Oh wow, my comment made it here to c/bestoflemmy. I’m both flattered and also donning my flak helmet lol

I do have two things I want to mention: 1) please don’t form an opinion (good or bad) on the American health care situation solely from a comment from some rando on the Internet. If you’re an American affected by the problems of the health care situation, write to your state and federal representatives, and remind them that you will vote accordingly in November, even if you’re in a state that is ardently one political color or another.

And 2) I wouldn’t necessarily say I wrote an “objective” summary, as a fair number of the links and examples I used reference the ails caused by automobile culture, which has set up such massive-yet-impressive institutions like a well-oiled auto insurance system exactly to continue perpetuating harms upon urban environments, pedestrian and cyclist safety, municipal budgets, and energy security. All this in the pursuit of an out-modded 1960s utopic vision where private automobiles and suburban/exurban single-family homes provide quality of life for the masses. History has shown that this vision has failed, either of its own success (if it ever had any) or because it threw away the natural human settlement pattern proven over centuries.

If you’re an American and are starting to see why maybe automobiles and single-family homes shouldn’t be placed on an undeserved pedestal, have a look at Strong Towns, the people seeking to right-size the automobile’s influence in small and middle America. Not by banishing cars, but by building the conditions for a healthy set of realistic alternatives, to strengthen municipal finances, grow deeper connections amongst the citizenry, and avoid the fate of ghost towns.

They also have a YT channel and are comprised from local chapters, with maybe one near you.