zlacker

>>delich+(OP)
American society is at the point where if you don't play these sort of games/tricks, you'll get out-competed by those who do. Bleak.

>>OGEnth+H6
Basic game theory at work right there. You only need a few bad apples to cause the entire system to devolve.

>>acedTr+88
Perhaps the fundamental issue isn't the apples; it's the barrel.

If everything is a competition, then of course people will leverage personal advantage for personal gain. But why is everything a competition?

>>shadow+1o
> But why is everything a competition?

For all of human existence there has been competition for limited resources. Until all resource scarcity is eliminated competition will remain in the natural world.

>>acedTr+nF
That's one theory.

Counter theory: for all of human existence people have shared resources and traded among each other. Yes, for truly scarce resources trade breaks down.

So is "good housing" a scarce resource on Stanford's campus? Or is their default resource allocation schema too anti-human so it's turning something that should be a simple trade and negotiation problem into a knife-fight?

>>shadow+1O
America is rooted in capitalism, so the resource allocation schema of scarce goods (e.g. nice homes to raise families in) is indeed a knife-fight.

>>OGEnth+i21
How is capitalism to blame for local governments implementing various zoning and building code regulations that make it hard+expensive to build?