E14 | Ben Carneiro | Transit: Public or Private?, Car Deaths, US/Canada Young Adult Struggles, China

Watch & Listen to the full Episode 14 on YouTube & YouTube Music!: youtube.com/@JonathanMarkWidemanKlassen

Ben Carneiro is a typical young adult in North America: working a low-wage job, living with friends, and not having his very meaningful and productive research and insight recognized by elite institutions such as colleges/universities and governments.

Like Jonathan, he is someone that does not drive a car because of how dangerous and counter-productive to developing healthy cities and communities it is, and is very frustrated by the lack of care city planners and governments have for people who do not buy into their car-loving ideology and planning.

Jonathan and Ben discuss their shared struggles as young men in their 20s despite Jonathan living in Ontario, Canada, and Ben living in Texas, United States of America.

Ben shares some of his research projects https://transit.observer and https://roadway.report and he and Jonathan ponder different economic and government structures that could lead to a better life for everyone including less deaths from transportation incidents and more caring, equitable communities and cities.

China is a case study with Ben advocating for its communist/free-market hybrid approach and Jonathan challenging that with ideas about how a similar city and transit planning could be achieved with a libertarian approach to governance and economic policy. They both agree from their knowledge of China and people they've talked to that China seems to be a safer and more fulfilling place to live for the average person than North America currently despite its flaws of authoritarianism and lack of free speech rights.

Recorded: 2025/04/21