Comment by dozerly

Comment by dozerly 2 days ago

9 replies

No, it’s not. The government, and laws by proxy, will never keep up with people’s willingness to “maximize shareholder value” and so you get harmful, future-illegal practices. Reagan was “maximizing shareholder value”, and now look where the US is.

chii 2 days ago

you have to show this 'future-illegal' action is harmful first by demonstrating harm.

That's why i used the sugar example - it's starting to be demonstrably harmful in large quantities that are being used.

I am against preventative "harmful" laws, when harm hasn't been demonstrated, as it restricts freedom, adds red tape to innovation, and stifles startups from exploring the space of possibilities.

  • auggierose a day ago

    I can understand that stance. The trouble is, with more power and more technology, more harm can be done, much quicker. This will become a freedom vs. survival issue, and by definition, freedom is not going to survive that.

  • WalterSear a day ago

    > starting to be demonstrably harmful

    Starting?

    • testdelacc1 a day ago

      Some say there is a link between calorie consumption and weight gain but we don’t know for sure.

      • ElFitz a day ago

        I thought they said it was all slow metabolism and lack of exercise, aka bad luck (genes) and laziness.

        • TeMPOraL a day ago

          No, obviously it's all just Not Eating Healthy. Calories are irrelevant, because Body Is Magic and Not As Simple AS "calories in, calories out".

  • andrepd a day ago

    Yeah, so the shareholder-value-maximisers will bury the studies that link smoking to cancer for decades, using whatever dirty tactics they can.

    What a way to look at the world...

    • [removed] a day ago
      [deleted]
breppp a day ago

and if the actions are deemed immoral by society then a few years later you will see regulation, PR issues or legal action

See early 2000s Google as a model for a righteous company and public perception of it as evil and subsequent antitrust litigation today, or what happened to companies involved in Opioid trade and subsequent effect on shareholders value