Comment on Before the revolution

• Bassman1805@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  The USA is huge. IDK what country you’re from, but I’ll use France as a point of comparison because it’s large and the capital isn’t really in the center.

  Bayonne->Paris is about the farthest you can be from the capital while still living in mainland France. That’s 770 km.

  This is shorter than the distance from Washington DC->Atlanta, which is in one of the original 13 colonies. It’s pretty close to the distance from DC->Indianapolis, but that’s still within the 1776 USA borders (albeit, an unorganized territory of the 13 colonies).

  Add in the Louisiana purchase and various conquests westward, and a Californian visiting DC can be like visiting Paris from Kuwait.

  It’s reasonably common for USians to visit their state capital, but visiting DC is definitely an upper-middle class vacation unless you happen to live in a nearby state already.

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• Ledivin@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  It’s at least 3000 miles from the West Coast to the capital. Unless you’re Russian, it’s hard to compare

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  • troyunrau@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Canada. China. Point still stands ;)

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• trackball_fetish@lemmy.wtf ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Correct. Most can’t travel to another state. We are more or less enslaved. Vacation doesn’t exist. Housing isn’t available. You’d be better off living in mexico, trust me.

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• wingnut@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Downside of the cost of living and size of the country. You actually are very lucky if you can travel.

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  • glitch1985@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    If you have enough time taking the bus long distances is very affordable.

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    • wingnut@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Time is money. I can’t pay rent for an apartment full of my stuff if I’m traveling and not working. I’ve had the privilege before and am saving for another time in the future but the fact I can save at all is because of a series of lucky breaks.

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      • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        if something goes wrong and I’m stranded what then? I know I’m not alone in this.

        seriously. i don’t want to have to go knock the door of [church what done me and mine wrong] and beg for help. i know i can find folk in it who would, but like i worked in homelessness services and there are areas of the country where if you don’t wear a cross and praise jesus you’re fucked.

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    • Omgpwnies@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      There are large areas of the US where simply taking a bus is impossible without also having to drive a long distance to the nearest station. There’s also the fact that it’s a pretty sizable country, so someone in SoCal or thereabouts is looking at a multi-day trip if they’re not flying, which then adds the cost of hotels, cabs to/from the hotel if the stop has no transit nearby, etc.

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  • Hozerkiller@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I’m from a bigger country than America.

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    • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      rephrase: downside of living in a big, only partially modernized country

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    • MeThisGuy@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      me too!

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• razzazzika@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Ive been there only once and I live only like 4 hours away. Most people of they arent in the area around Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey or new york USUALLY never visit. The further you are away the less likely you are to travel there. Usually DC is a day trip for those that live close, otherwise you then have to add plane tickets and hotels to your trip and that becomes prohibitively expensive for many Americans.

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• CascadianGiraffe@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  I can’t justify the gas cost to drive as far as my state capital, let alone travel all the way across the country to Washington DC. Not that I could even fly there since I’m not willing/able to get the fancy ID needed to get on a plane and leave my state.

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• McGuirk808@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  I’m in TX. For me, it would be 21 hours of driving assuming no traffic or stops. Given gas prices, it would be cheaper to fly. And given the price of flights, if I’m splurging on plane tickets, I’m probably going somewhere pleasant to be so I can ease my poor mind from the constant flood of cortisol that is modern life—DC is a place that will only bring resentment and misery.

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• Maggoty@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  It’s several hundred dollars just to get there from the west coast. Many Americans do not have 800 dollars they can throw at a vacation.

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• modernangel@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  I can’t speak for “most Americans”, my income is pretty median but I highly value travel and tourism so I make it happen fro time to time. If you like parks and museums there is a shit-ton to do in and around DC, it doesn’t have to be any more expensive nor unsafe than visiting any other urban cultural center like NYC or Miami.

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  • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I had time to visit two museums while i was there: the Air and Space Museum (which was surprisingly dissappointing. OMSI up in Portland, Oregon had had most of the same exhibits and presented them in a more dynamic manner, but the Smithsonian was definitely still worth the time) and the National Art Gallery (I liked the sculpture garden and the impressionist exhibit they had the most. If you don’t know what to do in an art museum, pick your favorite piece of art in every room. then figure out why it’s your favorite. it’s a really fun game). I would love two weeks of free time to explore DC but like, life.

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• HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  i live on the west coast. I’ve been once for work. i can’t afford to go for fun.

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• Mulligrubs@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  I’ve been to DC once, long ago. It was a shithole

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• QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  depending on where you live. I live in Florida and most people have visited

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