Do we really want government run like a business where the fire dept lets your home burn if you don't pay their fee>
Voting for candidates who promise to run government like a business is the hot mantra this election. What does that mean, exactly? What happens when public government turns into privately run Government Inc.?
The free market will rule. Taxes are enforced payments - boo on taxes. So, let’s pay ‘free market prices’ for services. Say you have no kids? Don’t pay for schools! Healthy? You’ll no longer have to subsidize public health workers!
Like the family in Tennessee whose house was left to burn because they hadn’t paid their fire department tax, we will pay monthly bills for everything from fire trucks to elementary schools while Government Inc. sets the price. We’ll use all that money we’ll save by not paying taxes… right?
Ditch the taxes… We the People want the profit! Running the country like a business means that profit is king. Quality and safety measures (think road and bridge repairs, food and water safety laws) that government provided will be replaced with whatever is cheap and easy. No more government meddling! We’ll become the owners of the corporations and we can buy our own quality and safety with all those profits we’ll receive… right?
Outsourcing. Our new Government Inc. motto will be “Whoever will do the job cheaper is our new employee.” Businesses moved factories to Canada, then Mexico until they figured out that even poorer people would work even cheaper. Mexico and Canada were dropped like hot potatoes as corporations hightailed it for China. Under Government Inc., if someone can figure out a way to fly in planes full of impoverished folks from Ghana to be park rangers cheaper than hiring local people, then Ghana will get the park ranger contract. If we don’t like it, no problem, we can police our own neighborhood parks with our new private market wealth… right?
No more taxing the rich to help the poor. Rich folks will get richer, because we know they work so hard, and deserve every penny of their billion dollar salaries. As Government Inc., the corporations formerly known as the Social Security Administration or the Federal Aviation Administration will funnel ever more giant wads of cash into the pockets of their new billionaire CEOs. But surely, they’ll be more efficient… right?
Secrecy. Small ‘g’ government is bound by laws that keep it open; after all government is spending the people’s money and The People demand accountability. Government Inc. will have few such rules - and they’ll fight government ‘meddling’ all the way. Want to know what chemicals are in your ‘privatized’ water supply? Or how your mother’s nursing home aides are trained? Go fish.
The primary goal of business is to make a profit. The primary goal of government is to protect citizens from harm. These two goals have been clashing and warring for centuries.
When we meld business and government into a single entity, we are taking a massive gamble that businesses will have the social responsibility to take care of us without government as the enforcer.
“Sounds good to me,†say the CEOs with their gold teeth glittering.
Sound good to you?
