Allright then..
Notice that this happened in the US.
In the US, there is a prevailing trend that every single person views themselves as super duper special awesome, and that everyone else is a chump. Combine this with a pathological avoidance of accountability being seen as a POSITIVE thing, and the a pathological sense of entitlement (as a cultural norm), and you end up with situations like this one. To wit:
1) People feel that they are entitled to whatever the park has to offer (Including the wood from the trees), and that there should be no repercussion from this.
2) People feel that they are special and everyone else are the chumps, so it is perfectly OK for them to leave their broken assed shit in the park, but everyone else shouldnt, and instead should pick up the crap they leave behind.
3) They feel it is a badge of honor to get away with destroying the trees in the park, and leaving their broken assed shit behind for the chumps to clean up. It is only a bad thing if they are caught and punished. (Because that is just unfair!)
This is because the people in general believe:
1) The park is inexhaustible so it is OK to rip branches off the trees; the trees will be just fine, there is no chance for the fire they started to go out of control and this will in no way harm the park / They fail to grasp that it is not just them ripping branches off the trees to make uncontrolled, unapproved campfires, and that large numbers of people just like them are visiting the park doing the same damned things.
2) Goddamnit, they paid their taxes; those pampered park ranger chumps can clean up this shit. We came here to have fun, but the shitty assed cheap sleds we bought couldnt handle the abuse we gave them. (meta-comment: Because the sled makers avoid responsibility to make a quality product, because that is not how you sell more sleds... See item 3.)
3) Avoiding responsibility is how you get ahead in life; being responsible puts you at a disadvantage to those that are irresponsible, so get yours while you can, or you are a chump.
Needless to say, this is pretty much the exact recipe for the tragedy of the commons, and behold, that is exactly what happened here. The US culture idealizes these behaviors both directly and indirectly (Directly, in that it is seen as A-OK for corporations and businesses to be a shitty and cheap as possible, because that is how phat profit is made! Durable goods are bad! Being responsible with the environment is bad! Paying your taxes is bad! Making the cheapest possible crap that people will buy is GOOD! Finding ways to abuse the commons is GOOD! Avoiding having to pay taxes is GOOD! etc---- Indirectly, in that individual people emulate those behaviors that are idealized by their modern upper echelon peers; Being a two faced, lieing scumbag who does everything possible to exploit a user base, like Zuckerberg, is good! I want to be just like Zuckerberg and be super duper rich (and subsequently, fuck all those other people!) etc.), and at every level, including government. (See how Trump and Co wriggles and writhes when it comes to being responsible for their rhetoric and actions!! The LAST thing they want is to create a trend that holds people accountable!!) Consequently, the notions like "Hey, I like the park, I want it to not be all fucked up, so I wont rip the damned limbs off the trees, start fires, or leave my broken assed shit laying around!" (Or "Hey, I should treat my users with dignity and respect!", or "Hey, I should have some fucking integrity and not be so beholden to dogmatic rhetoric when it comes to governing the nation!") just happens so rarely that when it DOES happen, it becomes a WTF in and of itself.
Basically, we hold terrible, destructive ideals in high esteem, and in so doing, cultivate tragedies of the commons like this. (See also, Global climate change vs Owning a fucking Hummer.)
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Topic: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O (Read 14525391 times)