RE: Topics You Can Never Change My Mind On
I never said that non-government entities cannot build infrastructure. I think they shouldn't, but they can. And of course, this is the extreme capitalist/libertarian vision - free from the shackles of taxation and regulation, free enterprise will provide what is needed. But for whom?
Free enterprise is not beholden to all citizens as their constituents. The growth of American government over the past 200+ years has been characterized by the ever receding ills of free enterprise and the unfettered profit motive. Slavery, child labor, environmental destruction, sugar, salt, fat, objectification of women - all part of the profit motive.
I am most certainly not appealing to the status quo. American democracy must be much stronger. Citizens must use their collective power to bargain for policy that actually levels the playing field in our democratic system. Average people are far too apathetic, and when the only real active forces lobbying the government are for the wealthy and powerful, it's really no mystery as to why the average citizen is being left in the cold. But it's also not a mystery why. Civic education and civic participation are pitiful in the U.S. Union membership is very low and declining. People don't seem to realize that within a representative democracy, you have power when you organize into large groups and participate.
Who would disagree that waste and abuse are bad? I believe the way you break "government monopolies" and create GOOD government is by creating a equally strong "monopoly" comprised of average citizens, who together have a purchasing power that can match or defeat corporate monopolies - all working within our representative democracy.
I also value efficiency. Waste in government is the enemy of progress, I don't think either party would disagree with that. Civic apathy breeds the politically expedient practices that create waste and abuse.
Wow. You have enough strawman arguments and red herrings to start a fishmongery AND a halloween store!
Why shouldn't free enterprise provide necessary services? Why do you think government can provide them better and more fairly? An honest look at current events and history shows how poorly government performs these services it has monopolized, and a basic understanding of economics shows that this result is to be expected. When costs are hidden from consumers, and there is no competition, there is no room for rational economic calculation by anyone. This guarantees poor service and waste even if you assume that government is entirely altruistic. And the psychological effects of power guarantee that the bureaucrats and politicians will never be altruistic.
Meanwhile, your "free market" boogeyman is an absurd caricature with no basis in reality. The "robber barons" were corporate fat cats who enjoyed the protection of government. It is the productivity of the market's technological advancement and competition for better workers that ended child labor, gave us the 8-hour workday, and made a two-day weekend possible. Union membership is declining becaus eunio0ns suck, operating as political machines more than anything else and acting as obstacles to proper work instead of prtectors of legitimate worker concerns, and workers know this.
Good government is a myth. Corporate monopolies and cartels only function because of government. Politics is a cancer in society.
I apologize if I've misrepresented your points in my responses with a straw man or red herring.
Again, private enterprise has no incentive to do well by the general populace. If a company can establish enough of a monopoly, then it doesn't really matter what people think - profit motive is king. Government on the other hand is fueled by elections, and is beholden to the electorate. Plus - government can cut out the profit motive. So, you have incentive, plus the potential for a more efficient delivery for services. I absolutely agree that we are not there - but I attribute that to the sabotage of government by anti-government legislators, plus a apathetic electorate.
If robber barons "enjoyed the protection of the government," then wasn't didn't protection fall apart after anti-trust law was enacted?
Your argument about child labor falls apart when you consider that we've had child labor all along really, market forces just transferred the child labor overseas. That's the beauty of the profit motive!
The 8-hour work day was absolutely hard fought for by unions. Unions began demanding 8 hour work days in the 1860's, and it wasn't until 1938 that FDR signed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which enshrined these standards for all workers - good government.
Here's a reference on that - http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/sep/09/viral-image/does-8-hour-day-and-40-hour-come-henry-ford-or-lab/
And my wife and I are both members of different unions that serve us both very well thank you very much. The decline of unions can be directly tracked with the decline of manufacturing employment, much of which was unionized, as well as globalization, and conservative policies of the 1980's. Certainly political advocacy is an important part of union activity, which ensures that union members have a voice in government, which is a good thing for the worker.
Further reading on decline of unions- https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/09/economist-explains-19
I agree that American conservative legislators enable corporate monopolies by not pursuing anti-trust, as well as cutting all regulation just for the sake of doing so, and not considering the welfare of the average people.
Again, we need good government, not the republican dominated/obstructed government (including 2010-16 of the Obama years, as well as the Clinton years), since 1980, which leads with the principle that government is the enemy. This has become a self fulfilling prophecy, not a means by which we improve the functioning of government.