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https://www.thisamericanlife.org/279/transcript https://www.thisamericanlife.org/279/transcript
by zsmizzle 3y ago
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/279/transcript https://www.thisamericanlife.org/279/transcript
- ChicagoBoy11 3y agoHa, yeah, that's it. And, the quote in question, from David Segal, apparently: "Everyone wants to be the king of the hill. That's international. But the number of aspiring kings always dwarfs the number of available hills. So in this country, we build more hills. We're geniuses, in fact, at building more hills."
- dempedempe 3y agoWhich is great until those hills directly or indirectly affect people's health. Healthcare should not be a hill. Prisons should not be a hill. Politics should not be a hill.
- robertlagrant 3y agoThey affect health by creating enormous numbers of new fields for research and medicine, which after patent expiry is generified and manufactured cheaply for eternity.
- dempedempe 3y agoYou can have medical research without charging $1000 for an ambulance ride, $10k - $20k for having a child, $100,000 for staying in the hospital a few days. Those are the things I'm talking about.
- robertlagrant 3y agoYou can, but these are complex systems, where some areas will have a profit incentive and be efficient, and others just mired in regulation, either directly or in a way that prevents competition arising. I don't think anyone deliberately built that hill. It's made up of lots of awesome hills and lots of hideous quagmires.
- ativzzz 3y agoPick your poison - would you rather have too many hills or not enough hills? Turns out limiting hill making is complex, and requires an even bigger hill that calls the shots
- Podgajski 3y agoI would, in fact, rather, we had a flat landscape.
- ativzzz 3y agoA flat landscape implies no opportunity for anyone to do anything. If you really want, go live in the wilderness on your own. That is the only true flat landscape
- Podgajski 3y agoFlat landscape means no one rules over anyone else. I means you can give people authority but you can take away that authority without repercussions. If you want to live in a world subjected by a king or some fool on a hill, go ahead. I don’t pretend like you’re anything other than a peasant.
- ativzzz 3y ago> no one rules over anyone else This is impossible, because in this scenario, someone will get weapons and will forcefully take over and rule everyone else. This is just how human nature works
- Podgajski 3y agoWow, you have such a depressing take on human existence. I don’t see people getting weapons and taking over people in the streets, do you?
- satvikpendem 3y ago
- qez2 3y ago[dead]