tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19671848.post6710170690740006868..comments2023-11-03T08:23:55.100-04:00Comments on Global Review: Great Conservative Books: The Death and Life of Great American CitiesMacro Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01735930711259574574noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19671848.post-73758246365078761642011-11-27T20:54:06.000-05:002011-11-27T20:54:06.000-05:00I grew up in an area decimated by Urban Renewal. J...I grew up in an area decimated by Urban Renewal. Just visit Niagara Falls, NY and Niagara Falls, Ontario, and see what it did for us. In New York, we tore down all that outmoded urban blight; in Ontario they put tchotchke shops in those storefronts. Buffalo had a useless, single subway line built down its Main Street with Federal dollars and central oversight. The net result was blocks and blocks of shuttered businesses. (Who can stay in business when their street is closed for two years to dig a tunnel?) Lockport, NY, saw its charming brick downtown levelled and replaced with brutalist monstrosities.<br /><br />Not that we’ve learned anything. I was shocked to see the extensive building work at the site of the former River Front Commons (across the Genesee from your former home). Not that it isn’t lovely, but it really annoys me that the only significant project in this community is a public-private partnership with significant tax advantages and oversight from state and local officials.Carol Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17235225263627779324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19671848.post-82487035303004996802011-11-24T12:16:59.111-05:002011-11-24T12:16:59.111-05:00I know nothing about German health care, unfortuna...I know nothing about German health care, unfortunately.<br /><br />Undergrads are the worst of the paternalistic bunch. They don't know how to do their own laundry, yet they believe they know how to run the world.Macro Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01735930711259574574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19671848.post-4028360401900708382011-11-24T11:38:41.099-05:002011-11-24T11:38:41.099-05:00I think a lot of those socialist-liberals at parti...I think a lot of those socialist-liberals at parties were once public health majors. Some of the students in my tutorial have made it abundantly clear that they have no regard for the personal decisions of ordinary people who want to (e.g.) smoke or not get all the recommended vaccinations.<br />In the particular cases our class discusses, I think there is something to be said for a paternalist position. But the overall attitude is shockingly arrogant. <br /><br />On another note, I'd be curious if you know anything about the German health care system, and if you could comment on it.Matthew Baddorfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02250090025939621171noreply@blogger.com