[jaredklewis]

Japan has them now and has had them for more than 60 years. If we meet the 2033 deadline (seems doubtful, given our track record), Japan will have had HSR 80 years before CA got its first. Further, Japan continuously expands and improves the bullet train lines. Despite earthquakes, Japan's largely mountainous terrain, a shrinking population, and other challenges, every year work continues on making the bullet train network larger and faster.

Meanwhile in the US we spend nearly 700 billion annually on the military (roughly 75% of the Japanese government's entire budget). Get what you pay for (in our case, missiles).

[rayiner]

> Meanwhile in the US we spend nearly 700 billion annually on the military (roughly 75% of the Japanese government's entire budget). Get what you pay for (in our case, missiles).

That’s an ironic comparison. Japan is not allowed to have a military, just a small self defense force. Japan is okay with that state of affairs because the United States has tacitly committed to defend Japan from its belligerent neighbors. Your example illustrates in the same breath why US military spending is so high while it is so low in other countries.

Also, the new bullet train lines mostly are built with private money so there is that too.

[jaredklewis]

> That’s an ironic comparison. Japan is not allowed to have a military, just a small self defense force.

That's kind of my point. Japan just has a small self defense force and has instead focused its energies on education and infrastructure. Whether that is by choice or not is irrelevant.

On the other hand, it was definitely a choice by the US to spend our money on military involvement in places like Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria instead of using it on schools and trains.

> Japan is okay with that state of affairs because the United States has tacitly committed to defend Japan from its belligerent neighbors. Your example illustrates in the same breath why US military spending is so high while it is so low in other countries.

Yes, I understand the reason the US has such a big military budget is because we insist on stationing submarines, aircraft carriers, and ground troops in every corner of the world to "keep the peace."

My argument is that doing so is a catastrophic misallocation of resources.

> Also, the new bullet train lines mostly are built with private money so there is that too.

The Shinkansen was mostly built by private companies, mainly JNR, but public money played a huge role. JNR racked up nearly $300 billion in today's USD of debt, and that debt was taken on by the government when JNR was disbanded and reorganized (again by the government). I don't think the railways in Japan can be thought of as being completely privatized or completely nationalized. Even when officially managed by private companies, the government continues to play a role in planning and funding.

[rayiner]

Many new lines and extensions are being built without subsidies. Also, the private JR companies had to acquire JR’s initial capital expense debt: https://pedestrianobservations.com/2011/06/06/high-speed-rai...