In theory, capitalism could fail completely. In theory, governments could stop inflating their currencies. I sure wouldn't bet that way though.
I see the situation as this: The middle and upper-middle class have become invested in a perpetuating a system that ultimately will strangle them or their descendants.
Wealth begets wealth, power begets power. It might be a law of nature that things like to polarize. Likely we'll see a return of society consisting of two groups: rich and powerful, poor and powerless.
Most older engineers I meet seem to associate with the mindset and politics of billionaires and multi-millionaires, and see themselves almost in the same club sometimes. I guess making a lot of money does that to people. Add to that the truth expressed by Steinbeck about the USA "The poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires."
I think we have a problem where housing and stocks must continue to make return on investment. Housing prices must keep raising, hurting the next generation. Young people increasingly don't have the luxury of job stability to buy a home. Companies must keep increasing profit, leading to offshoring, outsourcing, stricter working conditions. And now middle class government jobs must be cut and privatized so that capitalists can make profit on providing a service. All the while the top percent owns and increasing share of the wealth pie.
I felt I needed to reply because while what you are saying is the way things are, I wish it didn't have to be that way.
The only vehicles that get to blow red lights are emergency vehicles with lights and sirens. Everyone else should be waiting their turns, including pedestrians and bicycles. And, maybe, rights on red (but not in NYC you'll note).
That safest thing for a pedestrian to do is often avoid lighted intersections all-together and cross in the middle of the road when its clear. Crossing at an intersection is a great way to get a car doing a right turn or worse, a left turn right into you.
>That's why it's a light not a stop sign. I don't care what special lanes are present. You're running the intersection and increasing the complexity for everyone else who is obeying their green light.
The Idaho stop has you treat red-light as a stop-sign, you are not increasing complexity for the green-light drivers, because if there are ANY green-light drivers, you shouldn't be in the intersection. And if there were drivers with the green light, and you go thru, you are not doing the Idaho stop.
>Blow red light
Please, "blowing a red light" might not be a well defined term, but most accept it as going thru a red light, without stopping, at some speed. That is not the Idaho stop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop