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US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

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Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rich are endangering their riches in this experiment. The pitch forks will have their field day eventually. 2014 https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchfor...

That's the insiduous thing we're seeing - when you have to work two jobs just to make rent on a dilapidated shack for a slumlord you don't have time to protest, and when your healthcare insurance depends on having a job (because there aren't charity-run hospitals around any more) you can't afford the risk getting fired for going on a strike, much less actual "direct action". On top of that, mass media controls the na…

> On top of that, mass media controls the narratives way too hard - just look how fast Luigi Mangione got out of the news.

People say this a lot, but it seems just as likely to me that the media is simply reflecting what we care about. Coverage fades because, broadly speaking, people have moved on from the story. Even more "intellectual media" like the Atlantic has moved on from it. I get that it’s uncomfortable to acknowledge, but an equally plausible explanation is that the public is far more interested in Blake Lively’s lawsuit than in Mangione or the state of healthcare in the U.S.

Yes, it’s a symbiotic relationship, but I think people are often too eager to blame a shadowy cabal rather than recognizing that it’s often just a reflection of what society actually values. Probably because, as stated, dismantling mass media seems like something that could possibly happen while changing the entirety of a nation is essentially impossible.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#412

If anything this whole DOGE scenario has illuminated is how confused and overconfident many in this country are. We are stumbling fools without systems and rules (organizations, institutions, laws, regulations, ...) to rely on. I wonder how much behavior like this stems from weak regulation in the US to begin with. It seems like it would reinforce the rise of agents that assume they can ask for forgiveness after acti…

> We are stumbling fools without systems and rules (organizations, institutions, laws, regulations, ...) to rely on. There are no organization or institutions or anything else that matters: only people matter. If people don't bother to have integrity then "institutions" (or anything based around them) are irrelevant. "There are no institutions, only people." — https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1231219728619835395…

We are told endlessly in the UK that "institutions are strong". This is about as foolishly optimistic a statement as I can recall hearing, from ostensibly serious people. Institutions are not strong. Institutions are made of people. People are weak, corrupt, lazy, stupid, and endlessly self-serving. Institutions are weak.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Problem is, it’s not backfired - the example you cited “worked”, because it rapidly identified key personnel without weeks or months of subjective analysis and political posturing by workers and their supervisors. I think in federal government the risks are much higher, and Musk is being an idiot by exposing the America public to those risks, but the feedback loop for him on these previous experiments has been positi…

Getting bureaucrats to fire each other is met with every delay tactic possible. Might be able to put it off for two years which is all they need. Going in crazy like they are doing now, may serve the administration if they start having department do their own layoffs in a hurry, because they know otherwise it will be done for then.

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Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would do a quick google search of Brexit news articles with the year 2016.

I was living in the UK at a time. Nobody worth listening to was predicting war or famine.

So you agree that there was a large amount of hyperbole which was intended to create fear but not constructed in good faith?

that’s what I would conclude from “it exists but wasn’t taken seriously”

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#415
post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's contradictory. By definition, the Left is progressive -- they want society to progress and see a future where the problems of the past and present are solved by moving forward. The Right is regressive by definition -- they believe that modern society is inferior to some past "Golden Age" that needs to be returned to to make things great again -- the 1950s, the 19th century, or even the 18th century.

So the crypto currency people who support Trump aren't progressive or does it only count as the progress is in a direction you like? If this is an unprecedented constitutional crisis as so many keep claiming, how is that 'conservative'? The 'left' isn't a rigorously defined term, so it is pretty hard to make a tautological argument like you are implying.

Because these things aren’t rigorously defined it is helpful to follow the convention rather than to go to the dictionary definition of a similar word. I mean surely you wouldn’t say something along the lines of “I often see socialists who aren’t invited to many parties, so are they really social?”

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are objectively in a worse financial position. I wasn't getting advertisements for female sex toys (I'm male) on Twitter before Musk took over. That's a long way to fall.

Neither of us really know Twitter's financial position, given it's now private. The rumours I'm hearing are that EBITDA is now above pre-acquistion. The fact that debt is trading hands without a haircut suggests that's probably accurate. There was a lot of waste at Twitter. Given that headcount was cut by 80%, and advertisers are returning, I'd suggest it's doing fine.

> Neither of us really know Twitter's financial position, given it's now private.

Then why are you making any argument that it was a success?

> There was a lot of waste at Twitter. Given that headcount was cut by 80%, and advertisers are returning, I'd suggest it's doing fine.

Why would you suggest it's fine? Without knowing their exact costs, debts, revenues, etc. you know _nothing_. Why would you suggest it's doing fine when knowing nothing about it's financial position?

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These firings will have no impact on your taxes. Instead of people having a job, the money will just get given to oligarchs and you’ll pay largely the same taxes but have moderately less government services. Socialism is needed to some degree for society to function. Capitalism alone is an awful system.

So, basically, left wing conspiracy theories? In reality, whether taxes fall or not likely depends on whether the savings are returned in the form of income tax cuts, or whether the savings are used to repay the massive debt that has accumulated from decades of deficits. Both outcomes are good in the long run.

Prediction: when Trump leaves office, the federal workforce, budget, and debt will all be higher than they were at the start of his second term.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your use of the word "innocent" there is doing a lot of heavy lifting. He did not have a day in court, and what he did was indirect. However, a lot of people consider the supposedly "innocent" guy that got killed a mass murderer. Whether or not you agree with that assessment, it seems like you don't understand a few links in the chain there or are otherwise playing dumb. It is very reasonable for people to not care a…

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I love the fact that the Democrats are considered 'left'.

The US electorate has the choice between a right-wing free-market capitalist party, or the Republicans.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It only works because you allow yourself to sorely disrespect human beings, their livelihood and their feeling of safety. A strategy that seems to be hot in the US, but is an utter ethical abomination and shameful.

Government employees shouldn't be immune to layoffs. If the government goes bankrupt, everyone is much worse off. The longer these systems stay down the worse things can go, this is the most humane way to do what needs to be done. Which is take away the power (money) that the parasitic relationship between business and DC is built on and make sure we don't go bankrupt. They will be able to collect unemployment, do we…

This comment definitely appear to be written a bit too fast and with disregard to the context.

Firing is not an issue. The issue is fire to rehire.

It is not only indicative of poor leadership, but also does it break down institutions - one of the key values government provides.

to contextualize: Do you think you can get people to go to war for the US if you can not make up your mind on whether or not to keep them on payroll?

But we will see how the US will fare with broken down institutions.

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