zlacker

> what's most frustrating is that the people who profited most from these compounds never pay for the damage they cause

The people were naive. It's not like they had malicious intent. 'Don't hate lazy people - they did nothing'

>>sysadm+(OP)
One of the memes that we as a species need to eliminate is the idea that apathy, laziness, or inaction cannot be malicious.

>>sysadm+(OP)
Naivety and lack of knowledge have never been a valid defense for harm.

Manslaughter is a criminal charge. As is criminal negligence.

And quite apart from facing criminal charges, the folks who introduced lead in the gasoline, produced microplastics and PFAS, and more all have the kind of wealth that gives them raw economic and political power and with it, the ability to do continued harm.

>>dbingh+W
Lead has been connected to madness since antiquity.

>>sysadm+(OP)
Isn't that why we created regulations and other safety measures ? To avoid exposing people to danger because "well we didn't know".

>>sysadm+(OP)
Are you talking about the sort of people who ordered their employees to dig holes and hide toxic waste in them? That’s not naivety, that’s callousness at best.

>>lm2846+62
The Thames wasn’t cleaned up until a bunch of rich people fell off a pleasure cruise and most of them died before they could swim to shore. Not from drowning, but exposure to the water.

See also the Cuyahoga catching on fire. Water burning is quite a poster child.

>>hinkle+U2
Do you have more details on this? I have never heard of it.

>>limbic+E6
I believe they are referring to the 1878 passenger steamer the "princess Alice", where > "In 1878 the passenger steamer Princess Alice sank right at the spot where the sewers released their waste into the Thames. Many survivors of the initial collision died after ingesting the polluted water." https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/pollution-river-thames-...

It is worth noting that this probably had more to do with the awful state of the city sewage system, so the water was well known to be contaminated. Luckily we've improved somewhat with sewage (I think).

Although anecdotally I've had a local lake closed for weeks at least due to toxic red algae blooms related to run off from farms (I believe it's fertilizer runoff that's attributed to these blooms)