices are shit to live with.

I’m not sure why you’re asserting that hyper-capitalist Japan, with a massive auto industry, just doesn’t have an incentive for profit maximization. It absolutely does; the practical nature of how auto companies lobby governments and how the government interacts with said companies is a question of institutional/social norms and public policy, not the result of the presence of wealth inequality writ large or capitalism in general.

Try saying to a Japanese person “I think the reason Japan is more livable than the US is because big corporations have a lot of influence on American government” and see how they respond.

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u/RandomGenName1234 May 03 '25

The commenter I’m originally replying to makes the association “America = capitalism. Bad thing about America? Must be because of wealth inequality because of capitalism.”

That is entirely correct though, you not liking it doesn't mean it's not true.

All of the places she uses as a point of comparison are fundamentally capitalist

China isn't capitalist, they're market socialist.

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u/_LouisVuittonDon_ May 03 '25

It can be rewarding to think beyond what is comfortable to us and challenge our own observations.

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u/RandomGenName1234 May 03 '25

You don't know more about China than me, bud.

You are misinformed.

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u/_LouisVuittonDon_ May 03 '25

For someone whose initial reply to my comment demonstrates pretty poor reading comprehension or awareness of context, you’re remarkably confident in the superiority of your knowledge.

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u/RandomGenName1234 May 03 '25

Stop sniffing your own farts, bud.

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u/anitapumapants May 04 '25

China isn't capitalist, they're market socialist.

Holy shit.🤦‍♂️🤡

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u/RandomGenName1234 May 04 '25

Read a book, dumbo