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Deliberately starving public services so that they get shitty enough to consider eliminating or privatizing them has been going on since at least the Reagan yea

Deliberately starving public services so that they get shitty enough to consider eliminating or privatizing them has been going on since at least the Reagan years. Probably longer, but that’s when one of his advisors said the infamous line about wanting a government “small enough to drown in a bathtub”.

soco 4y ago
From what I understand the UK is pursuing a similar approach from Thatcher era onwards, they only seem to be slow with it.
remarkEon 4y ago
Reagan did more than starve public services. There was an entire cultural moment during that presidency that made working in government low status. It's unsurprising that smart, competent people did not venture into government service, and basic things like "renew my ID/passport" are Kafkaesque endeavors as a result.
- throwoutway 4y ago
  It’s become popular to blame things on Raegan, but it’s been 40 years. Come on. My passport renewal this decade was simple. And if you have an emergency it’s not Kafkaesque. See this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32609897 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32609897
throw0101a 4y ago
See: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast
- notch656a 4y ago
  The federal beast is being starved so badly that it's consuming 4x the fraction of non-wartime GDP that it was 100 years ago (oh yes, except the blip during participation in a WORLD WAR). It's the kind of starvation only obese America can understand. https://ritholtz.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/outlays-GDP.png https://ritholtz.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/outlays-GDP....