It seems like an obsession with people to promote mass transit, I don’t get it other than maybe some environmental overtones, what is the obsession with leftists and public rail?
Because it is 90% government owned / controlled. Next big campaign donor maybe appointed to the rail board 
This is easy: Power and control. The left hates individual liberty. The left sees that with transportation provided through coersion they maximise their power through public transit. That is they get the following:
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The ability to tell people when they can travel.
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Where they can travel to.
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What they can take when they travel.
And with mass transit they can use the large numbers of passengers per vehicle that yields somewhat better fuel economy than individual autos and therefore is liked by the environment wacos.
Yeah, another justification is that it’s a green-friendly solution that will ‘solve’ the issue of congestion on the roads. It’s just another government solution to a government created problem.
Someone (a backbencher I think) actually proposed to make all public transport in Sydney free earlier this week. Just imagine the problems with that…let alone the cost.
The irony is that railways were not an invention of the gov’t but part of the industrial revolution ( I know, railways had state privileges but still). On the other hand, the idea that cars running on state roads are some sort of tribute to individualism might be a bit naive…
Trains make it a lot easier to transport us to detention camps.
Very true, that cars running on state roads is certainly no tribute to individualism, and I guess you could say it is part of the obseesion with the state and controlling massive transportation.
I honestly don’t think the left loves rails “just because it controls people”, I would be kind of warm to the idea (at least in the US) that maybe they do it “because Europe does it”.
They hate themselves, and by extension, hate everyone else.
It’s how they assuage their guilt for paying $100,000 more for a house with white neighbors.
you guys know that rothbard said that road socialism hurts the railways in favor of cars, right?
That actually could be true, at least with the hip yuppie group. They seem obsessed with “authenticity” and status. Not so much money being status, but liberal idea fads. They also seem very obsessed and guilt ridden about money. This combonation I think may lead to, if not hatred, massive insecurity.
They are obsessed with public transit for the same reason they are obsessed with public education and public healthcare: it forces an arbitrary standard onto society for the dual purposes of disincentivizing competition and making everyone equal(ly miserable).
Sure, but the author asked why, not what the result was. Clearly, even hard core leftists favor cars. In fact I be the mass majority of leftists actually own them. I am sure that the trillions plowed into roads has forced out the rails just like the take over of interstate passenger rail, Amtrack, has also forced out other potiential providers.
And most of the anarcho-primitivists have DirectTV. Not too many people walk the walk.
And our present form of rail socialism hurts the railways, too.
I don’t think it’s control in this case. Sure they do want control, but generally over other stuff. I think it’s almost entirely environmentalism–it’s that strong of a movement. Although I could see an element of “fairness” involved as well. If everyone has to ride the same trains, everyone suffers the same.
Without them, there will be no way to ship people to the camps…oops…I’ve said too much.
The left has an obsession with communal living and the group mentality. The '70s saw hippies trying communal living. Before that, lefties were preaching the glories of communism.
Mass transit is part of this obsession. Crowded buses and trains give them the illusion of being in a small community - they are always surrounded by other people instead of being alone in their cars.
i think the analysis is spot on. “vulgar” objects like the car were condemned before as being against the republican spirit long before pollution became an issue. the point is clear- the left loves collectivism.
Yes, and I think this also explains why the soft left is the main driving force for ‘national service’. They seem to like the idea of collective suffering.