Yes we do, who do you think is "the public"?

Most people like working societies and a huge part of that is reliable infrastructure.

I think it is an illusion created by people rich enough to pay for things themselves. it is easy for those with the loudest voices to pass as "the public".

I'm guessing more like people who think they are rich enough to pay for it themselves.

My guess is that real rich people love public funded stuff as it's basically free for them.

Lmao, so you're telling me that you think the majority of people if asked "you can have a good chunk of your taxes back, and you'll now only pay for just your area and not for the whole country's infrastructure" wouldn't say "fuck yes I want more money back!"

If you don't believe that's true then I'm afraid you don't know human beings. Just because _you_ do, doesn't mean _everyone_ does.

This was my thought. "...like public infrastructure" means underfunding and neglect.

Even underfunding would be an improvement to the status quo. Many people seem oblivious to how dire the situation is.

Agreed. It's just sort of ironic as an aspirational goal.

The public is already paying enough to fund all of these things properly, but the money is getting diverted to enrich politicians and military contractors.

They are not to blame. Why should they care, when open source itself doesn't care about them? The benefits don't go to the public; they go to those who can use it to build a business.

Isn't that what taxes are for?

Yeah but plenty of people would not pay them if shared infrastructure taxes were optional.

Turns out humans evolved for smaller groups than we've shoved into entire countries.