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I actually find this article to be sickening, and not for the author's intended purpose. To be fair, I feel the same way every time I see an article saying that
by freehunter 8y ago
I actually find this article to be sickening, and not for the author's intended purpose. To be fair, I feel the same way every time I see an article saying that some other city has it just as bad if not worse than Flint.
It's important to note every incident where someone is being poisoned with anything we know to be toxic, sure. They all need to be cleaned up. But all I see when I read articles like this is "it's going on everywhere, all the time, so stop worrying". No one is saying these children need medical treatment, that's a false argument. People are saying they need clean water. Arguing any other way is just misleading. And comparing it to other cases of lead pollution like exhaust or paint is again a stupid argument because we banned lead in gas and paint. Those problems aren't solved, but at least they're not getting worse. Meanwhile the Flint water situation was caused directly by the government, who then covered it up until they had to take action. And then still refuse to fix the problem.
It's like if the government wanted to save money so instead of buying new paint for their buildings, they came into your house and pulled the latex paint off your walls. You still have paint on your walls, but it's the lead paint that the latex was covering. It was a contained problem, but now due to actions outside your control, it is suddenly a a problem again and you're expected to fix it. That's what's bullshit about it.
It's like hearing someone say "black lives matter" and someone else steps in and says "all lives matter". Well yes, that's true. But there's a reason people are specifically calling out Flint, and that's because it's a problem caused by the government that now the people impacted are expected to clean up, without having any means to actually perform the work that needs to be done. A mere statement of fact does not begin to describe the situation. It's a matter of principle, of morals.
They weren't "poisoned" and it's just as bad in other places, sure. Now can we fix the damn problem already? Or do you just want to keep making excuses?
- api 8y ago> To be fair, I feel the same way every time I see an article saying that some other city has it just as bad if not worse than Flint. It's indicative of a race to the bottom mentality. "Yeah, we're terrible, but we're not as bad as X."
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- throwaway2048 8y agoPeople go to extraordinary lengths to justify the status quo, no matter how heinous, pointless, harmful and negative. Its purely reactionary, just world fallacy nonsense that is better off ignored.
- neaden 8y agoI think it is important to remember that what happened in Flint was bad. But we also know that telling self fulfilling prophecies and stigmatization are a thing. Too much media hype about the damage done can have a real detrimental impact on these children's lives. Too much fear about a generation of lead poisoned teens could lead to punitive policing measures like what we saw in the 90s.
- candiodari 8y ago> They weren't "poisoned" and it's just as bad in other places, sure. Now can we fix the damn problem already? Or do you just want to keep making excuses? Oh yeah, just dig up all parts of the water supply that haven't been touched in 50 years, nationwide, and replace them. In other words, can we fix the problem ? No. Aside from the cost, there's practical problems: we don't even know where half of it is, for one. Parts of it are under streets, bridges, buildings, etc ... They should be torn down The problem was created by "our grandfaters" saving a buck and now the government "must" fix it. Okay, but that's just the start. Next up, cleaning all riverwater nationwide of corrosive chemicals. > It's a matter of principle, of morals. It could be a matter of life and death, for all the good it'll do. It's impossible. If it was a matter of life and death, we'd be dead. This cannot be done, for obvious reasons.
- freehunter 8y agoSo I guess it's all hopeless and we should all just die then. What's the use in doing anything if everything is a mild inconvenience? >The problem was created by "our grandfathers" saving a buck and now the government "must" fix it. No, the problem was created by the existing Flint/Michigan government, and yes, it's their problem to fix. This isn't some nebulous "it happened in the past and we're just getting the bill now". But you're right, it's completely impossible to replace water pipes. No one in the history of ever has ever replaced a water pipe.
- candiodari 8y agoIf digging up all existing water infrastructure, regardless of not knowing where it is or what is built on top of it is a "mild inconvenience" ... why don't you just quickly take care of it ? Hell, I'll help you. We should be done in an afternoon, right ?