Yesterday I was looking at the ticket cost and regularity of service of the ex-Thalys, now Eurostar, Bruxelles - Paris service.
In terms of the speed of the service and the quality of the infrastructure, this route is excellent - more than 90% of the trip is on high speed lines
Yes, this is a very normal human trait unfortunately. People in charge want to have something fancy that they can tell people they were responsible for, not just “keeping the lights on”.
Not sure I agree there. It’s a normal asshole trait that isn’t limited to politics. But maybe that’s what you meant.
It’s not even an asshole trait. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to build something to be proud of, most of us have that to some extent.
The issue here is combining that with power and selfishness.
No disagreement there. The issue is what you think you can be proud of, and how you go about achieving it.
Or, in other words, why wouldn’t they be more proud of building something that makes a lasting impact on society, instead of a big but fleeting impact on some people they want to impress?
That’s an asshole trait, but not a general human trait.