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I think this is an example of what are normally externalities being arbitrarily imposed on an individual though. There are so many things companies and others
by bigfudge 4y ago
I think this is an example of what are normally externalities being arbitrarily imposed on an individual though.
There are so many things companies and others do that impose costs on others that singling out only those which meet a threshold that make it worth taking to court creates a discontinuity in outcomes which makes it seem punitive here.
I also hope the fine here is proportional to his ability to pay. Bankrupting poor people for mistakes in the outdoors, where the same penalty is expensive but manageable for the rich, also doesn't seem just.
- rubidium 4y ago“Makes it seem punitive” um… are you concerned about that? It’s the whole point to be punitive. And there are supposed to be life altering consequences for actions we take. Certainly there are problems with corporations not bearing the costs of the problems / issues they create. But that means we need better laws to capture that, not that this guy was unjustly punished.
- FollowingTheDao 4y agoBest take right here. Yeah, the guy was an idiot, but was he Norfolk Southern criminal? Ad will Norfolk Southern go bankrupt from poisoning a town? Nope. What about Wells Fargo? I cold go on and on. The government cares more about corporations than people. We live in a corpocracy, not a democracy.
- treis 4y agoWildfires are also naturally occurring and rely on a supply of dried fuel to burn. This dumbass starting a fire means that we skip a naturally occurring one because this fire consumed the fuel. It's not exactly that cut and dry but the point is it's not all cost.