Doing so would expose the lie at the heart of the neoliberal proposition — that if we gave up our dignity as workers, we would regain it ten times over as consumers.

If you have to do gig work on top of your two conventional jobs, but you still have to be frugal? Well, then it starts to seem like maybe workers sold their rights away for nothing.

The 99% doesn’t want to believe that. But more than that, the 1% really doesn’t want the 99% to believe that.

You’re not wrong. But you’re also not going to see Americans change their thinking on that anytime soon.

Living in southern California messes with my head! Perfect weather for cycling and just being outside yet almost everyone just chooses to drive, even on trips 1/2 a mile away.

Though maybe my head has been warped from visiting Europe multiple times but the American car brain cannot comprehend walking somewhere close. It takes more time looking for parking than actually just walking there, it drives me wild!

Anyway I have stopped riding my bike a lot because the routes I take have no bike infrastructure and the drivers here have tried to kill me a few to many times. I usually just resort to Public transportation which disappoints me almost on a daily bases, mostly because I've been to Europe and seen what functional systems look like.

Growing up the nearest grocery store was 8 miles away down a highway with no bike lane and no sidewalks if you wanted to walk it. Cyclists get run over fairly often in the area. It's 98 degrees most of the summer. Better pedal fast if you want anything frozen to make it back home. Also there was no public transit option.

Nearest restaurants were a bit further, but you could make it to a gas station in 3 miles.

I live mostly in Germany now and it seems the vast majority of people can access a grocery store, a bakery, and a restaurant/café in a 20 minute walk at most. The few that cannot are at most 20 minutes away from a bus or train stop that will get them to a store.

American infrastructure is nonexistent. We only build it for cars

Right, and then you realize “I should have always had that freedom to go anywhere, but there was nothing in walking distance of my childhood home except for other people’s homes and my school.” And I was lucky to have school in walking distance.