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Mendon, Missouri

seandietrich.com

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Re: Mendon, Missouri

#101

Post by mlyle »

sassy_quat wrote: post #99
lotsofpulp wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think people are good overall. Until a certain amount of sacrifices have to be made. Then things start getting tribal. The sacrifices do not even have to be material, simply sacrificing or losing socioeconomic status relative to others is sufficient.

Retake political science please. The advent of the agricultural revolution, the telegraph, and the teletype each resulted in massive increases in "tribal size". To the point that after the teletype, it was a bipolar cold war. So I don't think you have any qualifications to say a single word in this matter.

I don't see how his comment justifies yours-- either your reading of it (I don't see any claims about "tribal size" in his comment, and I'm sure we're all aware that there's a whole range of affiliations we have from large-- 'Murica-- to small-- HN fans) or the vitriol.

Be kind, please.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#103

Post by mcphage »

xbar wrote: post #83
mcphage wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think it is clear that he is not making that claim? This is the second last line of the piece, where the author explicitly makes that claim: >> Although we rarely hear about such acts of compassion and lovingkindness within our society, believe me, they happen. Every day. Every hour. Ordinary Americans will astound you with their goodwill. Sadly, ordinary American journalists aren’t interested in being astounded…

I think your question was rhetorical in casting journalism that focuses on American goodwill as "human interest" was designed to engender an angry response; that it was a trollish question where you already had an answer that was baiting; that you were not at all asking that question; that you were expressing an opinion. I think your responses affirm my read.

> casting journalism that focuses on American goodwill as "human interest" was designed to engender an angry response

Much like a passenger train barreling full speed into a dump truck, you made one severe mistake at the beginning and rode it head first into a spectacular disaster.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#104

Post by cagey »

kodah wrote: post #40
photochemsyn wrote: post #31

For some reason this reminded me of the Ray Bradbury story, "The Town Where Noone Got Off" which is a dark little story indeed about two men and a small town on a railroad line. This one is a bit more positive. However, it turns out this whole incident was apparently due to the lack of a railroad crossing guard system of any kind at the intersection. The most basic system has flashing lights warning of oncoming train…

Interestingly, it's the line operator that usually has to establish and maintain those according to federal and (whatever) state guidelines might exist.

I believe that this is incorrectly simplistic, if only because these sorts of situations by definition exist at the interface between a railroad and either a private or government road. Having the line operator (which I'm taking to mean railroad owner, in this case BNSF) bear 100% of the burden of providing full crossing protection creates an unbalanced situation (in terms of the cost to be borne). I'm not an expert, but have been following a forum thread on this topic (this Amtrak-truck collision and how to prevent repeats)[0] which points to articles stating that this particular crossing has been "on the list" of not the RR owner (BNSF) but MODOT (Missouri [state] Dept of Transportation) for receiving a "crossing gates and lights" (automated protection) deployment, and that the cost of this prospective deployment is approximately USD400K (per crossing) which would be shared by the state (MODOT) and BNSF, and that, as noted by others posting in this thread, there are a large number (probably the majority) of RR/road crossings in the state (and country) which are similarly unprotected, and whose low use rate has historically not justified the installation and ongoing maintenance costs of full crossing protection. A cynic on the linked[0] thread mentioned it was possible that MODOT had put every unprotected RR/road crossing "on the list" to receive a full protection equipment deployment, so that in case of any similar accident, they could claim to "already be working on a solution, just didn't get there in time" as in bureaucratic CYA.

Given the costs involved, IMO it would probably be better to close at least half of the crossings in (e.g. relatively flat farmland) areas where the road grid incurs these crossings at a rate more than one per mile. But as with decisions to spend money, choosing which crossings to close (ostensibly so that the remainder may have automated protection added) becomes a political "hot potato" that can easily cause the process to stall.

[0] https://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/292768.aspx

[1] https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article263049...

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#105

Post by tigeba »

chronotis wrote: post #9

It may not have made national news, but here (I only live a couple hours from Mendon) some of this made its way into local awareness. It was mostly focused on the efforts of the boy scouts in the area, though.

