4 ms·

Entertain the notion that you may have it backwards: that accepting the institutions at face value _all the time_ is irrational given the past several decades o

Entertain the notion that you may have it backwards: that accepting the institutions at face value _all the time_ is irrational given the past several decades of Kafkaesque proceedings. This can lead to a general hesitance which may seem ignorant but is actually versed in hard earned wisdom.

searine 6y ago
Our institutions are often inept, but only rarely are they malicious. The fact remains that they provide necessary benefits that the free market wont. Healthcare, welfare, infrastructure, law enforcement etc. These systems were always mired in flawed bureaucracy. The thing that changed is talking heads spending 30 years convincing americans of all political spectrums that one or more of those dozens of institutions was the boogeyman. Sometimes it has gone as far as getting politicians elected who then intentionally break these systems simply to gain a propaganda victory (see intentionally inefficient unemployment systems). As is often the case, when people need to actually interact with these parts of the system (those parts that aren't intentionally crippled by politics at least), they realize the benefit and change their view from skeptical to supportive.
- peytn 6y ago
  I mean maybe in the broader sense, but bringing it back to something concrete: the CDC has a singular purpose, and plenty of money for planning so it can carry out that purpose. But having leaders who say things like (paraphrasing) “masks are better than vaccines” isn’t helpful, and I don’t see how that could be caused by the media. It’s possible that trust in institutions has decreased due to media and our specific disease control institutions suffer from cultural rot and antipathy towards the little people.
  - searine 6y ago
    >But having leaders who say things like (paraphrasing) “masks are better than vaccines” isn’t helpful, and I don’t see how that could be caused by the media. In context, he was right. Face masks were and are the most widespread, and cheapest way to combat the disease. The issue is that phrase got turned into a soundbyte by the media and then FWD:FWD:FWD'd by grandma on facebook twisting the message into "CDC SAYS VACCINES DON'T WORK, THIS ONE WEIRD TRICK WILL STOP BILL GATES FROM TRACKING YOU". >specific disease control institutions suffer from cultural rot and antipathy towards the little people. The United States public health system has been a beacon of hope this past year. With a complete breakdown of executive leadership (due to preoccupation with politics and media), local public health offices from every state and county have picked up the slack. They are the ones organizing testing, disease tracking, vaccine drives etc. They all haven't gone smoothly, but we've actually done a lot better than most of the world. This isn't a new phenomenon either. The same thing happened in 1918. Breakdown of executive leadership which resulted in local public health being on their own. The only difference between now and then is that the death toll was kept much lower because of modern medicine's intervention in severe disease.
- captainredbeard 6y ago
  > Our institutions are often inept, but only rarely are they malicious. Agreed, but they don't need to be malicious to be tyrannical in their impact!

searine 6y ago

Our institutions are often inept, but only rarely are they malicious. The fact remains that they provide necessary benefits that the free market wont. Healthcare, welfare, infrastructure, law enforcement etc. These systems were always mired in flawed bureaucracy. The thing that changed is talking heads spending 30 years convincing americans of all political spectrums that one or more of those dozens of institutions was the boogeyman. Sometimes it has gone as far as getting politicians elected who then intentionally break these systems simply to gain a propaganda victory (see intentionally inefficient unemployment systems). As is often the case, when people need to actually interact with these parts of the system (those parts that aren't intentionally crippled by politics at least), they realize the benefit and change their view from skeptical to supportive.

peytn 6y ago
I mean maybe in the broader sense, but bringing it back to something concrete: the CDC has a singular purpose, and plenty of money for planning so it can carry out that purpose. But having leaders who say things like (paraphrasing) “masks are better than vaccines” isn’t helpful, and I don’t see how that could be caused by the media. It’s possible that trust in institutions has decreased due to media and our specific disease control institutions suffer from cultural rot and antipathy towards the little people.
- searine 6y ago
  >But having leaders who say things like (paraphrasing) “masks are better than vaccines” isn’t helpful, and I don’t see how that could be caused by the media. In context, he was right. Face masks were and are the most widespread, and cheapest way to combat the disease. The issue is that phrase got turned into a soundbyte by the media and then FWD:FWD:FWD'd by grandma on facebook twisting the message into "CDC SAYS VACCINES DON'T WORK, THIS ONE WEIRD TRICK WILL STOP BILL GATES FROM TRACKING YOU". >specific disease control institutions suffer from cultural rot and antipathy towards the little people. The United States public health system has been a beacon of hope this past year. With a complete breakdown of executive leadership (due to preoccupation with politics and media), local public health offices from every state and county have picked up the slack. They are the ones organizing testing, disease tracking, vaccine drives etc. They all haven't gone smoothly, but we've actually done a lot better than most of the world. This isn't a new phenomenon either. The same thing happened in 1918. Breakdown of executive leadership which resulted in local public health being on their own. The only difference between now and then is that the death toll was kept much lower because of modern medicine's intervention in severe disease.
captainredbeard 6y ago
> Our institutions are often inept, but only rarely are they malicious. Agreed, but they don't need to be malicious to be tyrannical in their impact!