Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> People being responsible for their own well-being certainly doesn't imply a dislike of safety.

Totally agree, and yeah I think "conservatives on the street" aren't really advocating for Mad Max levels of safety.

But businesses spend billions (trillions?) of dollars lobbying against regulations--regulations designed explicitly to prevent tragedies like this--and their argument largely is "the market will decide". Another way to phrase this is "people should be free to choose to live in a skyscraper clad in highly flammable material if they so choose", which is classic right to contract. So, I think it's fair to remind everyone that opposing regulations and supporting "market will decide" dynamics is core conservatism.

But beyond that, how was anyone living there supposed to know this was a problem? I'm a pretty smart software engineer and I guess I would... google around for building permits? It feels like a tall ask. Like, quick show of hands, who here knows what the wires in their walls are insulated with? Is that something we think people should know? Perfect information is just... a mythical creature.

> Allowing governments free reign to determine truth has historically led to immense suffering and hundreds of millions of documented deaths.

I think there's a middle ground here between "state propaganda machine" and "free for all". It's not censorship or propaganda to require companies to meet building codes, or to punish companies for saying they meet building codes by pointing to results of rigged tests.



Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: