If gas gets expensive enough, those monorail systems will make sense. They'll get built and people will use them. Plus, the free-market doesn't exist anywhere in the world. Unfortunately that is true. Some places are a heck of a lot closer than others though.
Government is the essence of monopoly.
Social democracy can work if the proper measures are put in place. Call them taxes, regulations, tariffs or subsidies, whatever, they will be necessary for a healthy society. Otherwise, you're just another guy dreaming about being a vampire. In theory, government is the people. In practical theory, government is made up of representatives of the people.