• Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    269
    ·
    1 day ago

    Nd let’s not forget that there was an economic benefit too that conservatives will ignore. People were able to get out of their house and go spend money thanks to the people who shoveled. People went to work and kept things going.

    Conservatives frequently think these things bring no value, and will absolutely mock it on fox news saying “so people can wALk”. But yes, the benefit is they can go keep the economy going.

    Its why I don’t understand why they are against things like high speed rail. Its an investment. Every time we connect people together trade happens, and economies grow. Its kind of how that works.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      28
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      The issue with public transport is that it’s an investment that will pay off in years, not next quarter, or even next election. They don’t give a fuck if it doesn’t benefit them specifically, and right now.

      Also, it evens the field. They don’t want this because the bottom having more means they are less above them.

    • AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      23 hours ago

      Clean energy is another example of an investment which obviously saves money in the long term and also improves the economy in the short term. Conservatives don’t care about that because they don’t care about the long term, and even if they do, they want all of these issues to still be around so they have something to yell about (since apparently voters only care about something being a problem and can’t tell if the ‘solution’ will actually make things better or worse). There’s also a lot of lobbyist money that they can keep on getting by preventing these sorts of investments. If we stopped relying on a couple of oil companies, then those oil companies wouldn’t be able to give the politicians money.

      • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        85
        ·
        1 day ago

        In a city where the vast majority either walk to work, or walk to the subway to get to work, I can’t imagine. We clear roadways in the midwest and no one bats an eye, but clearing sidewalks in a walkable city is crazy to them.

        • [deleted]@piefed.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          14 hours ago

          It is because they personally do not walk on the sidewalks and don’t se employees as people and would rather they just trudged through the drifts to thank them for a paycheck.

          They do know that trucks move goods around, which they care about.

          Therefore roads being cleared is important to the wealthy and sidewalks are not.

      • scutiger@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        38
        ·
        1 day ago

        Let’s be real, it’s not that much money. I mean $30/hr is nice, but that’s only when there’s enough snow to be worth cleaning, and only half the year. It’s not like a full-time position paid $30/hr.

        So the investment is relatively small, and the benefit is relatively large.

        • nomy@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          14 hours ago

          I’ve known several people who love that kind of seasonal/day labor kind of work. They can work and save while the work is there and then do contract/part-time in the off season. It’s not for everyone but some people make it work.

          I wonder how it’s set up, can I just put in some hours after my day job or is there a set schedule?

          • scutiger@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            8 hours ago

            Snow removal is normally an on-call job. There’s no need to work when there’s no snow to remove. It’s not a reliable source of income.

            A seasonal job like landscaping or irrigation can be reliable. Snow removal is unfortunately not one of those jobs. It makes sense if you can do multiple similar jobs during the season.

    • Bubbaonthebeach@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      44
      ·
      1 day ago

      Plus all the money paid out in wages went back into the local economy for rent, food, etc. It didn’t go to offshore tax havens.

    • Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      35
      ·
      1 day ago

      Conservative don’t want to make things better for everyone, they want to make things better for themselves.

      This makes them short sighted and only see the money right in front of their face, which in this case, is going into the pockets of people shovelling snow.

      They don’t see the benefit because it doesn’t benefit them immediately.

      But you can bet your life that they will reap the benefit as they pull themselves up by other peoples bootstraps.

    • Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      25
      ·
      1 day ago

      Because everything’s a get rich quick scheme or a scam, investments to them are rigging bets on polymarket

    • Tja@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      1 day ago

      And it’s not a new concept either, it has been proven many times and there’s plenty of case studies. High speed rail too, all over Europe, China and Japan. But when your job has been given to you by an oil company donation…

    • Soup@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      1 day ago

      Let’s not forget also, that when you pay people directly they go and spend that money. Businesses cannot have customers if the customers don’t have money. The reason why money is kept so tight is a) blind greed and b) because then people can only afford to patronize Walmart or Amazon, not their local stores.

      Conservatives like to act as though raising minimum wage will kill local businesses despite the fact that that is not how that works.

    • brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      1 day ago

      Besides that, people are struggling to make ends meet. If the city pays them to do something, that money isn’t just staying in saving accounts. They are going to spend it, likely very very soon.

    • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      18 hours ago

      I agree but I think we are currently driving past that place in history where everything is based on buying and selling things for money. The current imbalance of capital is slowly catching on to the rest of the world, not just the ones who’ve known it all along.

    • Nalivai@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 day ago

      I assume oil companies broke the brain of the worst americans so now they only want what’s best for oil companies, most of the time without even realising it.

      • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        1 day ago

        Its so obvious top which is the most annoying thing. Cars are freedom. Well, no, they’re actually a huge liability that cost a small fortune and lose that value, and then you’re tethered to a gas pump forever.

        Or I could, I don’t know, take public transit anywhere I wanted to go. You know, freedom to choose other things

    • einlander@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      1 day ago

      It’s an investment to the public, not a direct injection of cash/investment that they will directly benefit from.