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> I don’t wanna pick on any particular company, but I think we could rattle off a list of companies whose primary business model is to take public goods and to
by jcampbell1 7y ago
> I don’t wanna pick on any particular company, but I think we could rattle off a list of companies whose primary business model is to take public goods and to turn them into private profits
There must be some echo chamber that I am not familiar with. What is an example of this? Are people buying the Brooklyn bridge again?
- chooseaname 7y agoAccuWeather tried it.
- umvi 7y agoWell more like shipping/freight companies taking advantage of public roads/infra and running them into ground with fleets of trucks, etc.
- lopmotr 7y agoIn America, do truck operators not have to pay for use of roads? Or are you talking about illegal activity?
- shantly 7y agoThe heavier the vehicle, the more damage it does, ~exponentially. Freight trucks use more fuel (and so, fuel taxes) and have more fees and such but nowhere near enough to make up for the extra damage they do.
- jcampbell1 7y agoIn the US we have maximum weight limits and it is enforced with weigh stations. I have wondered if tire pressure limits would be more effective at preserving the roads. Cars put about 35psi on the roads and trucks put 80-100psi.
- robocat 7y agoIt isn't as simple as X kPa does Y damage. Damage also occurs due to dynamic loading, which depends upon suspension, tire weight, weight shifts between axles, and braking action (frictional horizontal loads).
- rleigh 7y agoRoad damage is proportional to the fourth power of the axle weight. Adjusting the tyre pressures won't have any appreciable effect. Halving the maximum lading weight would reduce the damage by a factor of sixteen.
- CodeWriter23 7y agoYes they pay extra road tax for that. Politicians quite commonly spend the money on stuff other than road maintenance. But an example of a shipping company externalizing its costs to the public, I saw a photo in NYC of two guys and a delivery truck for one of the carriers sorting packages on the sidewalk, creating a public nuisance by blocking the sidewalk and access to crosswalks. Saves the company costs on warehouse time/space to sort before loading.
- CodeWriter23 7y agoSelling water rights to bottled water companies is one example. I can’t drill a well in my back yard because of some transaction that entitled the local water bottling and delivery company to the water.
- doc_gunthrop 7y agoThis sounds similar to when Monsanto tried to patent seeds and sued small farmers out of their livelihood.
- nicoburns 7y agoYou say this as if it's something that happened in the past. They're still doing this. Worse, in some countries they've tried to get all other seeds banned.
- icebraining 7y agoThat's not an example of the saying, though. They asked for permission.
- kube-system 7y agoIt sounds like a reference to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons