Some things that won't work are obvious if you just do a mental model. Other things you can predict whether they are likely or unlikely to work. You use past experience and logic to develop rationales. The world wasn't created today. We don't need to start from scratch and give it the old college try.
Things like this are anything but rare... happen every day:
Message 28291887
When private companies do things that don't work, they pay the price, at least they do when the government doesn't override the risks, and some other company that does it right prevails. When government thing don't work, we either don't evaluate them so we don't have to acknowledge that they don't work, blame something or somebody else, or re-jigger the objectives. Then we prop them up throwing good effort and money after bad. Nothing ever gets redone or abandoned.
Not true. We have legislatures at ever level rejiggering things on a constant basis.
And I would posit that government makes far fewer mal investments. Their decisions are far more vetted, front page of the newspaper, public meetings, massive hand wringing on even minor issues. I personally make a dozen private sector P&L decisions every day. By my own estimate 10-15% are brain dead wrong and cost very real money. But the 85-90% that are right more than make up the dumb ones. If I worked in government I would be fired in a month with that record. Is one problem with government that they don't take ENOUGH risk because they're under the public microscope? Could be, but that way out of the box thinking for the people on this thread.
Listen I completely understand that defending government is a fools errand. People love to hate government. But when I see mass generalities, with no balancing discussion at all, it offends my truth meter. And if you step back from the meme and the prejudice and look at the thousands of positive things governments do, and do VERY well, essential and discretionary, you'll see that we're getting our money's worth.
At least that's my opinion after discounting the platitudes and giving it a lot of clear minded thought. |
