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Upvoted, because very valid points overall. That being said.. >Individual consumers can’t possibly have full information about the supply chain of every item t

by asdf21 7y ago

Upvoted, because very valid points overall. That being said.. >Individual consumers can’t possibly have full information about the supply chain of every item they buy Of course not, however, they don't need full information to hear, at some point or another, that Amazon is a poor place to work. And it isn't as if the government has a solid track record of producing new regulation lately. Can you name one well-executed regulatory initiative the US Federal Government has implemented in the last 20-30 years? Or better yet, one well-executed major infrastructure project? I'm genuinely curious, maybe I'm just cynical, but I'm not sure it's even possible anymore for the government to be functional at any deeper level.

jacobolus 7y ago
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was quite effective until its leadership were unlawfully replaced with partisan hacks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protection_Bureau#2017_dispute_over_acting_director https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protection_... One big federal problem with antitrust and other corporate–related law is that we have now had an unbroken half century of “conservative” domination of the US Supreme Court. Over that time consumer, worker, citizen, and small-business friendly interpretations of a wide variety of laws have been steadily replaced by interpretations friendly to wealthy/corporate interests. That control should have been broken after Scalia died but the GOP-controlled Senate broke with any pretense of good faith or respect for norms or precedent and refused to allow even a moderate compromise candidate to come to a Senate confirmation vote. After regaining control of the presidency the Senate then eliminated the filibuster so it could force radical GOP ideologues through onto the bench. > I'm not sure it's even possible anymore for the government to be functional at any deeper level. This is absurd. The US civil service is full of highly competent experts without whom we would all be exposed to grave risks every day. They do their work conscientiously and seriously, largely out of the spotlight. Let me recommend you read Michael Lewis’s book The Fifth Risk, or at least listen to one of these interviews about it: https://www.scpr.org/programs/fresh-air/2018/10/02/65410/ https://www.scpr.org/programs/fresh-air/2018/10/02/65410/ https://cafe.com/stay-tuned-what-is-the-fifth-risk-with-michael-lewis/ https://cafe.com/stay-tuned-what-is-the-fifth-risk-with-mich...
- asdf21 7y ago
  >Let me recommend you read Michael Lewis’s book The Fifth Risk, or at least listen to one of these interviews about it: I'm not sure I need to read a biased polemic about how big government is good and the Trump admin is bad. >The US civil service is full of highly competent experts without whom we would all be exposed to grave risks every day. I've worked for government agencies, and this is certainly not how I would describe the workers there. I'd say this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21805768 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21805768 would more closely represent my typical experience with civil servants.. rampant incompetence.
  - porknubbins 7y ago
    Isn’t is possible that government bureaucracy is simultaneously both big, wasteful, and sometimes incompetent as well as necessary and staffed by a core of skilled, hardworking people? I’ve applied for govt contractor jobs and the emphasis placed on checking every box while blindly ignoring any other indicia of aptitude for the job (ie can you prove you have 4 years experience with Microsoft Office?) is infuriating. But its basically a big company- you get good employees with the bad, just harder to fire the bad ones.

by asdf21 7y ago

jacobolus 7y ago

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was quite effective until its leadership were unlawfully replaced with partisan hacks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protection_Bureau#2017_dispute_over_acting_director https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Financial_Protection_... One big federal problem with antitrust and other corporate–related law is that we have now had an unbroken half century of “conservative” domination of the US Supreme Court. Over that time consumer, worker, citizen, and small-business friendly interpretations of a wide variety of laws have been steadily replaced by interpretations friendly to wealthy/corporate interests. That control should have been broken after Scalia died but the GOP-controlled Senate broke with any pretense of good faith or respect for norms or precedent and refused to allow even a moderate compromise candidate to come to a Senate confirmation vote. After regaining control of the presidency the Senate then eliminated the filibuster so it could force radical GOP ideologues through onto the bench. > I'm not sure it's even possible anymore for the government to be functional at any deeper level. This is absurd. The US civil service is full of highly competent experts without whom we would all be exposed to grave risks every day. They do their work conscientiously and seriously, largely out of the spotlight. Let me recommend you read Michael Lewis’s book The Fifth Risk, or at least listen to one of these interviews about it: https://www.scpr.org/programs/fresh-air/2018/10/02/65410/ https://www.scpr.org/programs/fresh-air/2018/10/02/65410/ https://cafe.com/stay-tuned-what-is-the-fifth-risk-with-michael-lewis/ https://cafe.com/stay-tuned-what-is-the-fifth-risk-with-mich...

asdf21 7y ago
>Let me recommend you read Michael Lewis’s book The Fifth Risk, or at least listen to one of these interviews about it: I'm not sure I need to read a biased polemic about how big government is good and the Trump admin is bad. >The US civil service is full of highly competent experts without whom we would all be exposed to grave risks every day. I've worked for government agencies, and this is certainly not how I would describe the workers there. I'd say this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21805768 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21805768 would more closely represent my typical experience with civil servants.. rampant incompetence.
- porknubbins 7y ago
  Isn’t is possible that government bureaucracy is simultaneously both big, wasteful, and sometimes incompetent as well as necessary and staffed by a core of skilled, hardworking people? I’ve applied for govt contractor jobs and the emphasis placed on checking every box while blindly ignoring any other indicia of aptitude for the job (ie can you prove you have 4 years experience with Microsoft Office?) is infuriating. But its basically a big company- you get good employees with the bad, just harder to fire the bad ones.