My megaproject ideas are mostly pretty standard. I’d build a high speed rail network across North America, and build and expand metro and regional rail systems in and around every city. I’d turn all cities and suburbs into fifteen-minute cities. I’d decommodify housing, and build ten million units of public/social/non-market housing, mostly three bedroom units. I’d link those last three policies together by building TODs around the new Metro and rail stops. And I’d build bicycle networks in every town and city and connect them to the TODs. I’d build bridges and walkways across skyscrapers. I’d put a bidet in every American toilet (uses less water than toilet paper apart from being more comfortable). Fiber internet in every home. A heat pump in every home. An induction stove in every kitchen. Phase out fossil fuels and power everything with Pumped Storage Hydropower and Geothermal. I’d make the US go Metric.
But my truly crazy, obsessive idea would be to bring back the French Revolutionary calendar. Or I’d purge all French influences from English.
I wager that many obese people are insecure about their bodies. Giving them a drug to lose weight would potentially bring them happiness, lead to better socialization, less physical disability and comorbid diseases, alleviating the healthcare industry burden. Skinnier people touch grass more, run marathons, etc
Semaglutide has an off-label use as a weight-loss aid. It is effective. However, if you’re in the US, it’ll cost you like $1000/month because your insurance won’t cover it for that reason.
I don’t think anywhere has approved it purely for weight loss either, it’s just getting some off-label prescriptions, and there was a mini-crisis where 95% of the ozempic prescriptions in North America were being written by a single doctor in Nova Scotia, and then distributed by mail pharmacies across Canada to US buyers.
