Geode, that's interesting. For a start, what does government do well? They are good at blundering, waste and laziness - I have seen plenty of that. <The government does SS, medicare, medicaid, public education, infrastructure, voting, law enforcement, defense, food and drug safety, regulation of industries, the net, etc. etc.
The government does many things well. It does many things badly. >
Health, education, infrastructure, voting, law enforcement, defense, FDA and regulation of industry are all terrible. Not just a little bit "inefficient" or a smidgeon off form, but outright horrendous.
Governments hire talented people but work so the whole is a fraction of the parts, which is the opposite of how things should work. The problem is the incentives, starting with electorates voting to take OPM [other people's money]. OPM is a problem everywhere because people are so like chimps.
Laws and communities should be about mutual protection of OPM, but they do the reverse, which isn't surprising.
<If nothing else the Bush administration and Republican dominated government shows how poorly the 'free market' allocates resources. It allocates resources like a snowball rolling downhill. The bigger snowballs get bigger and bigger and bigger because they were bigger to begin with.>
That's true, but incomplete. Being a capitalist myself, starting from about age 5, when I became fascinated how my bank book would show interest aka "unearned income", I agree that snowballs get bigger. As my snowball has grown, it has become easier to make it grow, because my living expenses become a smaller proportion of it and now I can live entirely off the ball.
Which sounds really great. But try getting a snowball together in the first place and then avoid rolling it over bumps or through marauding bands of thieves who want OPM. It obviously isn't all that simple or you wouldn't have 50% of the wealth owned by 2% of the families. There would be a lot more people with a lot more wealth.
Most people don't save. They live for the day. They "just do it". They are impulsive, wasteful, spendthrift and stupid. They don't bother working hard. They are risk averse. They don't want to study. Their parents fed them junk food while in their infancy and development years. Their genetics are against them. They steal, fight and have personalities which are antagonistic to others. If they are in gaol, they'll have trouble doing anything useful. Their philosophical approach to life of OPM is against them. They don't vote Libertarian.
But you think they should "share in the wealth" as though wealth is something you find lying around under an apple tree.
Families find it tough to maintain wealth. The old saying about 3 generations applies. The first guy makes it. The son continues it. The grandchildren blow it. And, it's always a guy who makes it. Women apparently don't have the instincts, which is not surprising.
Look at companies. A bloke starts them off and gets them in his lifetime up to their mature state. Not many companies go on to new levels of performance after the man who started it has gone. Maybe there are some, but I can't think of them. Ford gained ground as the industry grew and there is still a Ford man involved in running it in a nostalgic tradition. It is the originator's talents which get the company to its zenith. Wal-Mart will fizzle gradually. It won't rule the world. IBM became a behemoth about to rule the world, not long before being nearly almost broke. Microsoft won't do anything great when $ill has done his dash. The gnashing of teeth about the evil power of MSFT will stop as the envious of OPM find new demons to berate.
<King George has privatized medicare by making it impossible to negotiate for drug prices because the bill was written by pharmaceutical companies for their advantage. >
What bill? You can negotiate to buy my house, but I decide the price. We don't need a bill. Same for drug companies. If you don't like their price, don't buy it. Invent your own thing or go without and die. Why should somebody else provide a livelihood because the person can't do it themselves? If they choose to, which people do, that's nice of them. But OPMers want to rob Peter to pay Paul and keep some for themselves on the way through.
A drug "bill" is unnecessary. We don't have a toothpaste bill, or banana bill.
If people want to buy medical services, they should learn, work, save and invest so they have money to do so. Not steal OPM.
But medical guilds should be deregulated. In NZ for example, the supply of dentists is kept down so that prices stay high. If anyone who wants to be a dentist could do so, dental treatment wouldn't cost a fortune. Same for doctoring. Same for lawyering.
People would get a job as a trainee dentist with a dental company which would guard its brand jealously and ensure they didn't get sued for incompetence and to make sure the person did a good job and was well-trained. Same as BP Oil [who I worked for] didn't want things going wrong and hired and managed people to ensure good performance. People didn't get to mess things up, bury their mistakes, and go back on the job. If somebody blows up a refinery, there's hell to pay. If somebody's engine goes bung because the oil was made badly, the person responsible will be getting a new job and the company will have to pay for the damage.
As you say, people aren't designed to live alone. But that doesn't mean we should all help ourselves to OPM. That can't happen. Parasites need a productive host. That's why socialism and bludgers are self-limiting. They can only confiscate a certain amount. I am happy to voluntarily trade with others and don't need some bludging government OPM crook to clip the ticket.
Mqurice |
