4 ms·

The US failed because very few - nearly zero - people in the political leadership of the US are interested in working for the general public, thinking about the

The US failed because very few - nearly zero - people in the political leadership of the US are interested in working for the general public, thinking about the interests of the general public, etc. It's a failure of power - the interests of the general public have no power in running the US government. To put it another way: if you laid out a ten-page paper describing exactly the right course of action (you're omniscient, you know these things) on the desk of every federal leader, it still wouldn't happen. If you did it on the first day of the outbreak, it wouldn't happen. If you did it today, it wouldn't happen. It's a power failure, not a knowledge failure or a "we think wrong" failure. Nobody is sitting at their desk right now saying "damnit, we tried our hardest and just didn't THINK of the solution! If only we were better thinkers!".

jfengel 7y ago
I'd say that they are very interested in the very large part of the public who voted for them. Their actions so far have been very popular. And they may continue to be so, all the way through, even if the death toll is in the millions. They have blamed the virus on the Chinese, the closures on overreaction by their opponents, and even the death toll is seen as unfortunate but necessary for the economy. Perhaps personal acquaintance with victims will change that, but I have suspicion that it won't. Certainly it hasn't so far. They win elections because they know how to care for enough of the people to win. If it angers you, as it does me, the only way to combat it is to win. No amount of complaining or message sending changes that basic fact.
- jellicle 7y ago
  > I'd say that they are very interested in the very large part of the public who voted for them. You may be interested in the research of Page and Gilens, which shows the opposite is true.
- snowwrestler 7y ago
  The demographic with the highest percentage of people who voted for Trump is older white men. Older men are also the demographic with the highest risk of death from COVID-19. The worse that the Trump administration does at managing the outbreak, the more of their voters will die before they can vote in November. Considering Trump's slim vote margin of victory in 2016, this could matter. Talk of re-opening the economy early instead serves a different constituency: the people who fund much of the recent Republican political program. These are mostly rich individuals who can make idiosyncratic, self-centered decisions. The result is a Republican political machine that pursues the interests of these individuals, even when it means coming into conflict with the interests of their voters. The reason politicians want to make these funders happy is that, if the politician loses office, these funders are the same people who can set them up with a well-paid gig in the broader political machine. See for example Sarah Palin, who made this work so well that she quit her political job early.
  - jfengel 7y ago
    They may well support it up to the point that it kills them. I expect it to be popular to tell them there is nothing to worry about and they'll probably be fine.

jfengel 7y ago

I'd say that they are very interested in the very large part of the public who voted for them. Their actions so far have been very popular. And they may continue to be so, all the way through, even if the death toll is in the millions. They have blamed the virus on the Chinese, the closures on overreaction by their opponents, and even the death toll is seen as unfortunate but necessary for the economy. Perhaps personal acquaintance with victims will change that, but I have suspicion that it won't. Certainly it hasn't so far. They win elections because they know how to care for enough of the people to win. If it angers you, as it does me, the only way to combat it is to win. No amount of complaining or message sending changes that basic fact.

jellicle 7y ago
> I'd say that they are very interested in the very large part of the public who voted for them. You may be interested in the research of Page and Gilens, which shows the opposite is true.
snowwrestler 7y ago
The demographic with the highest percentage of people who voted for Trump is older white men. Older men are also the demographic with the highest risk of death from COVID-19. The worse that the Trump administration does at managing the outbreak, the more of their voters will die before they can vote in November. Considering Trump's slim vote margin of victory in 2016, this could matter. Talk of re-opening the economy early instead serves a different constituency: the people who fund much of the recent Republican political program. These are mostly rich individuals who can make idiosyncratic, self-centered decisions. The result is a Republican political machine that pursues the interests of these individuals, even when it means coming into conflict with the interests of their voters. The reason politicians want to make these funders happy is that, if the politician loses office, these funders are the same people who can set them up with a well-paid gig in the broader political machine. See for example Sarah Palin, who made this work so well that she quit her political job early.
- jfengel 7y ago
  They may well support it up to the point that it kills them. I expect it to be popular to tell them there is nothing to worry about and they'll probably be fine.