Ridiculous.

Americans are practical like anyone else. Transit in the US tends to be (much) slower than driving, so people drive.

In the few places where transit actually works, like New York, Americans use it.

My last town, the bus at busy times would literally stop on every major corner to let on or off one person. Plus, there was no actual place for the bus to pull out of traffic, so every block, it would stop in the right lane.

So the bus took at least 4 times longer to get to downtown, and caused TONS of frustration with other drivers, who were always frantic to get to the left lane to get around the bus. Tends to not leave a great impression on people. Now, if there was something like a BRT, with limited stops, out of traffic, with much faster loading, then that would probably really change its image in my town.

I think it's more like "fuck sitting on the train for 40 minutes next to someone who is laying across a row of seats literally covered in their own waste." If you ever get onto a crowded BART and see a conspicuously unoccupied area, don't be tempted to venture near it.

It's certainly not a judgment of that person. It's just not how you want to spend your commute. Clearly that person is not healthy, and the entire situation is not healthy for anyone.

I'm sorry, I have to push back here. Is it a "fuck poor people" mentality, as you state, to not want to be near people who smell of urine, excrement, BO, stale drug smells? This is simply the modern nose being accustomed to sanitary smells, can you really say it's a "fuck poor people mentality" if it's down to literally never smelling those smells except on public transport?

There is some of that, but some of it is just snobbery...meaning kids are made fun of if they take the bus rather than driving in their own car or getting a ride from their parents. It starts from an early age, and isn’t entirely related to disgust.

These undesirable aspects are at least partially a result of the same fuck the poor mentality. In countries that actually care for their populations, homeless and otherwise, this problem is far less severe.

So fuck the middle class because the rich don't want to pay taxes?

There's a great deal of evidence that we actually save money by providing housing, shelters and other services to poor people. Unfortunately, the politics make this unpopular and dictate that when they are provided they come with strings attached that discourage their use. It really isn't a question of not wanting to pay taxes and much more question of demonizing poor people.

The money spent on policing, cleanup, and emergency medical care is often far more than we would spend if we would just fund helping lift people out of poverty without all the moralizing.

The middle class makes up most of the tax payer population. You can't tax income at the top and expect much unless you added 20%.

Your statement isn't incorrect, but it has missed the point. Yea the middle class will always bear the majority of the tax burden in absolute terms, but that doesn't mean it's silly to tax the rich, the take home is pretty minor but they should always be paying more money in absolute individual terms than the middle class - right now they usually pay less, sometimes they pay nothing, sometimes they get a handout.

Most of the tax payer population, but not most of the gains available for taxation. Small increases in taxes to the very wealthy would far outweigh large increases in taxes to the middle class in terms of government revenue.

On top of that, you say "unless you added 20%" as if that's something that's beyond the pale when in fact the wealthiest people pay far less in taxes that at any point in our country's history.

The top 1% in the US has absorbed nearly the entire economic growth for the last 30 years or so.

The number of people doesn’t really matter. It’s the percentage of wealth that they hold that matters.

Other segments of the population have seen absolutely no economic growth.

The top 1% isn't getting income via employment payroll.

They own entities globally and can afford to give themselves a dollar a year salary. If you are only raising employment income taxes you have to get it from the middle class.

I'm reminded of the slums currently surrounding Paris which are almost as bad as LA's skid row, but less visible simply because they're further from the people in power.

Or what about Britain's history of horrific poverty that formed the basis for nearly all of Dickens' work. Germany's far more recent history, especially for those on the East side of the wall. Russia's treatment of its poor during and after Communism. The way that people just ignore the poor, and even dying around them in China, and India, without even taking a few seconds to call emergency services.

Which country has contributed personnel to every major UN mission? Which is the only country to have provided medical assistance, food, and logistics support after every major terrorist act or natural disaster through January 2017? Which country sends more volunteers around the world to house the poor, feed the hungry, and teach the children than nearly every other nation combined? (Hint: the answer to all of these is the US.)

But sure, only Americans only think of themselves...

I did not say only Americans do this. Nonetheless, I am not convinced the homeless issue in France competes with that of LA, Dickens wrote in the 19th century, and this is the 21st.

Which nation has military bases in every populated corner of the Earth? Soothing platitudes such as yours have always underwritten imperialism.

In my entire life, I have never experienced those smells on public transit in a wide variety of cities. So if you're experiencing those smells a lot, that is a local issue with an oversized burden on public transit because, well, fuck the poor people who take transit.

That's because your transit system is taking up the slack in other parts of your municipal system that are failing, not because public transit is bad.

It's because "fuck poor people" is happening across a broad spectrum.

This. imho transit ridership bears more of the burden of the "fuck poor people" undercurrent of America.

It's maybe the snowy after image of the American Dream: Anyone can make [if they work hard] / It must be their fault if they don't make it.

Even in its most dysfunctional state, like busses that are total shit and run once an hour on a drunkenly erratic schedule, it's still operational as compared to other things like homeless shelters, drug rehab centers, and mental health care which don't exist or are completely overwhelmed.

As much as rich people hate buses, they're a vital transportation resource to working folks - I take a bus and metro every day and save a bunch compared to owning and commuting in a car.

You don't take the bus because you like it, but because you have no other option.

Nope, I've got plenty of other options, I just choose to take the bus and support public transit. I do well for myself, not stupid SV levels of salary, but quite comfortable.

There have been places where I could have commuted by car (i.e., I owned a car), but chose to commute by bus instead.

It is far from just poor people who make public transit unpleasant: https://twitter.com/hashtag/garbagepeopleofnjtransit

All you have to do is search “KC bus shooting” on YouTube.

Although you forgot to mention BART, do you believe such is common across US public transportation?