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Why does it seem like the average American doesn't care at all about exactly how much sway corporate interests hold in our government? Boeing's influence on pol

Why does it seem like the average American doesn't care at all about exactly how much sway corporate interests hold in our government? Boeing's influence on politicians and regulatory agencies is a glaring example. The safety of passengers should come first, but somehow the 737 MAX keeps ending up getting the necessary approvals to carry passengers even after multiple crashes and now the doors falling off.

make3 3y ago
[flagged]
- bendergarcia 3y ago
  It’s not about who voted for Trump or not. There’s democratic politicians who just as likely take beoing money. The crux of it is that more and more education is being eroded and the education we do get is funneled through the lens of what’s profitable. Americans critical thinking ability is being eroded. And we all know the systemic issues that cause this.
  - matwood 3y ago
    > Americans critical thinking ability is being eroded. It's more nuanced than that. The internet has made critical thinking harder than ever. The search for engagement means headlines and half truths are pushed over deep analysis. And, once a person shows any interest in taking a side they are funneled into a bubble that's hard to leave. Even the best critical thinkers are going to have problems as AI takes off.
- dotnet00 3y ago
  You're demonstrating an example of the critical thinking ability being eroded that the other poster mentioned.
  - make3 3y ago
    I'm not sure how saying that electing a serial scammer & the actual impersonation of brutal, moral-less capitalism is an example of the culture of, and linked to, corporations capturing politics, is a lack of critical thinking. please show your work. I think you're just one of the people who say "you can't think critically" or "you're biased" to anyone you disagree with, without actual honest structured thought yourself
    - dotnet00 3y ago
      It's indicative because you instantly think of and whine about Trump and his voters rather than realizing that this corruption is propped up by both parties. It's as if you think history and all these issues with defense contractors started in 2016. Contractors like Boeing spread their operations across all 50 states specifically because that allows them to essentially bribe every politician with promises of creating jobs in their area. Similarly, the revolving door between defense contractors and government offices is not just a Trump thing. Democrats claim to be opposed to the "brutal" capitalism you describe, yet they support and benefit from it just as much, even with as divided as the country is right now, you'll find fairly bipartisan support when it comes to handing over money to entrenched contractors like Boeing. Hell, even now Congress is, in bipartisan agreement, trying to find excuses to write into law a means of handing Boeing $8B per year for 50 years in the form of SLS launches, regardless of need.
      - make3 3y ago
        I do agree that both parties benefit, but you'll still agree that Trump is the impersonation of what is wrong
        dotnet00 3y ago
        I agree that Trump is a particularly notable example of the issues with the country, but I'm increasingly of the opinion that not only him, but all of our ruling class is beyond redemption. It's increasingly frustrating how dysfunctional everyone is. We really should be cracking down hard on companies like Boeing, prosecute their leadership, clawback money for failures and be assertive in expecting technology transfer to backup companies for national security stuff, similar to how AMD used to be a backup manufacturer for Intel chips.
PKop 3y ago
What could you possibly think average Americans could do about this if they did care? Who says there isn't many of them (like you) that do? What are YOU doing about it? This is also a lesson of what the nature of government interests and protection of a company can do as much as it is the reverse. If Boeing wasn't so integral to national security and defense, and therefore too big to fail and catered to with defense budgets, maybe it would have failed and changed. It doesn't really have domestic competition. This is state failure and bureaucratic interests as much as corporate.
- Beldin 3y ago
  > What could you possibly think average Americans could do about this if they did care? Reach out to their congress-person (and other political representatives) with their worries. If that is hopeless a priori, please abolish the district system (which tends to cause a two-party system) asap and implement something that actually represents the people.
avalys 3y ago
The absolute impact of this situation is pretty minimal, as the reality remains that only two people have died on a US airline flight in the past 15 years. There’s a lot of outrage in forums like this, where everyone is suddenly an expert on how to regulate extremely complex and expensive aerospace systems, but most people understand the system is still actually working fine.
- starluz 3y ago
  Mm not what the Boeing whistle blowers said. They decidedly ignored safety fails

make3 3y ago

[flagged]

bendergarcia 3y ago
It’s not about who voted for Trump or not. There’s democratic politicians who just as likely take beoing money. The crux of it is that more and more education is being eroded and the education we do get is funneled through the lens of what’s profitable. Americans critical thinking ability is being eroded. And we all know the systemic issues that cause this.
- matwood 3y ago
  > Americans critical thinking ability is being eroded. It's more nuanced than that. The internet has made critical thinking harder than ever. The search for engagement means headlines and half truths are pushed over deep analysis. And, once a person shows any interest in taking a side they are funneled into a bubble that's hard to leave. Even the best critical thinkers are going to have problems as AI takes off.
dotnet00 3y ago
You're demonstrating an example of the critical thinking ability being eroded that the other poster mentioned.
- make3 3y ago
  I'm not sure how saying that electing a serial scammer & the actual impersonation of brutal, moral-less capitalism is an example of the culture of, and linked to, corporations capturing politics, is a lack of critical thinking. please show your work. I think you're just one of the people who say "you can't think critically" or "you're biased" to anyone you disagree with, without actual honest structured thought yourself
  - dotnet00 3y ago
    It's indicative because you instantly think of and whine about Trump and his voters rather than realizing that this corruption is propped up by both parties. It's as if you think history and all these issues with defense contractors started in 2016. Contractors like Boeing spread their operations across all 50 states specifically because that allows them to essentially bribe every politician with promises of creating jobs in their area. Similarly, the revolving door between defense contractors and government offices is not just a Trump thing. Democrats claim to be opposed to the "brutal" capitalism you describe, yet they support and benefit from it just as much, even with as divided as the country is right now, you'll find fairly bipartisan support when it comes to handing over money to entrenched contractors like Boeing. Hell, even now Congress is, in bipartisan agreement, trying to find excuses to write into law a means of handing Boeing $8B per year for 50 years in the form of SLS launches, regardless of need.
    - make3 3y ago
      I do agree that both parties benefit, but you'll still agree that Trump is the impersonation of what is wrong
      - dotnet00 3y ago
        I agree that Trump is a particularly notable example of the issues with the country, but I'm increasingly of the opinion that not only him, but all of our ruling class is beyond redemption. It's increasingly frustrating how dysfunctional everyone is. We really should be cracking down hard on companies like Boeing, prosecute their leadership, clawback money for failures and be assertive in expecting technology transfer to backup companies for national security stuff, similar to how AMD used to be a backup manufacturer for Intel chips.

PKop 3y ago

What could you possibly think average Americans could do about this if they did care? Who says there isn't many of them (like you) that do? What are YOU doing about it? This is also a lesson of what the nature of government interests and protection of a company can do as much as it is the reverse. If Boeing wasn't so integral to national security and defense, and therefore too big to fail and catered to with defense budgets, maybe it would have failed and changed. It doesn't really have domestic competition. This is state failure and bureaucratic interests as much as corporate.

Beldin 3y ago
> What could you possibly think average Americans could do about this if they did care? Reach out to their congress-person (and other political representatives) with their worries. If that is hopeless a priori, please abolish the district system (which tends to cause a two-party system) asap and implement something that actually represents the people.

avalys 3y ago

The absolute impact of this situation is pretty minimal, as the reality remains that only two people have died on a US airline flight in the past 15 years. There’s a lot of outrage in forums like this, where everyone is suddenly an expert on how to regulate extremely complex and expensive aerospace systems, but most people understand the system is still actually working fine.

starluz 3y ago
Mm not what the Boeing whistle blowers said. They decidedly ignored safety fails