Privatize, privatize, privatize
 

Enron, Worldcom, Exxon Valdez, mine catastrophes, Hewlett-Packard, outrageous big-oil profits and pump prices, and now the fire in North Carolina. Why would anybody in their right mind want to trust the private sector to do the right thing (the right thing meaning having responsiblity beyond lining their pockets with cash)? Would I trust my retirement to the private sector? No fucking way! Would I support relaxing regulations on these greedy bastards? Absolutely not. I'm sure that if we let down on standards, we'll soon have hot and cold running toxic waste in our kitchens. The bright side is that cancer would get us before we felt really upset about the e-coli we'd get from the private sector cutting corners in the spinach plant.

I think Halliburten should run the country. Oh, I forgot; it already does. :eyebrow:

Wow
 

Wow, spexvet, you speak my language.:neutral:

Let's abolish the private sector and let the government do everything.

I can't think of a single thing the private sector does better than the government.

Lining their pockets with cash is what keeps companies going. There are varying levels of corruption of course, but in the private sector, competition keeps things in balance. You can choose from company X, Y, or Z to get your product. If the government is in charge, there is no competition, no balance, nothing BUT corruption. You are told what product you will get, how much you will pay for it, and how much of the rest of your paycheck goes to other people so they can have product without paying for it.

capitalism > socialism. Get over your jealousy of other people's money, and make your own. no offense.

Exactly. So if there's a choice between money and anything else, they'll pick money.Corruption is only a small part of the issue. Insurance companies making complicated rules to minimize payout isn't corruption, it's "good business" and "best practices", and standardized across the industry. That's not to say there isn't corruption, too, but what is corruption? Breaking the government's regulations.And part of the government's job is to make sure that remains true. Capitalism tends toward monopoly. The private sector is important, but it shouldn't be trusted to do the right thing, it should be strongly encouraged via regulations.

If X, Y, and Z are all poluting, or whatever, I wouldn't call it a choice.

A corporation's job is to make money. This isn't a bad thing. Regulations are supposed keep them in check so that the playing field is more even and environmental and social concerns are weighed into the equation. But if GM makes eleventy billion dollars, that means cheaper cars for us. Left to its own devices, the boardroom only cares about the money. But it's not operating in a vacuum. There has to be demand for product, demand for quality, demand for safe and socially conscious manufacturing. It's a symbiotic relationship between "the consumer", society and government, and the company.

I don't buy the idea that we should all have whatever we need funneled to us through the government in exchange for taxes. That unbalances the equation, and leaves you with a Cuba or USSR. Sure, you can have what you need to live, but that's it. If half the people polluting the internet with socialist dogma had their way, they wouldn't be able to afford the computers they rant on.

You could use the library computer, but that's for porn.

No, it doesn't. It doesn't even mean that those who produce those cars will benefit more. It means that the stockholders and executives will get richer

I don't, either. But there is certainly some middle ground, where the environment isn't ruined and public health and wellbeing is maintained. Sure, demand is a factor. If everyone stops buying product X because it's bad for people or the environment, the product goes away, and the problem associated with said product will stop being created. But the problems caused by the product may continue - a chemical byproduct may no lnger be created, but it's mishandling may taint the water supply for years.

IM: Former Rep. Foley, put your hands on the table.;)

My issue, mrnoodle, is that there are people who knowingly do bad things just to make money. This is unacceptable to me.:mad:

Where's TW when ya need him?

Err, the public library's computers are paid for by local taxpayers. Maybe we should privatize libraries and make them like clubs you have to pay to join. That way, only people with money enough could have access to information. It would also solve the problem of all those stinky homeless people hanging out in public libraries.

Private corporations are not run by saints. Just what things that the government now does would you like to see privatized, anyhow?

Education

So the wealthy who can afford the best education get better educated and maintain an advantage over the lower classes, ad infinitum. Yeah, that'll ensure that power/wealth stay in the family. Sounds like an educational feudal system.

That's what happens now, except the government tries to demand that we all lower our standards to its level. It just doesn't have the power to enforce it universally. Yay privatization.

Do you have kids in school?