Perhaps society would be more resilient if important parts of its infrastructure was not subsidized but costed in a sustainable way.
"Cheap" roads — the users of which do not pay the full costs (see also fossil fuel use and climate change externalities) — caused sprawling development, which itself has been called a Ponzi scheme:
* https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020-8-28-the-growth-pon...
The idea is that people would design and use things differently if they had to pay the (break-even) cost of maintaining them for the amount of damage they cause to them: perhaps things would not be built as far apart if transportation was not subsidized, perhaps there would be more rail, etc.
How many roads and bridges are towards the end of their design life but are not being replaced because there is no money? Some communities gave up on pavement and went to gravel because of costs:
* https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna34469490
* https://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1109605_americas-infra...
* https://archive.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/7/26/the-un-pav...