The sentiment that is common to Mr. John Baker's post is unfortunate, not just for society, but for the engineering profession.
Most of us will agree:
1. Greed exists in every corner of the world, regardless of government framework.
2. Industrial accidents occurs in every corner of the world.
3. Industrial accidents occur more frequently in non-Western countries.
4. Markets require incentive (monetary and non-monetary).
5. Bad people should be punished.
6. Worker protections are necessary in civil societies.
Every construction or industrial accident can be framed as, "if those ___ capitalists had just spend more money on safety, this would not have happened." That is a straw man argument.
Pulling this back to the interface of engineering, public policy, and the markets:
America has an advantage over China in that we have rule of law, strong private property rights, lower government corruption, and a relatively free press. All of these are good for engineering and society.
Engineers should champion the Western free market system over the Chinese / Cuban / Soviet system. Markets include profit (incentive), which are not just merely not a bad thing, but necessary. Just as strongly enforced, clear, transparent safety requirements are necessary.