The Scouts who responded to this incident were passengers on the train that derailed. They were returning from Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It is traditional for Scouts to take the trip to and from Philmont on a train.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#106

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

Threeve303 wrote: post #92
lotsofpulp wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think people are good overall. Until a certain amount of sacrifices have to be made. Then things start getting tribal. The sacrifices do not even have to be material, simply sacrificing or losing socioeconomic status relative to others is sufficient.

I have found otherwise good people are capable of intentionally doing awful things to another human, even if you have known someone almost your entire life, a switch flips and it is like a full psychopath is unlocked. Many only need the moral cover, certain they are right, to say and do awful things to another. This was always true but it seems to me that social media, in all its forms, not only takes your privacy, i…

The proof of kindness is everywhere, too. Just look around.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#107

Post by jessaustin »

krapp wrote: post #98
jessaustin wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...the cultural tapestry of the South. This is sort of a "stolen valor" situation, because Mendon MO is certainly not the South. One could make that argument for parts of Missouri, but this ain't the Ozarks. Mendon is on the same latitude as Dayton OH, so only JD Vance types would pretend to be confused about this.

Any state that was a slave state and member of the Confederacy is part of the South.

Any state that was a slave state and member of the Confederacy is part of the South.

Missouri was never a member of the Confederacy. Slavery was in force before the Civil War, but do you really propose a rule that would also see Delaware considered part of the South? It's dumb to use state lines anyway. For example, Branson MO has a lot stronger claim to be part of the South than Sedalia MO, a town of which some people have actually ever heard, is 60 miles south of Mendon. Try visiting some of these places before pronouncing on them!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_states_(American_Civil_...

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#108

Post by orzig »

skeeter2020 wrote: post #61
melenaboija wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although I agree with it I think that small towns have something that is lost in big cities which is the sense of community, and that is simply because in towns you know every single person that has some impact in your daily live. My family is from a small town who moved to the city right before I was born and there is something my mom said to me when I was a kid that got stuck in my mind which is the awareness of de…

smaller communities exist in big cities too. They might be neighbourhoods like a small town, or interest, cause or activity-based. The trick is not to defer to government to provide them for you, which I think is harder in big centers.

This is very true - some apartment buildings have great community (of course, plenty don’t). Demographics certainly drive part of the distinction, but just having a person step up and do the barest amount of leadership is also critical.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#109

Post by tootie »

ryan_j_naughton wrote: post #35

> And the most unusual thing about all this is: None of this is unusual. At least not within the national tapestry that is The Great American Small Town. It also isn't unusual in the cities. Humans are wonderful and terrible everywhere. It reminds me of the 30 Rock episode where Jack and Liz go to Georgia to find a new comedian in touch with the "real America" and Liz keeps insisting that all Americans are real Ameri…

30 Rock also spoofed the "Subway Hero". A real story of a person falling on the tracks from a seizure and bystander jumped down and pressed them both into the track well while a train ran over them. There's alway bystanders and I'm sure the dynamics of a small town are different. Especially when a rush hour subway platform might have more people than Mendon.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#110

Post by kortilla »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #100
sassy_quat wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retake political science please. The advent of the agricultural revolution, the telegraph, and the teletype each resulted in massive increases in "tribal size". To the point that after the teletype, it was a bipolar cold war. So I don't think you have any qualifications to say a single word in this matter.

I have no idea what your comment is trying to convey, but to help clarify my comment, this might help: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lbj-convince-the-lowest-wh... I posit that at the root of all societal friction is the widening income/wealth gap within the US, along with shifting socioeconomic statuses with some losing ground and some gaining ground. Note that people are in many tribes of many sizes simultaneous…

> I posit that at the root of all societal friction is the widening income/wealth gap within the US,

Why would you think this when there is little meaningful difference income-wise between Democrats and Republicans?

A significant chunk of the US votes on single issue matters that have nothing to do with economic status (abortion, gun rights).

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