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There are ways in which they are "completely different beasts" and ways in which they are similar. In that they are both organizations made up of human beings
by rcoveson 4y ago
There are ways in which they are "completely different beasts" and ways in which they are similar.
In that they are both organizations made up of human beings providing important services to the general public, they are the similar. I think that's the similarity that was being emphasized by the analogy.
The analogy still works if you imagine private firefighters (the kind you might contract for a farming operation) instead of public firefighters.
- diordiderot 4y agoDoctors is a better American analogy than firefighters
- tambourine_man 4y agoThere are ways in which water and oil are similar. There are also analogies which are of little use. When you reach for a group “made up of human beings” as a similarity, you clinging on the latter.
- rcoveson 4y agoQuote it as written: "organizations made up of human beings providing important services to the general public"; not merely "group made up of human beings." An organization is more specific than a "group." They both provide services to the general public, i.e. they are indiscriminant in who their clients are. This is different from, say, a corporate law firm that might decide to take just a handful of cases at a time and be selective about it. And finally, their services are important, as in livelihood-saving. Of course, firefighters are sometimes life saving, so a better analogy would be firefighters working for agri-business, but "firefighters" still fits better than, say, "AMC theaters" because of the importance of the service offered.