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I don't think the blame is misplaced - raganwald addresses your point in the post, that "whatever people click on is obviously right", and that it's a cop-out.
by potatolicious 15y ago
I don't think the blame is misplaced - raganwald addresses your point in the post, that "whatever people click on is obviously right", and that it's a cop-out.
Yeah, a lot of people will choose a Big Mac over a salad, and a lot of people will scarf down fried chicken before a sandwich - that doesn't make their choices optimal, either for themselves or for society at large.
You're also discounting the enormous effect policy has. We've gone from a nation of chain-smokers to one where I don't have to walk through clouds of smoke to get from A to B, and this has largely been driven not by some phenomenal and accidental change in social norms, but by a concerted effort of government and individuals.
So it's not so much blaming Google, as to say that with Google's money, intelligence, and influence that we can be putting this "remnant inventory" to socially higher causes, rather than try to collect a pittance on it by hawking scams and get-rich-quick schemes.
- fleitz 15y agoYes, government policy has a huge effect, for one it created the nation of chain smokers. What Google does is monetize the products of our school system, the school system produces mindless consumers incapable of producing on their own. Google connects these dependents of the state to the people who can produce the goods they need to live. If you want to change what Google promotes simply transform the school system into an education system predicated upon critical and independent thought. By transforming the school system you'll have solved a whole host of social problems, the least of which will be ads hawking get rich quick schemes.
- potatolicious 15y agoI'm in favor of a lot of ways to fix this problem. What I cannot abide is the whole "people are stupid and want stupid things, I'm just fulfilling their stupid demands" excuse. What hope does this world have when its best and brightest are content with swindling money out of the ill-informed?
- tweak2live 15y agoNone, whatsoever. But what alternative do the "best and the brightest" have? After all, in order to keep being "the best and the brightest" they do need to pay rent (and have an occasional steak dinner). What value is there in educating if one can simply purchase social capital when one needs it? Exhibit A: http://www.facebook.com/BPTeamUSA http://www.facebook.com/BPTeamUSA Exhibit B: http://www.altria.com/en/cms/Responsibility/investing-in-communities/programs/employee-involvement/volunteers-gifts-dollars/default.aspx http://www.altria.com/en/cms/Responsibility/investing-in-com...
- potatolicious 15y ago> "After all, in order to keep being "the best and the brightest" they do need to pay rent (and have an occasional steak dinner)." Plenty of people pay rent and eat well and aren't complicit in scams and get-rich-quick schemes. Plenty of people have jobs that pay well and don't pander to the lowest common denominator and reinforce ignorance...
- tweak2live 15y agoIf you think I'm advocating pandering to the lowest common denominator and reinforcing ignorance, you are mistaken. I am pointing out the fact that within a system of social organization which allows "material capital" to be easily convertible to "social capital" this type of behavior will always exist. Moreover, in most cases it will be a superior social/business strategy. Consider a hypothetical example. Evil Company X can do a "socially harmful" thing Y and make Z dollars or a "socially beneficial" thing W and make V dollars. Well, if Z - [the cost of whitewashing] > V, why not do it? Furthermore, should the CEO of ECX opt to do V and forego greater profits, investors of X would be well-justified to vote for his removal at the subsequent board meeting. After all, the CEO was not representing THEIR best interests...
- Drbble 15y agoInteresting question: for younger folks who weren't aware of the Altria name change, does anyone think Altria is not a criminal enterprise?