bear11;
I've been reading and discussing neoliberal economics and their expressions in Thatcherism and Reaganism since the mid-80's. I will tell you that some of the best books on the topic were available in Ireland; Dingle to be exact, was where I found a few. The Europeans also had far clearer views of the United States and its handmaiden PM in Britain. For years, one could not find such books in North America except for Chomsky, Zinn, McChesney, Parent and a few other observers who dared to think independently from Milton Friedman and the Chicago Boys. To digress a moment, they actually had a following along with other more obvious dissident activities but in the early days of the Vietnam War for example one risked getting shot (Kent State), jail, or at least tear gas for speaking out against the US government which was trying to spread democracy to the rest of the world but which was inconvenient at home. Some of those scenes we saw in the US in the 60s are now repeated in military dictatorships like Burma. When it first came out, I had to go to a 2nd level alternative bookstore to find Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent; I felt like I was buying porn, and to those supporting the neoliberal policies of Reagan and Thatcher, I suppose it was. We have, however, turned the corner.
Since then, and since the first few economic crises and crashes especially last October's, the dialogue has "broadened" somewhat into acceptability so one no longer need hide one's books from the rabid ignorance of the Bu!!!!es in the US. Thank god for boring Canadian reserve.
You're right that the CEOs dont' have to "get it", and ironically that is precisely my point - they are excused from culpability (even with "accountable executive laws" ). If you've been reading the whole thread and others like this for the past few years here you will see common themes, among them the deregulation and privatization of flight safety. It is for this reason alone that I hold no hope whatsoever that the regulator will arrive anytime soon to do it's job. It has handed its job over to the airlines and that will go where it is going to go - all anyone who sees what is coming can do is try to retard the retreat somehow but "dissidence" and aviation are not bed-partners by any stretch and is usually greeted with the parental raised eyebrow and an, "are you mad?" As always, it seems kicking tin is preferred to preventative safety programs.
People in the lower ranks are doing earnest good work and, as has been observed, the changes spoken of here will unfold over years, not months. The difference between now and when the last great changes in aviation safety were made (radar, INS, basic computerization, TCAS, EGPWS,(thanks to Don Bateman of Honeywell and human factors CRM and finally the notion of the organizational accident first broached by prescient men like Perrow, and Reason but with unsung hundreds contributing), was the massive public dialogue now available through forums such as these. Even with the occasional bluntness, these forums are extremely valuable.
Too, the meaning of the word, "accident" has changed. In fact, we might say that the broad approach to industry flight safety has gone "left" while the industry itself has gone far "right", ostensibly with the same results as the economy has demonstrated.
PJ2