I live in a contained neighborhood. That is, to get to my place you have to turn off the main road and make you way through streets and turns that are self contained. There’s only one other way out.
There is no through traffic, no concept of city blocks. Generally the only people who drive our streets are us.
Now those streets are in horrible condition and need to be redone. The county has no money and it doesn’t look like we’re gonna get resurfacing any time soon. Which led me to wonder if we couldn’t raise the money ourselves. Which, in turn, made me think about how we govern, or, how we vote to have others govern.
Should we vote for our own selfish self-interests or should we vote for the good of all?
In my example above, there are homes that literally use 30 feet of the neighborhood roads. They’re the first home off the turn and literally only use that small little section to get in and then to get out. Those at the end of the neighborhood? They use it all, every inch of that road.
Should the cost of repaving this road be borne by all or should it be proportional? I’m willing to entertain the concept that the initial home owner sees his home value degrade if homes at the end of the line can’t sell their houses due to horrible roads.
But the question remains; should people vote for their own personal self interest or for the larger good of society?
Or, is there another reason?