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This, and Flint MI, is why I have very little trust in many public institutions. At least in the US, there is a recurrent failure to abandon profitable aims eve

This, and Flint MI, is why I have very little trust in many public institutions. At least in the US, there is a recurrent failure to abandon profitable aims even to save human lives. It is very much a reality of every person for themselves that does not square with the material wealth of the US.

kube-system 1y ago
> very little trust in many public institutions. As opposed to...... the private institutions that created most of those problems?
- meepmorp 1y ago
  publicly traded institutions, maybe?
- usui 1y ago
  This is a strawman. The OP didn't mention trusting private institutions over public institutions, just that you can't ever trust American public institutions to do the right thing for you before being dragged kicking and screaming. What the poster says is true. Living in the US is coming to terms with "every person for themselves" is reality, and that it "does not square with the material wealth of the US". You can trust public institutions to some extent more than private, but interacting with them is still all about fending for yourself. Being familiar with the American government and living in another country that treats its citizens much better (at least for daily operations and processes) opens your eyes to how bad it is. It's a horror how much money the US has while failing to invest the majority of profits back into raising standards for everyone. Dozens of countries do better with much less.
  - kube-system 1y ago
    Well who else is there to solve the problem? > It's a horror how much money the US has while failing to invest the majority of profits back into raising standards for everyone. That's because of private institutions too. Regulatory capture is the reason we can't govern worth a shit in the US. The only remotely feasible way to solve environmental tragedy of the commons issues is through regulation.
    - AnthonyMouse 1y ago
      To get there you have to be using a definition of "private institutions" which is coterminous with all of humanity. Regulatory capture regularly happens by government employees (i.e. public sector unions who want makework jobs), ordinary homeowners who want high housing costs at the expense of new buyers because they've already bought in, the AARP lobbying for massively expensive medicare expansions and other healthcare rules that disproportionately benefit affluent retirees etc. The incentive of those groups to lobby for their own personal gain is inherent in their existence. If government employees or private homeowners or retirees exist then they'll want what benefits them over what benefits the general public. So the problem of regulatory capture is a problem of how to constrain the government from making rules at the behest of special interest groups.
      - kube-system 1y ago
        I'm talking about business and industry. Neither government employees, their unions, nor the AARP are the forces lobbying to allow pollution of public resources -- the ones who are doing so are the polluters who directly benefit from it.
        AnthonyMouse 1y ago
        Governments are some of the largest polluters in the world. Any given special interest is lobbying for the thing they want at the expense of the general public. Is there something that makes pollution different than e.g. professional licensing capture that increases the cost of trade services and therefore causes people to be priced out of making safety-related repairs? Or to put it the other way, any reason the likes of public transit systems should be able to operate whatsoever when they produce non-zero amounts of brake dust and CO2 instead of making everybody walk everywhere?
    - dwattttt 1y ago
      > That's because of private institutions too. Regulatory capture is the reason we can't govern worth a shit in the US I think the ingrained "every person for themselves" attitude is more fundamentally a problem. Fix one expression of it and 10 more will turn up.
bluGill 1y ago
The us is a large place with a lot of media so there is a lot of problems - but in proportion things are good, exposeure makes it seem bad but it is not. if you don't hear about problems the correct assumption is that things are bad and the coverup is working. Assuming things are better elsewhere is bad. Unless you personally check it of course, which you cannot do and live a life

kube-system 1y ago

> very little trust in many public institutions. As opposed to...... the private institutions that created most of those problems?

meepmorp 1y ago
publicly traded institutions, maybe?
usui 1y ago
This is a strawman. The OP didn't mention trusting private institutions over public institutions, just that you can't ever trust American public institutions to do the right thing for you before being dragged kicking and screaming. What the poster says is true. Living in the US is coming to terms with "every person for themselves" is reality, and that it "does not square with the material wealth of the US". You can trust public institutions to some extent more than private, but interacting with them is still all about fending for yourself. Being familiar with the American government and living in another country that treats its citizens much better (at least for daily operations and processes) opens your eyes to how bad it is. It's a horror how much money the US has while failing to invest the majority of profits back into raising standards for everyone. Dozens of countries do better with much less.
- kube-system 1y ago
  Well who else is there to solve the problem? > It's a horror how much money the US has while failing to invest the majority of profits back into raising standards for everyone. That's because of private institutions too. Regulatory capture is the reason we can't govern worth a shit in the US. The only remotely feasible way to solve environmental tragedy of the commons issues is through regulation.
  - AnthonyMouse 1y ago
    To get there you have to be using a definition of "private institutions" which is coterminous with all of humanity. Regulatory capture regularly happens by government employees (i.e. public sector unions who want makework jobs), ordinary homeowners who want high housing costs at the expense of new buyers because they've already bought in, the AARP lobbying for massively expensive medicare expansions and other healthcare rules that disproportionately benefit affluent retirees etc. The incentive of those groups to lobby for their own personal gain is inherent in their existence. If government employees or private homeowners or retirees exist then they'll want what benefits them over what benefits the general public. So the problem of regulatory capture is a problem of how to constrain the government from making rules at the behest of special interest groups.
    - kube-system 1y ago
      I'm talking about business and industry. Neither government employees, their unions, nor the AARP are the forces lobbying to allow pollution of public resources -- the ones who are doing so are the polluters who directly benefit from it.
      - AnthonyMouse 1y ago
        Governments are some of the largest polluters in the world. Any given special interest is lobbying for the thing they want at the expense of the general public. Is there something that makes pollution different than e.g. professional licensing capture that increases the cost of trade services and therefore causes people to be priced out of making safety-related repairs? Or to put it the other way, any reason the likes of public transit systems should be able to operate whatsoever when they produce non-zero amounts of brake dust and CO2 instead of making everybody walk everywhere?
  - dwattttt 1y ago
    > That's because of private institutions too. Regulatory capture is the reason we can't govern worth a shit in the US I think the ingrained "every person for themselves" attitude is more fundamentally a problem. Fix one expression of it and 10 more will turn up.

bluGill 1y ago

The us is a large place with a lot of media so there is a lot of problems - but in proportion things are good, exposeure makes it seem bad but it is not. if you don't hear about problems the correct assumption is that things are bad and the coverup is working. Assuming things are better elsewhere is bad. Unless you personally check it of course, which you cannot do and live a life