The problem here is not a lack of reading comprehension but rather a lack of you explaining yourself. You see, I could not really see the motivation behind your post because it was so ambiguous. So I think it is not really fair to blame anyone reading your text for not correctly interpreting it they way you wanted it.

Oh, yeah… so if you do incriminating stuff, say… acting in a way that directly leads to people being hurt, maimed and / or traumatized, you should just get a pat on the back. I will just have to presume that this is what you are saying.

and while I don’t think the person who cut them down is doing the right thing for the right reasons, they are doing the right thing.

So you think they are doing the right thing for… the wrong reasons?

Yeah, the omnipotentEntity seems to lack a bit of reasoning here.

So why do folks go 13 kph over? And why is that okay?

That is basically what is said here, yes.

Maybe… because it is dangerous to drive that fast when other people are around? Why don’t you just buy a car that can only go as fast as the highest speed limit?

I mean, it totally solves the problems of the selfish people that drive like they are the only important thing in the world…

The problem is not the speed limit or the camera, the problem are the drivers and their mindsets.

Okay, so you know how it sucks to have people ignore rules and ignore you and your safety, you know how it feels to be treated like dirt by other people… and they probably do it because they do not fear any consequences for themselves and think they are in the right.

So I need to ask you: how will they ever be taught that you have rights that need to be upheld?

The same question has been asked regarding speed limits and speed cameras are one of the answers. And a pretty good one too. The article says:

The cameras in Perranarworthal were installed in March 2023 after campaigning from residents. Where the speed camera is, or was, it’s used by parents taking their children to two primary schools … it’s one of the busiest crossings in Truro and there’s been a number of quite bad accidents. For hundreds of people in that area, the speed cameras actually had a really positive effect on their quality of life. Parents feel safe letting their kids walk to school now.

What has happened here is just completely antisocial behaviour that is ruled by selfish thinking. This is not kicking big brother’s ass. This is kicking asses of people who can not defend themselves against idiots in better ways.

That is a bad take.

TL;DR: If you do incriminating stuff, you should be incriminated.

There are rules that every driver has to adhere to. The rules are there for protection of the drivers and the people that rely on the drivers driving safely. But the thing is: without consequences, some people show bad behaviour, one being ignoring the rules which are made to keep people safe. In order to suppress such behaviour, fines and punishment are used.

I have been driving cars for around 10 years and have gotten a fine three times. The amount I paid for it in total was roughly 10 Euros per year, which is less than 1 Euro per month. And I could have avoided having to pay this by just being mindful and acting according to the rules, which I did not.

If people feel like they should drive 120 kmh in a 50 kmh zone or even worse, without any proper justification, they do not belong behind the wheel of a car.

Ethics is too complicated of a topic for some people in here, it seems. You don’t need to be a psychopath to be wrong about this stuff, but being wrong about it is nothing to be proud of anyway.

Competitive wages and benefits… which does not mean “good” wages and benefits.

When I think of the situations that occur in everyday traffic and how people behave there, completely without google being involved, I am absolutely not surprised at the level of carelessness that radiates from such events. Though it could also be my lower trust in services like google maps because I have a deeper knowledge of the technology behind it than most people. There may be people who think of google maps as some kind of authority that has proven to not be wrong at any time…

If google had enough information and time to correct such map errors and did not out of neglect, they may still be held accountable. And I think that this is a good thing.

Yeah, what about mac and cheese? Come on people, how could this possible work when we all know that mac and cheese?! Discussion over!

If one would ask me personally, I would say this:

There are so many cracks showing, that I tend to doubt it. But it is hard to say. While some groups in a society may see bigger problems in the future, others may even see improvements. The factors that play a role are too complex for me to judge. I have no doubt though that the average quality of life will go down substantially. I am actually counting on a collapsing system until 2045. I would really be very much surprised to see a continuation of today’s ways until then. So much so that my retirement plans are not of great importance to me. I have them, but I do not expect to be able to use them.

You mean we as humanity or what? Or our current system of capitalism?

I don’t really get what you are trying to say. Do I read it as “There is nothing special about it” or as “This is a severe problem”?

And it even was the very same city that exactly 10 years ago was hit with a very violent hailstorm that caused billions in damage.

Who is this “capitalism” you are talking about? If with that you mean the general battlefield of the market, then you have a point. Of course there are people who want to keep the scales tipped in favour of the already established products. And of course the companies that produce them have connections to wealthy and powerful people. And of course that makes it harder for new product types to challenge the market. I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. Just one thing there: The choice is not an illusion. But you need to create part of the opportunity yourself. We are talking about a market here. And for participation on the market, you need the means to participate. I would guess that this is where you are coming from. Still, keeping people poor is not what is taking away the choice. It is a pretty complicated topic though, so I will stop here. Have my upvote in the meantime.

It is a lot better where I live. I am in a smaller town in southern Germany. And recently I joined an official climate change group of said town that aims to bring awareness and change in the community. Everyone can participate and the discussion alone is helping everyone a lot.