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Everyone dies, but the people who practiced the seven deadly sins spend eternity in hell and those that abstain sit at the feet of their Lord in heaven, right?

It’s called an investment is done all the time. Your math is a little simplistic. It’s not a matter of addition and subtraction. Sometimes you make an investment @richardmurray that pays dividends down the road. So you spend X today and tomorrow you gain 2X or 3X or X2. local municipalities like New York City have to balance their budgets. Only the federal government has a luxury of incurring multi trillion dollar deficits, but that’s because they can print money. The federal government, I’m pretty sure, subsidizes the MTA not alone just free money. Frankly the New York City fare is relatively low compared to other cities given the size of the system, the and hours of operation. Perhaps the biggest downside is the lack of connections to the airport any city worth its salt has direct rail to their airports. MTA also has a huge pension fund to support. I’m not sure what percentage of it budget liability but I’m sure it’s substantial and probably grows every year. I doubt New York City can afford to run its public transportation system without losing money at least not without cutting services elsewhere and/or raising fares. I think the subway system and buses should be free. They can get the money to fund the system, by increasing the sales tax, making corporations pay their fair share taxes. Increasing the local taxes on the wealthy, etc

I believe MTA and other public transit systems are subsidized by government for the service it provides. Transit systems take folks back and forth to work and school and play. While responsible for air pollution themselves, they reduce the number of vehicles emitting carbon. When the public transit system claims to lose money, it's letting government know it needs more of it. The US gives away billions of dollars for everything from financing unwinnable wars in other countries to propping up governments to incentivizing farmers not to grow crops and a whole lot of other stuff. The US military is absolutely the strongest force on the planet. They're responsible for keeping any other country from calling in markers on debt. The game is dirty. 😎

They say how much they THINK THEY LOST not what they MADE compared to expenses. If they had a reliable method of forcing everyone to pay how many people would just not ride? That is why I think chasing repeat offenders is worthwhile. They probably have to ride and do it in predictable patterns.

Back in 2020 I wasn't for Kamala Harris as Biden's VP. I felt at the time there were more Progressive Black women in Congress who were better suited like Barbara Lee also from California. But then again I was also for Bernie Sanders until Biden got the nomination. At times she has struggled as Vice President but she's persistent and willing to take the fight to Republicans. Now she's likely to be the Democratic nominee, and if she wins President. What will that mean for Black people? We would benefit from certain policies in a Harris administration just like that of Biden. But it's not likely that Harris will do anything significant that's race specific like Reparations or even the George Floyd Police Reform Act which has stalled in Congress. While some of this can be blamed on systemic racism in the political process and Rightwing Republican obstruction. It's also important to recognize that Kamala Harris like Barack Obama is the kind of Black Politician who came up through the White community not Black Interest group politics. These kinds of Black politicians aren't focused on politics or policy solutions targeted to Blacks like others who come from the Black community. Furthermore the Democratic Party hasn't passed any major policy initiative targeted at Black people since the 1960s. Too often the party is focused on getting and keeping white working class men or white suburban moderates. While we gain some benefits they are never adequate in relation to our support for Democrats or the particular problems we face. Ultimately Black people must be better organized and more willing to hold Harris if she's President and Democrats accountable for not doing certain things. But then Black people at every level need to develop and push for an agenda with specific policies. When it comes to politics you can blame Kamala Harris and Democrats for not doing enough. However we have to take some responsibility ourselves.

Yesterday, brotha Tariq Nasheed hosted the Rally4Reparations at Freedom Plaza here in Washington, DC. The guest speakers were Dr. Ma'at, Afro Elite, Dr. Randy Short, Gregg Marcel Dixon, Vicki Dillard, Dave Anderson, Black Alpha and Rizza Islam. All of the speakers were on point. Big Daddy Kane rocked the crowd on the Hip-Hop tip. The event was well attended despite that it was hot outside.😁 It was great to see families and so many young people out there too. I know it's a heavy lift but I hope that FBA/ADOS folks will keep pushing for reparations.😎

Troy I agree with you that protest and advocacy should lead to concrete change especially law and public policies. Please don't misunderstand my point. But things are different now with technology and people being less attached to community.

True that. But, in order to have dialog, we have to discuss something. I don't watch Love & Hip-Hop or Real Housewives of [insert city here]. 🤣 It's all good. The bottom line is that we are having a discussion. Maybe it will give others something to think about regardless of whether or not they agree. Many believe Black folks have made a considerable amount of progress between 1624-2024. I certainly would not deny that things are different now. But, as MLK Jr. said in his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" sermon..."I wouldn't stop there....". Since killing the devil is not a popular option, until Black folks escape the prison of racism white supremacy and either become self-sufficient or replace it with a system of justice, there is still work to do. 😎

@Prof D. The above exchange between you and me could've taken place 10 years ago. 10 years hence, what we've both said will be an example of the "more-things-change- the-more-they-become-the-same" adage. In this contest between your rhetoric and my skepticism, another old saying comes to my weary mind. The one that claims that "the pathway to hell is paved with good intentions". To all my good-intentioned black kinsmen I say, lotsa luck in your 400 year struggle to acquire equality within the confines of a homeland where we've never been anything but foster children. Why do I say this? Because you malcontents boo-hoo about it every day presumably from your back seats in the buses driven by the dreaded blue-eyed devils! 👹🤯 The Cynical Contrarian has spoken.😖

Whereas the subject is the donkey's head, you guys all seem to be looking up his ass, full of idealism, continuing to believe that political partys can solve social problems. The fact is that America is engaged in an ongoing class war. The elitist Capitalistic system is the real enemy and it has spawned a society made up of the "haves" and "have nots", rewarding the rugged individuals who have figured out a way to milk the system , accumulate wealth, and control the status quo. Communism and Socialism purport to be the answer to the scourge of Capitalism, but these 2 ideologies soon degenerate into the corruption that power generates. Maybe if Blacks framed their problem in a different way, stopped asking the wrong questions and expecting the right answers, the conclusions they reach would enlighten them. Whatever they've been doing, is not working, (thanks in part to the crabs-in-the-barrel toxicity which erodes the unity every one seems to think will ensure success). zzzzzzzz Perhaps the new strategy should be no strategy. Keeping in mind that Talk is cheap, Life is not fair and Fate is fickle, come to the realization that not all problems have solutions. Some eventually dissipate or mutate in order to make room for new ones. 😜 The Cynical Contraian has spoken. In a couple of weeks I will observe my 91st birthday. Unless of course I die first. 😵‍💫

That's what existentialism posits with its "existence" being followed by "essence" debate. Your assertion is challenge by some. "I know that I know nothing" is starting to become my mantra.