You're right about "set up to fail" being a loaded phrase. I didn't anticipate how it'd be interpreted.
I have a Jared Diamond view of this. In Guns, Germs, and Steel he talks about the deforestation of Easter Island. What was the person thinking as they cut down the last tree?
How could all these smart people do such stupid things? Over decades. Was it structures? The processes? Larger societal forces (white flight, depopulation, drugs, jobs disappearing)? Is there a fundamental flaw in the human psyche? All the above?
You're right about "set up to fail" being a loaded phrase. I didn't anticipate how it'd be interpreted.
I have a Jared Diamond view of this. In Guns, Germs, and Steel he talks about the deforestation of Easter Island. What was the person thinking as they cut down the last tree?
How could all these smart people do such stupid things? Over decades. Was it structures? The processes? Larger societal forces (white flight, depopulation, drugs, jobs disappearing)? Is there a fundamental flaw in the human psyche? All the above?
I just don't know.