201–210 of 251 posts
Under a capitalist system, resources are allocated to those most willing to pay for it. Under a socialist system, resources are allocated to those with the most political power. Under an anarchist system, resources are allocated to those with the most firepower. The vaccine is being distributed under a socialist system. Nobody should be surprised at the results.
Under a capitalist system, resources are allocated to those most willing to pay for it. Under a socialist system, resources are allocated to those with the most political power. Under an anarchist system, resources are allocated to those with the most firepower. The vaccine is being distributed under a socialist system. Nobody should be surprised at the results.
Capitalism doesn't help in the case that the article is discussing, either. Older doctors tend to be paid more than younger doctors, and are also at higher risk of COVID-19 without taking into account how many COVID-19 patients they see. If we just charged a high price for the COVID-19 vaccine, the older doctors would easily be able to afford it and get vaccinated and the residents wouldn't be able to afford it -- exactly what's being complained about in the article. You don't get paid for each COVID patient you treat (caring for dying pandemic victims is not a high-margin business), so using ability to pay as the means of distributing the vaccine doesn't maximize its value to society. The problem that the designers of the distribution model faced was balancing risk from old age with risk from exposure to patients with COVID-19. They balanced it wrong, and over-weigthed old age and under-weighted daily exposure to people sick with COVID-19.
It's not about capitalism, socialism, or anarchy. It's about getting back to normal as quickly as possible.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In general, blaming the algorithm is an indirect way of blaming software engineers. From Facebook to the VW emissions scandal to Stanford’s vaccine allocation, people love narratives that blame engineers. I suspect this trend will only get worse as the general public realizes that engineers are now a highly compensated professional, similar to how lawyers are the butt of so many jokes.
Engineers have bosses, and they generally do what their bosses tell them to do. So the responsibility should lie, as usual, with the people at the top, who set the direction for the company, not for low-level peons like engineers, who might be highly compensated, but the engineers don't set the direction for the company nor make the ultimate decisions regarding these algorithms. But part of the tragedy of organizatio…
Precisely. Nobody should accept that kind of obvious nonsense.
People are put into positions to make decisions. So make better decisions.
If this pandemic has shown anything it’s that the poor and front line is throwaway. Inequality in the US is getting more and more extreme. This shit will not be tolerated much longer, riots will get worse, people will get angrier.
Under a capitalist system, resources are allocated to those most willing to pay for it. Under a socialist system, resources are allocated to those with the most political power. Under an anarchist system, resources are allocated to those with the most firepower. The vaccine is being distributed under a socialist system. Nobody should be surprised at the results.
TFW when you think capitalism can survive without the state
Earlier quoted context omitted.
didn't know stanford was located in a socialist country, or does it have an anti-capitalism force field around it?
While Stanford is a private entity, it acts and is structured like a public one. Even its full time employees aren’t at will like the private sector at large. We can argue about whether or not Stanford is “socialist”, but I don’t feel he’s wrong that Stanford allocated vaccines according to political power. He also doesn’t judge any system. He’s just giving an observation
Powerful politicians are already getting vaccinated.
It's a virtual certainty that those offering $25,000 for a dose are going to find someone in the distribution system providing it and pocketing the money.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Money laundering is a crime in which one takes money or goods taken through criminal activities (e.g., theft) and sends it through some process, usually a cover, like a business or something, to make it appear legitimate. More generally, it refers to the process by which money or resources obtained through ethically questionable means is passed through layers of other activities so as to obscure its original source.…
The solution to this conundrum is to aggressively encode explicit biases into the algorithm. The only requirement is that the explicit biases favor certain demographics that are politically deemed more equal than others.
Under a capitalist system, resources are allocated to those most willing to pay for it. Under a socialist system, resources are allocated to those with the most political power. Under an anarchist system, resources are allocated to those with the most firepower. The vaccine is being distributed under a socialist system. Nobody should be surprised at the results.
I don't think the "capitalist" system would really have any effectiveness here. Think about people like me: I could easily afford to pay whatever it would cost to be vaccinated. But, it's largely pointless: I work at home and don't go outside except to get some groceries now and again. If I did get COVID-19, I'm at a very low risk of dying. I'm probably not going to spread it to anyone either; I live alone and would…
But then you go on to explain how it would be effective:
> Think about people like me: I could easily afford to pay whatever it would cost to be vaccinated. But, it's largely pointless: I work at home and don't go outside except to get some groceries now and again. If I did get COVID-19, I'm at a very low risk of dying. I'm probably not going to spread it to anyone either; I live alone and would just stay in bed for the two weeks I was contagious.
I.e. you wouldn't find it worthwhile to pay whatever it may cost for an early dose (the LA Times reports people offering up to $25,000). Distribution by willingness to pay does sort by those who are able to pay and finding it worth the cost.