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Every single problem in the world could have been averted. However, there is only so much time, money, and resources, so we have to chose what to prioritize. Th
by tsomctl 10y ago
Every single problem in the world could have been averted. However, there is only so much time, money, and resources, so we have to chose what to prioritize. There are even entire fields of professionals that deal with this, such as engineers and politicians.
- ghaff 10y agoExactly. Every time there's some high visibility issue with infrastructure, there are lots of magazine covers and stories about underinvestment. Maybe we do underinvest on balance. And I have no doubt that there are indeed specific examples that, at least in retrospect, should have received more investment. But "infrastructure investment" is probably effectively a bottomless pit. We could probably spend 2x what we spend and events like this would still happen and we'd still have people saying we don't invest enough. It's not all that different from software. Maybe there would be fewer bugs and security vulnerabilities if the industry spent twice as much effort on code reviews and testing.
- TheGRS 10y agoBut these professionals are advocating for infrastructure improvement, only to get mired in politics. The funny thing is I can't think of a lot of better, more tangible things to spend tax payer money on than infrastructure repair and replacement, but because climate change has become a politically charged talking point instead of something we all can agree on, nothing gets done about it, even when faced with data and expertise in those subjects.