Why Are American Cities Squalid?

What they are getting at is the concept of "fiduciary duty". Executives appointed by a board or partners in a partnership must act with fiduciary duty, which generally means they have to act faithfully to the wishes of the shareholders. BUT, the shareholders can specify any values they wish. They don't have to be maximizing shareholder value, they can be to pursue environmental goals, or social improvement, or anything they so chose.

In modern publicly owned corporations, most shares are actually held by intermediary banks, and votes are done via proxy. Most shareholder resolutions fail, and votes are given to those who most claim to maximize shareholder value. It doesn't NEED to be this way, but this is the way it is now. But it could be different.

They're required by law to follow their corporate charters, and those almost always require maximizing shareholder value. They don't typically restrict that to short-term value though, so long-term growth strategies aren't ruled out by this.

A very complex problem the deeper you investigate this, the less you seem to know. I've done it :)

If you look at who is doing it super well, like perhaps Japan? It's largely due to a 99.99% conviction rate on all crime accusations, which I take as a kangaroo court system, into penal labour. I don't think there's much to learn from there. Japan should stop their penal labour.

Switzerland, norway do a good job? Which came down to largely speaking a change about 10 years ago where people may live in the war fallout shelters but also a huge difference in labour laws. Mainly being no minimum wage. There's some brilliance to this, but not the entire answer. North america doesnt have these equivalent policies which isolate the squalid issues to another place. So often the social nets are located downtown and so they isolate these issues to their downtown. Moving the problem, isnt necessarily solving the problem.

You look at countries which have universal mental health care AND universal parental leave and supports. There's a huge correlation to solving these sorts of problems. Early childhood abuse reductions have huge impact toward criminality in general, including frivolous crimes like speeding and littering.

But then you look at the 'who is even responsible for cleaning up the mess' and generally speaking its the municipalities.

>But NYC’s problems only seem to be getting worse, especially for those who have the least.

I never researched NYC specifically back in the day but I am aware of what's happening there.

If you research Coleman Young's failures with detroit. NYC is basically following lockstep with how he failed detroit and caused the city of detroit's decline. Hows the saying go? Don't learn history and repeat it?

Thousands of years ago the political class figured out that the more control you apply to your populous, the more powerful you feel but the less actual control you have.

I cant point to any specific year for NYC but they've been in decline for at least a decade or more.

Basically what happens, the political class increases control, pushes out those who oppose and end up with increased support. They claim success. They rinse repeat. After a number of these cycles, the richer people who can afford to flee, have fled. Then you start getting tax hikes because they don't quite have the same tax base anymore.They dont blame themselves for the problem they caused.

So later on, you really struggle with your budget. NYC recentlyish announced deep cuts to police, education, libraries.

So NYC is deeply reducing the services they provide for what exactly? They take a percentage and have had many tax hikes.

Obviously, cleaning the squalor has already been cut. How many people just look at the tremendously high taxes and regulations, but then compare it to the now greatly reduced services. Where's all the money going? So you leave as well.

The only way NYC prevents their collapse is a huge reduction is their control. But politically that will never happen, so the squalor will increasingly get worse.

I'd be glad to read more about this - which countries do you mean?

The nicest cities in the world are far more relaxed and far more giving. As far as I see it the answer is simple. Americans hate paying taxes, love giving their money to the millionaire/billionaire class and jerk themselves off to being mad about homelessness and immigration.