With the recent crash of the Nepalese airplane, I saw a lot of comments on :reddit-logo: talking about how Nepal has poor safety standards, bad piloting certifications, and how they buy second to third hand planes that they don’t maintain.

I’m sure that has nothing to do with capitalism.

But I also saw comments about how Euro and American standards are much, much better. I’m sure that’s true to some extent, given how many airplanes fly over these regions with so few incidents. But… I don’t really see why.

Wouldn’t the center of capitalism be more aggressive with its cost-cutting measures and safety shortcuts? It would improve their profit margins and given the Tendency, they have to take every chance they get, right?

Are we just waiting for a huge, huge sudden spike in airplane crashes as these measures start catching up?

Or is government regulation (and enforcement) still somehow strong in this industry?

    • LiberalSocialist [any,they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      …that’s a connection I didn’t even think of.

      All these airplane makers are basically weapon manufacturers who make airplanes on the side…

      That is so fucking dystopian.

          • ssjmarx [he/him]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Well the market for "dumb" calculators will never go away because letting kids use their smartphones on math tests will end up with everyone using Wolfram Alpha and never actually learning math again.

            • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
              ·
              2 years ago

              I'd rather use a dumb calculator that works and doesn't spew ads at me when I'm trying to integrate something