[FRIAM] capitalism vs. individualism

[Eric Smith]

Very very sorry Glen

You said “as a people”.  

There was no need for my reply.

E


> On Nov 12, 2019, at 10:04 AM, Eric Smith <desmith at santafe.edu> wrote:
> 
> Good thread; far more than I can process.
> 
> But… (from Glen’s anecdote)
> 
>> This episode challenged my understanding of infrastructure. I don't think Renee's alone in this. I've heard people complain of the tiniest things about their public trans trips ... someone smacking their food ... someone with body odor ... the drunk guy passed out on the seat ... someone clipping their toenails ... etc. They all sound like rationalizations, to me. Whatever the deeper cause, there's something about us as a people that prevents effective sharing. So, I'm now considering changing all my advocacy from public transportation to massive swarms of publicly owned, self-driving, electric cars. And I'll start trashing Amtrak and Portland's TriMet every chance I get. 8^)
> 
> Not “as people”.  As Americans.  Important, I think, to acknowledge how malleable this is, and the role of culture (including institutions).
> 
> Live by the train systems in Japan for a while, and you are smacked in the face by the broken culture that Americans seem to believe is an irredeemable human condition.  Come back to a city like Atlanta, and the impulse to blame that “you people aren’t even trying” is all but irresistable.  A transition back to New York is still somewhat harsh, but not to the same degree.
> 
> The same can be said, for that matter, of cost control in the medical system.  A person to whom I am connected had a ligament-replacement surgery done to reconstruct a joint, with a week in-hospital (because the Japanese hate to take unnecessary risks of anything), by a specialst who has trained and worked for decades in both Japan and the UK, and the most-caring hospital staff.  It cost me 1000 dollars, and about 1/3 had been covered by national insurance.  I think in the US, without coverage (which is the relevant situation in this case), a similar quality of treatment would have cost me more than my whole after-tax income for half a year.
> 
> If those are the stress-testing cases, think of what the difference can be in behavior on the street, and in other ordinary interactions.
> 
> American culture needs a hard kick in the ass, and an admonition to grow up, because we no longer have the slack to live like this and survive it.  There are plenty of American people who are not the sources of that broken culture, and they already get kicked too much, so I don’t mean that.  But the view that, while there are problems that will remain to afflict people under any case, still so much better an effort _can_ be made.
> 
> I constantly think of the saying “You know the ship's only in trouble if the sailors stop swearing”.  Probably literally not true, but makes a point.  I wonder what it would look like if Americans woke up to realize that the ship is in trouble.
> 
> Best to all,
> 
> Eric
>