4 ms·
At the cost of 154+ deaths. That's one thing that has changed since the big projects of last century: construction workers are no longer considered to be part
by femto 8y ago
At the cost of 154+ deaths. That's one thing that has changed since the big projects of last century: construction workers are no longer considered to be part of the cost/benefit equation.
I'd argue that a contributing factor to the moderating of big projects is that the world is now better instrumented and we have a better idea of the costs and benefits of big projects, so a lot more goes into each decision and it's harder to push things though on the basis of a grand vision.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam#Construction_deaths https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam#Construction_deaths
- masonic 8y agoIts lack of safety considerations would terrify folks today. Look at film of highscalers with little more than a rope. Diversion tunnel crews that were at constant risk of cave-in and suffocation. Blacks segregated and given the most dangerous jobs. All the cheap labor you could use.
- KorematsuFred 8y agoCost of life in USA has gone up significantly since then and hence people are willing to put up with unreasonable and super expensive safety mechanisms which bloat the entire project. USA could however use immigrants in such projects with lower safety standards, something that most middle easterns countries and our very close allies like Saudi Arabia has been doing. Take above paragraph with a pinch of salt please. Seriously speaking, large government projects are less about people and more about misplaced priorities of politicians. California's rail project was absolutely nonsensical and horribly bloated. Why do we even need a high speed train between Merced and Bakersfield ? For cows ? American private entrepreneurs are dreaming big. Those big dreams however are getting realized only in areas government has not yet killed off with ultra crazy regulations. Elon Musk alone is doing it with Giga Factory, SpaceX and Teslas. Amazon through entering healthcare. Google is doing it through Google brain and so on. There might not be huge structures built with human sacrifice but the efforts gone into them are nevertheless equally spectacular. America is building far bigger thing that benefits even the poor person in remote village of India instead of dams and trains. You just need to look at right locations. Also America doing it without risking lives of workers.
- masonic 8y agoAmazon through entering healthcare What has Amazon accomplished in healthcare to date?
- KorematsuFred 8y agoNot right now, but they will in a big way.
- dmanley 8y agoUnless they get into US health insurance, they are not going to have that much of a difference in US health Care.