Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthPoleMarathoner
One thing is certain. If the roads were privatized the number of fatal traffic accidents would go down. So would injuries. And damage to cars from potholes and such.
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Actually this is one of those things where it works the other way around.
Realworld example: the road up to Ponderosa Pines (N of Three Forks) is privately maintained, by the HOA. From what I hear, it's much beloved of muffler shops, cuz it's infamous for ripping exhaust systems clean off the car thanks to massive ruts and potholes. Conversely the county-maintained roads in the area are at least decent, as gravel roads go.
There are many privately-maintained roads in SoCal. Those outside of new in-city subdivisions (where the contractor was required by the city to implement paved streets) are mostly in from poor condition to almost impassable.
While I'm all for small gov't, and freedom from gov't interference in our lives, there are a few things that simply don't work when privatized: Roads, basic-education schools, police, and fire depts. These were all privatized in the past (historically, they have been
mostly privatized!), resulting in extortionate tolls for barely-usable roads, near-universal illiteracy, and a variety of protection rackets. We only get good roads, a high level of general education, and freedom from local mob bosses when these functions are controlled and maintained by a fiscally-sound government. (And I would argue that a fiscally sound gov't is of necessity honest, while a fiscally-unsound gov't becomes dishonest by nature.)
The only one that works at all privatized is a fire dept, and then only for rural areas where letting the house that wouldn't pay burn (and some WILL let it burn) won't jeopardize entire innocent neighbourhoods.
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Privatizing these functions is a symptom of a fiscally-unsound government:
Redlight cameras are actually a good example of a gov't function (traffic flow) being privatized, to the benefit of no one except the company that owns the cameras. Do note that per every study, injury accidents
increase when these PRIVATIZED traffic controls are implemented. Meanwhile, cash-strapped local gov'ts, in the form of privatized ticketing, pull all manner of dirty tricks to maximize their cut of the revenue. (See above about honesty being linked to fiscal soundness.)
Privatized prisons result in harsher punishments for a growing array of trivial offenses, because the more people are behind bars, the more money the prison owners make. (And this money still comes from your taxes, since the state pays the prison on a per-inmate basis.)
Mexico is another good example -- the main reason the cops there are your worst enemy (being the parties most likely to kidnap and extort money from foreigners) is because the gov't is so screwed up (dishonest and a fiscal disaster) that the cops can't count on a regular gov't paycheck, so are forced to make do with what they can "earn" as "private businessmen" so to speak.
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As to the broad subject of charity and welfare, I'd argue that there was less waste and less abuse (albeit perhaps more "falling through the cracks") when this was principally the function of individuals (pay the beggar or not, as you prefer) and religious institutions. I do find it interesting that per tax info from major political candidates, conservatives donate about
5 times as much of their income to charity as do liberals (even when in the same tax bracket). Funny how people are more willing to share when they do so of their own free will, rather than being forced to do so because everyone knows how selfish people are!
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It's my contention that a police officer who is paid $80K a year in salary and benefits could have their time put to better use doing something else fighting crime. And we could not afford to put an officer at every problem stop light site.
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