$76,000 Just To Own A Car

[Bigbrog]

What does everyone think of this....cost starts at $76,000 just for the right to own a car in Singapore?

Singapore: In this expensive city, the right to own a car costs $76,000. And that doesn't include the car | CNN Business

[WrestlingRasta]

14 minutes ago, Bigbrog said:

What does everyone think of this....

God Bless the USA

[Ohio Elite]

Come on man, don't be giving anybody bad ideas like this

[Plasmodium]

If I had viable  transportation options there might be some foundation for debate.  Some cities try to to regulate traffic in specific areas with exorbitant parking fees.  I'm good with that.

[Bigbrog]

1 hour ago, WrestlingRasta said:

God Bless the USA

That was my take after reading the article.  However, I would like to visit Singapore someday...heard it is beautiful.

[mspart]

I've been there.   It is a big city, clean too.   But it is a big city.   It was nice to visit but I wouldn't want to live there unless I could live outside the city, and there is not much land there to do that. 

mspart

[Wrestleknownothing]

If I lived in Singapore I am not sure if I would want a car even without this fee, but with this fee, absolutely not. But it doesn't even need to be a city state as densely packed as Singapore. My son lives in Chicago and does not own a car, and says he will never own a car. It is part of city living.

[nick]

I was able to spend some time in Singapore (a friends first UFC fight was there) and everything just works there, that’s the best way to describe it. People get in lines, the streets are clean, everything is orderly and makes sense 

With that said, the government is heavy handed and culturally different from America - I don’t think what they do would work for us on a grand scale 

However, I would love to take back some of their things back to the US - paying government employees private market wages so we have a competent government and aren’t wasting tax dollars training folks for the private market or keeping on idiots because that’s all we can get… 

[Bigbrog]

Wow...awesome pictures!

My brother who was in the Navy for 27 years, said Singapore was one of his very favorite places to visit in the world...for how beautiful it is and for all the things it offers for a 20 something year old...wink wink...lol

[mspart]

It is a nice city, just huge.   Now I was there for 3 days only so I'm not a great resource.   I generally just don't like big cities and the thought of living in them gives me hives.   I live near Seattle, but not in Seattle.   I lived near Minneapolis but not in Minneapolis.   I lived near Honolulu but not in Honolulu. 

I have visited big cities all over, Singapore being one of them.   The heat and humidity didn't kill me there and there is plenty of that.  It was a nice place and I know expats that are very happy there.   It's just not my cup of herbal tea. 

mspart

[Lipdrag]

1 hour ago, nick said:

paying government employees private market wages

Do you think they would take the pay cut without protest?  5 of the 7 richest counties as tabulated by median household income in America are FULL of government workers.

1	Loudoun County	Virginia	$147,111
2	Falls Church	Virginia	$146,922
3	Santa Clara County	California	$130,890
4	San Mateo County	California	$128,091
5	Fairfax County	Virginia	$127,866
6	Howard County	Maryland	$124,042
7	Arlington County	Virginia	$122,604

 

I suspect if you did a more detailed statistical study you would also find the standard deviation to be much tighter in those DC area counties indicating that it is not the super rich and their servants living in the same county like you might get in California.  It is just a bunch of extremely well compensated bureaucrats running around talking to each other on our dime.  On our millions of dimes per household.

Edited October 5, 2023 by Lipdrag

[nick]

1 hour ago, Lipdrag said:

Do you think they would take the pay cut without protest?  5 of the 7 richest counties as tabulated by median household income in America are FULL of government workers.

1	Loudoun County	Virginia	$147,111
2	Falls Church	Virginia	$146,922
3	Santa Clara County	California	$130,890
4	San Mateo County	California	$128,091
5	Fairfax County	Virginia	$127,866
6	Howard County	Maryland	$124,042
7	Arlington County	Virginia	$122,604

 

I suspect if you did a more detailed statistical study you would also find the standard deviation to be much tighter in those DC area counties indicating that it is not the super rich and their servants living in the same county like you might get in California.  It is just a bunch of extremely well compensated bureaucrats running around talking to each other on our dime.  On our millions of dimes per household.

I wonder what percentage of those government jobs are related to defense

I'm just talking from anecdotal experiences, a family member of mine worked for the Department of Commerce for 20+ years (in Indiana, not DC) and always had a rotating group since people left for more money and the performance was always not great. At the local level, we can't fill positions since pay is not remotely comparable (granted this topic is more national but still)

To me, if we are getting poor services, then generally its because we are hiring bottom of the barrel - pretty generalized and based on your stats not applicable to the DC folks, but the average salary at my local big government institution is $17 an hour, which is less than what Amazon is paying...

Edited October 5, 2023 by nick