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Issues like these are why many people conclude it’s best to reduce the size and power of government. The incompetence and apathy in this small, city level burea

Issues like these are why many people conclude it’s best to reduce the size and power of government. The incompetence and apathy in this small, city level bureaucracy is akin to lighting taxpayer money on fire. Now scale that to huge society-wide government initiatives and departments and you have an awe inspiring level of waste.

EricE 5y ago
If you listen to the phone call he had with that organization - the level of apathy and incompetence is breathtaking. That whole conversation reeks of an organization that has never had to be accountable to anyone for anything. You'd think people would at least have some basic professional pride but here we are.
- nvilcins 5y ago
  And the best part is - the citizens (who are impacted by this directly or indirectly) are paying for this.
abyssin 5y ago
Reducing the size of the government wouldn’t solve much, though, and it would rather make it even more disappointing. This kind of malfunction almost looks like some people in power are ok with leaving the impression the government is impossible to fix, and its size should be reduced.
- nemo44x 5y ago
  Except for it's NYC which means I can assure you the people in power love government and would love more of it and think they're actually doing a good job. I think what you get in places with limitless opportunity like NYC is the people attracted to government are either not able to cut it in a city like NYC (hence why government employees there are generally incompetent and indifferent) or see the immense wealth as something they can latch on to and exploit to satisfy their hunger for power over other people.
- syshum 5y ago
  It is almost like monopolies are universally bad, and when those monopolies also have a monopoly on the initiation of violence, and can send armed men to our home or business to make you comply with their orders reasonable or not, results in bad outcomes every time
- niij 5y ago
  When people say reduce the size of the government they're not saying just get rid of the people who can issue the permits. They're saying to get rid of the permits altogether. You shouldn't need the government's permission to fix computers.
syshum 5y ago
It still baffles me that people see stories like this, and desire to have government take over more and more of their life. In this instance it is business license, now image you need a hip surgery and you have to schedule that with the government....
- vkou 5y ago
  > It still baffles me that people see stories like this, and desire to have government take over more and more of their life. What's baffling to me is that people making your argument seem to forget how poorly people are treated by the private sector. > In this instance it is business license, now image you need a hip surgery and you have to schedule that with the government.... I haven't had to schedule a hip surgery with a government, but a government has also never sent me or my wife a surprise, erroneous $4,000 bill for what was a fully covered medical procedure (that in any other country would cost half as much) that then took two months and a lot of high-blood-pressure games of telephone to reverse. My parents and grandparents have had to schedule surgeries with a government, though. They get a date, they show up, they get the surgery, they get discharged, no bullshit, no surprise bills, no worrying over whether or not you actually owe money, or are just getting shaken down... I suppose I could only go in for treatment with care providers that don't fuck around with medical billing. Unfortunately, I am not aware that there is a single healthcare provider in my area who would pass that low, low bar.
  - syshum 5y ago
    >>My parents and grandparents have had to schedule surgeries with a government, though. They get a date, they show up, they get the surgery, they get discharged, no bullshit, no surprise bills, no worrying over whether or not you actually owe money, or are just getting shaken down. Your parents experience, and my parents and grandparents (when they were alive) experience with medicare seems to be massively different. You do know that medicare does not cover 100%, and there is tangled web of Part B, Part D, Part E, Part Z coverage that cover some things, not others, and no one can ever tell you what is covered by who with private insurance and government all pointing fingers at each either.... and that is with getting into the fact that more and more private doctors are refusing to take medicare because of low reimbursement rates and slow reimbursement rates so you have to go into a big network or hospital network not a local small doctor office

EricE 5y ago

If you listen to the phone call he had with that organization - the level of apathy and incompetence is breathtaking. That whole conversation reeks of an organization that has never had to be accountable to anyone for anything. You'd think people would at least have some basic professional pride but here we are.

nvilcins 5y ago
And the best part is - the citizens (who are impacted by this directly or indirectly) are paying for this.

abyssin 5y ago

Reducing the size of the government wouldn’t solve much, though, and it would rather make it even more disappointing. This kind of malfunction almost looks like some people in power are ok with leaving the impression the government is impossible to fix, and its size should be reduced.

nemo44x 5y ago
Except for it's NYC which means I can assure you the people in power love government and would love more of it and think they're actually doing a good job. I think what you get in places with limitless opportunity like NYC is the people attracted to government are either not able to cut it in a city like NYC (hence why government employees there are generally incompetent and indifferent) or see the immense wealth as something they can latch on to and exploit to satisfy their hunger for power over other people.
syshum 5y ago
It is almost like monopolies are universally bad, and when those monopolies also have a monopoly on the initiation of violence, and can send armed men to our home or business to make you comply with their orders reasonable or not, results in bad outcomes every time
niij 5y ago
When people say reduce the size of the government they're not saying just get rid of the people who can issue the permits. They're saying to get rid of the permits altogether. You shouldn't need the government's permission to fix computers.

syshum 5y ago

It still baffles me that people see stories like this, and desire to have government take over more and more of their life. In this instance it is business license, now image you need a hip surgery and you have to schedule that with the government....

vkou 5y ago
> It still baffles me that people see stories like this, and desire to have government take over more and more of their life. What's baffling to me is that people making your argument seem to forget how poorly people are treated by the private sector. > In this instance it is business license, now image you need a hip surgery and you have to schedule that with the government.... I haven't had to schedule a hip surgery with a government, but a government has also never sent me or my wife a surprise, erroneous $4,000 bill for what was a fully covered medical procedure (that in any other country would cost half as much) that then took two months and a lot of high-blood-pressure games of telephone to reverse. My parents and grandparents have had to schedule surgeries with a government, though. They get a date, they show up, they get the surgery, they get discharged, no bullshit, no surprise bills, no worrying over whether or not you actually owe money, or are just getting shaken down... I suppose I could only go in for treatment with care providers that don't fuck around with medical billing. Unfortunately, I am not aware that there is a single healthcare provider in my area who would pass that low, low bar.
- syshum 5y ago
  >>My parents and grandparents have had to schedule surgeries with a government, though. They get a date, they show up, they get the surgery, they get discharged, no bullshit, no surprise bills, no worrying over whether or not you actually owe money, or are just getting shaken down. Your parents experience, and my parents and grandparents (when they were alive) experience with medicare seems to be massively different. You do know that medicare does not cover 100%, and there is tangled web of Part B, Part D, Part E, Part Z coverage that cover some things, not others, and no one can ever tell you what is covered by who with private insurance and government all pointing fingers at each either.... and that is with getting into the fact that more and more private doctors are refusing to take medicare because of low reimbursement rates and slow reimbursement rates so you have to go into a big network or hospital network not a local small doctor office