5 ms·

This is why I think that if there has to be an unfixable Kafkaesque bureaucracy, I'd rather it be in the public sector rather than a monopoly in the private sec

This is why I think that if there has to be an unfixable Kafkaesque bureaucracy, I'd rather it be in the public sector rather than a monopoly in the private sector. There is not much your local councilman / state rep / US Rep / US Senator / etc can do about a problem with Comcast. But I've seen appeals to elected officials fix lots of issues with government bureaucracy.

an_opabinia 5y ago
> There is not much your local councilman / state rep / US Rep / US Senator / etc can do about a problem with Comcast Because of its presence on public utility poles, there is a lot that they can do about Comcast. Many people prevail getting Comcast to do stuff by writing cities. The problem is the cushy job Comcast gives people after a long stint in government service in favor of Comcast. That shit isn’t a conspiracy.
- h_anna_h 5y ago
  > That shit isn’t a conspiracy What is it then?
  - r00fus 5y ago
    Corruption.
    - h_anna_h 5y ago
      Are these mutually exclusive?
    - corpdrone2021 5y ago
      Conspiracy seem to be a type of corruption to me in many cases.
      - yebyen 5y ago
        I think GP meant to say "isn't a conspiracy theory" rather than "isn't a conspiracy" eg. that isn't some hare-brained idea that only the craziest kook would subscribe to. Conspiracies certainly happen all the time. The most successful ones are probably never theorized about!
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
A private sector business isn't gonna send thugs with guns to forcibly shut down your business and put you in a cage after being too incompetent to take your money, they're just gonna terminate your service and/or sue you. Which is worse is a matter of preference.
- erdos4d 5y ago
  This exactly.
- AlotOfReading 5y ago
  Debt collectors may not be able to put you in jail, but 'thugs with guns' can be a pretty apt description otherwise.
- emn13 5y ago
  You are of course entirely correct (well, outside of the mob, which is probably a realistic factor for quite a bit of business, but kind of out of scope for "rules"). However, the essence of the matter isn't just about putting you in a cage - it's about excessive and capricious penalties with no real recourse. And those exist aplenty in the private sector. Nor do all laws broken necessarily equate to imprisonment. In practice, for perceived infractions against whatever rules the powerful organization has, private organizations are pretty ruthless up to but not quite reaching imprisonment. Pseudo-monopolists cutting service, or hefty financial penalties up to and including losing pretty much everything, holding your data hostage: that's all fair game. These two things aren't the same; but I do think they're both bad and scary enough to warrant not just concern, but in an ideal world, rules. You know, for example, constraints for government, and licensing rules for business.
  - unholythree 5y ago
    I think as a corollary it’s important to remember that “A private sector business isn't gonna send thugs with guns” wasn’t always true. Private police pushing people around was common enough in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was laws and government intervention that stopped that.
- 5y ago

an_opabinia 5y ago

> There is not much your local councilman / state rep / US Rep / US Senator / etc can do about a problem with Comcast Because of its presence on public utility poles, there is a lot that they can do about Comcast. Many people prevail getting Comcast to do stuff by writing cities. The problem is the cushy job Comcast gives people after a long stint in government service in favor of Comcast. That shit isn’t a conspiracy.

h_anna_h 5y ago
> That shit isn’t a conspiracy What is it then?
- r00fus 5y ago
  Corruption.
  - h_anna_h 5y ago
    Are these mutually exclusive?
  - corpdrone2021 5y ago
    Conspiracy seem to be a type of corruption to me in many cases.
    - yebyen 5y ago
      I think GP meant to say "isn't a conspiracy theory" rather than "isn't a conspiracy" eg. that isn't some hare-brained idea that only the craziest kook would subscribe to. Conspiracies certainly happen all the time. The most successful ones are probably never theorized about!

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

A private sector business isn't gonna send thugs with guns to forcibly shut down your business and put you in a cage after being too incompetent to take your money, they're just gonna terminate your service and/or sue you. Which is worse is a matter of preference.

erdos4d 5y ago
This exactly.
AlotOfReading 5y ago
Debt collectors may not be able to put you in jail, but 'thugs with guns' can be a pretty apt description otherwise.
emn13 5y ago
You are of course entirely correct (well, outside of the mob, which is probably a realistic factor for quite a bit of business, but kind of out of scope for "rules"). However, the essence of the matter isn't just about putting you in a cage - it's about excessive and capricious penalties with no real recourse. And those exist aplenty in the private sector. Nor do all laws broken necessarily equate to imprisonment. In practice, for perceived infractions against whatever rules the powerful organization has, private organizations are pretty ruthless up to but not quite reaching imprisonment. Pseudo-monopolists cutting service, or hefty financial penalties up to and including losing pretty much everything, holding your data hostage: that's all fair game. These two things aren't the same; but I do think they're both bad and scary enough to warrant not just concern, but in an ideal world, rules. You know, for example, constraints for government, and licensing rules for business.
- unholythree 5y ago
  I think as a corollary it’s important to remember that “A private sector business isn't gonna send thugs with guns” wasn’t always true. Private police pushing people around was common enough in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was laws and government intervention that stopped that.
5y ago