3 ms·

It's not got much to do with America, it's a human problem where we don't accurately assess risks, especially when there is a level of abstraction, or when emot

It's not got much to do with America, it's a human problem where we don't accurately assess risks, especially when there is a level of abstraction, or when emotions are involved. For instance, if there were three, highly-publicized cases of teenagers dying—somehow—from eating too much toothpaste, there would be a hundred news articles about it ("what you need to know about the toothpaste eating epidemic", "7 safe alternatives to toothpaste for your child"), and cities would pass laws limiting the size of toothpaste tubes you can legally sell, and the toothpaste would be moved behind locked ballistic glass in stores, and you'd have to show ID to buy it. Meanwhile, air pollution kills 7 million people a year, and has for decades, and it's like "meh, price of doin' business". Humans are dumb about this stuff, and there is very little rhyme or reason to the proportionality of their responses to different risks.

WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
> It's not got much to do with America The executives responsible were at no meaningful risk of being charged. They retained all the cash they were paid for maximizing elderly-killing drug sales. It's got much to do with America.
bobthepanda 3y ago
This is one of those problems caused/aggravated by America’s adversarial system, which is basically enforcement by lawsuit. Very motivated individuals can get powerful results by filing suits. On the other hand class actions are notoriously difficult, look at the Oxycontin ones.
- 1letterunixname 3y ago
  A complete lack of the precautionary principle and quality assurance. It's not even quality control and using the general public as "canaries" without even bothering to notice when people are dying because of institutional and systemic ageism. My (late) grandmother and mother experienced a pattern of dismissive and disrespectful treatment from doctors and healthcare providers in the US. And if a reader were to believe this to be "just an old people problem", they ought to reexamine their understanding of The Golden Rule and realize they will get old too when they live long enough.

WarOnPrivacy 3y ago

> It's not got much to do with America The executives responsible were at no meaningful risk of being charged. They retained all the cash they were paid for maximizing elderly-killing drug sales. It's got much to do with America.

bobthepanda 3y ago

This is one of those problems caused/aggravated by America’s adversarial system, which is basically enforcement by lawsuit. Very motivated individuals can get powerful results by filing suits. On the other hand class actions are notoriously difficult, look at the Oxycontin ones.

1letterunixname 3y ago
A complete lack of the precautionary principle and quality assurance. It's not even quality control and using the general public as "canaries" without even bothering to notice when people are dying because of institutional and systemic ageism. My (late) grandmother and mother experienced a pattern of dismissive and disrespectful treatment from doctors and healthcare providers in the US. And if a reader were to believe this to be "just an old people problem", they ought to reexamine their understanding of The Golden Rule and realize they will get old too when they live long enough.