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This shows very little hands on knowledge of how the US government actually works, how it pays for the contracts it writes, or the costs of making physical good
by cushychicken 3y ago
This shows very little hands on knowledge of how the US government actually works, how it pays for the contracts it writes, or the costs of making physical goods.
For example: as other more level headed folks with actual knowledge of contract fulfillment have mentioned, this might have been a T&M or cost plus procurement. In which case, there's very little opportunity for the profiteering that most of my replies have stridently claimed is obviously occurring - with zero evidence beyond "There's NO WAY it could be that expensive!!"
I get that I'm trying to argue with the emotions of a bunch of people with a lot of antipathy towards the US government, and that's ultimately a losing battle.
End of the day, you can be mad about this if you want, but this is the way it is, and it evolved that way for reasons, and some of those reasons are to encourage second order effects - beyond merely procuring plane trash cans.
- sfn42 3y agoI don't think the antipathy is against the government, i think it is against the obscenely rich people who own these companies, and to a degree the companies themselves. I also think the excuses made here are dishonest. It doesn't keep people employed, it doesn't fund innovation. It goes into some billionaire's bank account, gets invested in whatever and pushes them up some list of top 100 richest people in the US. The profits don't go to employees, they don't cause more hires. They don't create jobs. The trash cans are already designed, they're probably already manufactured as well. They're not going to hire anyone for this, they're just jacking up the price because they can so why the hell wouldn't they? Just like they jacked up the price of insulin not to mention general healthcare and medicine and everything else recently. The rich have one objective, it is to get richer. They will hide research that goes against that interest. Oil companies knew CO2 was bad nearly 100 years ago. Teflon producers knew teflon was bad decades ago. Until someone makes them stop, they will not stop. Because money. Corporations literally do not give a single ounce of fuck about anything except money. If they do something that seems selfless it's because seeming selfless is in their interest (money). Like how Patagonia made record sales of their "Don't buy this jacket". If you ever fins yourself thinking a corporation is giving a shit about something that doesn't make them more money it's because you're not seeing their angle.
- adolph 3y agoFor sure, let us understand Chesterton’s fence before we demolish it. A full appreciation for the problem is not the same as making excuses or justifications for it. At a minimum if the reason for something is a second order effect of said thing, then just take Vienna—make your intention a first order effect. https://fs.blog/chestertons-fence/ https://fs.blog/chestertons-fence/ https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Napoleon-say-If-you-want-to-take-Vienna-take-Vienna https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Napoleon-say-If-you-want-to-ta...