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Spin the wheel.
(lemmy.nz)
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this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2026
656 points (98.7% liked)
Political Memes
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Hey gang. Quick reminder from recent history:
There was a train derailment incident that was so bad it got US national attention. Spilled a bunch of chemicals into a sensitive area where people live and it polluted a nearby river system.
For months after that story, the media ran more and more derailment stories. Because public outrage about the issue was popular enough that they could keep highlighting ongoing derailments and keep getting clicks and views. Everyone thought it was some new problem we weren't addressing or that someone caused.
The reality wasn't that derailments were suddenly some big new problem we needed to fix. Nothing new was happening to cause them. America's train systems have had this problem for ages. The news just never thought to report on them with as much significance before because the public didn't seem to care. Only when it affected an area where people live.
I know some of what the Trump administration has done is particularly egregious. I'm not defending them one bit. Nearly every recall we've had with meat and produce has some tie to recent food safety deregulation. Now, however, we have to be careful not to fall into recency bias. We have food recalls all the damn time.
This tofu contamination recall is incredibly small. There are seemingly no ties to administration changes in food and drug safety. What the media, and social media, are doing by highlighting more of these events is making the problem seem bigger and more dastardly than it is. They want the eyeballs on them for calling it out, no matter how well or poorly it fits into the narrative. And some of them want you to be scared to buy food.
Take the issue seriously, but also have some discernment.
I'm upvoting you, because you are correct.
With that said, RFK Jr. is speedrunning the downfall of the USDA and FDA at lightning speeds. There are outbreaks that we haven't had in decades, and some for centuries.
People want to know that the people in charge are taking this seriously and prioritizing the health of the community/nation.
It is incredibly hard to believe that this administration is doing anything of the sort, so that's why these sort of things get so much attention.
I agree. What RFK Jr. and the whole federal admin is doing is fucked up, making shit worse, and destroying faith in policies that once protected us (at least somewhat).
And I'm confused by the general reactions I'm getting like they read "RFK JR. did nothing wrong" or something rather than the actual words I typed.
We do want more attention to these issues. I am not telling people to tune out or anyone to stop posting about it. My final message was only have some discernment for when the media is trying to make you feel a certain way. We really have to figure out how to actually talk about the issues at hand instead of raging about every single bait post dangled in front of us.
I had the same thought reading this.
"Is this just being talked about more and is a normal amount of recalls or has relaxed regulations lead to an increase in overall recalls."
Just as with the trains, this should be covered extensively, this shit shouldnt happen, it shouldnt get buried, and the people responsible shouldnt get to just go on about their day with no repercussions. Have there always been recalls? Yes. Is the news just doing this because it benefits them? Yes. Doednt matter, use the pressure for positive change and stop it from getting worse. Excusing it and lessening it by just saying it alwayd happens isnt helpful even if true.
Oh, the agency that had 20% of its workforce cut https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2026/02/16/fda-and-usda-staff-cuts-under-trump-raise-food-safety-risks/, then started doing stuff like this https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-revoke-52-obsolete-standards-identity-food-products are not tied to "administration changes"? Wtf are you talking about? Why are you bending over backwards to tell people this isn't the fault of the guy who cut the fda employee base?
So your point is that food safety was already abysmal in the USA and, somehow, that means the fact that it is in the news now is less important?
Recalls are a sign the regulations are working. Not the opposite.
You should be wary when the recalls stop.
Actually no. The USA food safety was already pretty weak and flimsy for decades due to lobbying... All these recalls are "voluntary" by the company, they are limiting liability here, not being forced to do this by regulation
Because of the regulations that put liability on them...
If there were no teeth behind them, companies wouldn't voluntarily recall things.
the teeth are the potential lawsuits coming up... hurting/killing people is still illegal, for now
Well, the train safety is abysmal too, along with the environmental protections. I think that's what the OP was getting at.
I think the OP meant "yes, this is bad but it's not newly bad, it has always been really bad you are now just hearing about it more..."
IMO, OP was basically defending the current regime on this
I like you
Even your example of the media covering train derailments happened in the wake of a railroad workers' union being forced by Congress to stop striking; when one of their big concerns was "These railroads are not safe and they need to be inspected more thoroughly/need major infrastructure upgrades."
So no you can't really divorce what's happening from the political climate it happens in. It would be like having Mehmet Oz going on live national TV and saying "We believe sunscreen causes skin cancer," and the following summer there's suddenly a large spike in melanoma cases, and then shrugging and saying "I can't conceive of why this is happening. There's always been melanoma cases in summer. This is just the media manufacturing closer attention."