Over 100 King County Metro bus trips canceled - https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/over-60-king-county-metro-bus-trips-canceled/XRXIUVUGDFCZ5BNWHZFSDQPTO4/
Seattle Police Department activates Stage 3 emergency operations amid staffing shortage - https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-police-department-activates-stage-3-emergency-operations-amid-staffing-shortage
Amid crew shortages, Washington State Ferries to cut sailings on some routes by half - https://old.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/q7r6c9/amid_crew_shortages_washington_state_ferries_to/
Seattle Public Schools are cancelling almost ALL school buses - https://old.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/q8t06f/seattle_public_schools_are_cancelling_almost_all/
Seattle Public Schools begs students to return after low enrollment affects budget; a decrease in enrollment means a decrease in budget - https://thepostmillennial.com/seattle-public-schools-begs-students-to-return-after-low-enrollment-affects-budget
Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle are among the cities to see public school enrollment plummet for a second consecutive year. - https://fee.org/articles/cities-lead-the-way-in-another-massive-fall-exodus-from-us-public-schools/
Edit to add the email I got this week from Harborview/UW health services:
To Our Valued Patients:
At UW Medicine, your access to timely care is always our priority. While our teams are working diligently to meet your needs, we are currently experiencing very high demand for all services. As a result, it may be taking longer than normal to find open appointments with your healthcare providers.
If this is your experience, we ask for your patience and courtesy. Like many other healthcare organizations and industries, we continue to face disruptions from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our workforce and operations.
Rand grew up in Communist Russia, had escaped to the West, and her books and philosophy were a particular brand of materialist, atheistic, meritocratic libertarianism known as Objectivism. She had a particular affinity for STEM types -- engineers and architects mostly. This philosophy was expressed and refined in all her novels.
The reason her books are making a comeback is because society is starting to very strongly resemble the societies in her books. Particularly Atlas Shrugged, because of all the lockdowns and the government's attempted control of all aspects of the economy and society (which are strong themes in that book). And since that book primarily concerns itself with the operation and decline of a railroad, seeing airlines and railroads now going through what she described in that book is of particular interest.
Yes as I recall Ayn Rand was enamored with the aesthetics of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture. Who made some rather beautiful homes that weren't particularly structurally sound and suffered quite a bit from mold damage due to all the moisture from artificial streams running through them.
She was a product of her time like a lot of us. I'm not an Objectivist, but she does seem to understand the mindset of our enemies. Otherwise she wouldn't so accurately predict their behavior 50 years ago.
Not gonna lie, I would prefer if billionaires would leave behind beautiful buildings as part of their legacy instead leaving behind an increasingly hollowed out country even if they were just as corrupt back then.
What is random or misplaced about an appreciation for aesthetics?
Because aesthetics are anti-hyper-capitalism I would assume. Efficiency has nothing to do with looking good. But you don't understand Rand if you think her ideology's love for the aesthetic is random or misplaced.
Essentially the entirety of Objectivism is anti-Communism, specifically the one she lived through. And Soviets are well known for their brutalist architecture
Surely capitalism is about profiting by efficiently satisfying demand, and if part of the demand is for a product that's aesthetically pleasing, then yeah, you make it look good.
Don't forget we have way too many brutalism fans here in the West. A sickening amount, and they've been around for a while too.
We have several eye-sores in my state capitol that are brutalist buildings. The local VA hospital, a big gov building, something that was supposed to be project housing back when projects were en vogue. Probably a few others.
I know there's at least one such building in the area I live. Was supposed to be a hotel at one point, then low-income housing. It's been abandoned as far as I can remember. Ugly thing too. It's like someone haphazardly stacked a bunch of toy blocks on top of each other.
Iirc Wash. D.C. has a bunch too. I can't imagine the mindset someone would have to have to like any of them. They're oppressive, ugly, and bereft of anything that actually uplifts people.