Is privatizing everything/selling off the commons good? How can anyone think that? (generation, Reagan)

[belmont22]

I often hear people say that we need to privatize everything, because business is more efficient than government and it will lift people out of poverty, etc.

How would the poor fare in such a system? Do people really think a society with no safety net would be a humane or even a stable one? This kind of privatization would have been unthinkable even during the Reagan era yet you see western governments all over the world practicing austerity and cutting out their safety nets and selling off their common services like the post office to the highest bidder.

[bUU]

Privatization is part of the egoistic right-wing rhetoric that has no place within it for compassion for those less fortunate or consideration for others. Your concerns fall on their deaf ears, because all they care about is how to secure for themselves a bit more comfort and luxury, without regard for how that self-centered attitude has doubled economic inequality in a generation.

[wnewberry22]

No Republican has ever suggested that ZERO social safety net should exist. This my friend is what we call a straw man. However privatization of certain programs and services would benefit the poor because it guarantees their solvency. Gov. Gary Johnson did a phenomenal job of block granting Medicaid in New Mexico during his tenure and that would be regarded as partial privatization. Further...cutting services is not something that we all want to do...it's something that we must do to keep our balance sheets in the black. The city of Detroit had good intentions with securing substantial pensions for their public employees and less fortunate employees, but unfortunately the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Their solvency is non existent and they were forced to declare bankruptcy.

Privatization may not be the answer to all of our financial problems but it certainly needs to be examined in every arena.