I’d go as far as to argue that running a nation has almost nothing in common with running a business.
A business literally exists to make a profit for its shareholders. The owners can try to do good things like pay high wages or give back to their community, but at the end of the day their goal is to make more money than they spend.
A government, on the other hand, should exist to protect and provide opportunities for its citizens to thrive. Generating a profit is largely at odds with that goal. People should have the same access to opportunities regardless of where in the country they live, and that’s going to sometimes mean that functions of the government are never profitable.
That should be seen as okay, but people have been brainwashed to think that taxes are inherently bad, and that businesses are somehow naturally more efficient. I can say, as someone who has worked in business all his life, that that last bit is particularly a giant crock of shit. Businesses are no more naturally streamlined than any other organization. Hell, I’m currently personally leading a task force at my work to try to reduce all the egregious inefficiencies I’ve uncovered when trying to figure out why we’re not making nearly as much money as we should be.
The point is, providing government services doesn’t need to be “efficient”. If you can make that happen and save the taxpayers money, that’s great and you should do it. If that means letting any member of your society slip through the cracks, then efficiency be damned. The government shouldn’t be in the business of making money.
And, no, privatizing “inefficient” government services is never the answer. All you’re doing there is introducing new inefficiencies - the need for the business entity to make a profit, and the corners they’ll inevitably cut to make that happen.
Anyway, I hope I don’t come across as jumping on your comment. It sounds like I agree with you - just wanted to tack on this wall of thoughts.
I’d go as far as to argue that running a nation has almost nothing in common with running a business.
A business literally exists to make a profit for its shareholders. The owners can try to do good things like pay high wages or give back to their community, but at the end of the day their goal is to make more money than they spend.
A government, on the other hand, should exist to protect and provide opportunities for its citizens to thrive. Generating a profit is largely at odds with that goal. People should have the same access to opportunities regardless of where in the country they live, and that’s going to sometimes mean that functions of the government are never profitable. That should be seen as okay, but people have been brainwashed to think that taxes are inherently bad, and that businesses are somehow naturally more efficient. I can say, as someone who has worked in business all his life, that that last bit is particularly a giant crock of shit. Businesses are no more naturally streamlined than any other organization. Hell, I’m currently personally leading a task force at my work to try to reduce all the egregious inefficiencies I’ve uncovered when trying to figure out why we’re not making nearly as much money as we should be.
The point is, providing government services doesn’t need to be “efficient”. If you can make that happen and save the taxpayers money, that’s great and you should do it. If that means letting any member of your society slip through the cracks, then efficiency be damned. The government shouldn’t be in the business of making money.
And, no, privatizing “inefficient” government services is never the answer. All you’re doing there is introducing new inefficiencies - the need for the business entity to make a profit, and the corners they’ll inevitably cut to make that happen.
Anyway, I hope I don’t come across as jumping on your comment. It sounds like I agree with you - just wanted to tack on this wall of thoughts.