3 ms·

> The privatization of the public's air or water supply should be criminal. Internet, cellphone, electricity, trash, healthcare, insurance... if the vast major

> The privatization of the public's air or water supply should be criminal. Internet, cellphone, electricity, trash, healthcare, insurance... if the vast majority needs the same thing, the local, state, or federal government should provide it. We need to put an end to all the rent seeking behavior, it's parasitic and slowly destroying our economy.

gary_0 3y ago
Don't forget roads and mail delivery. And there are people who look at that public infrastructure that basically allowed civilization to develop, and they go "what a shame, someone could be collecting rent on that". > if the vast majority needs the same thing It's more that if you privatize certain necessary infrastructure, the owners either end up as monopolies and/or require heavy regulation, which means the customer can't just buy from someone else and/or new companies can't unseat dysfunctional incumbents.
ianburrell 3y ago
The government doesn’t need to provide it. There should be type of company for utilities that are basically non-profits for providing the service. Government owned makes sense for most. But could also have co-op where the customers own the company, or charity. Also, the utility doesn’t have to provide everything. MVNO, which are cellular providers on top of other provider, could work with mobile provider utility. Internet is the other ones where in some countries multiple providers sit on top of phone company.
- mitthrowaway2 3y ago
  Isn't that a public company / crown corporation? (Not to be confused with a publicly-traded company)
  - ianburrell 3y ago
    In the US, public companies are traded on stock exchange. There are state-owned corporations. The federally owned ones are a mix of semi-independent like Amtrak and USPS, and ones that should be governement agencies. Municpally owned corporations tend to be independent but are owned by states or cities. Municipal utilities are pretty common but work best for small ones like water. The US has whole categories of 503c non-profit organizations, with 503c3 tax-exempt charities the most well known. I can't tell if there category for non-profit utilities. I think there should be room for companies between government-owned and for-profit, companies that do a service without making money.
thinkmassive 3y ago
When my trash stopped being picked up reliably, I appreciated the option to switch services. How would that work?
- saulpw 3y ago
  You can have "premium" services for-profit over and above base-level services. In countries where the government provides healthcare, you can pay for amenities like a private hospital room. Or if the government is too slow with mail delivery, you can pay a courier to overnight it. and so on.
- coldtea 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure you can still pay someone to pick up and dispose of your trash regardless of any public trash disposal service regime. Like how you can hire private bodyguards, and not leave your safety to the police. Or course your trash stopping being "picked up reliably" and the presence of alternative private services are often not independent events (either the government/local government decides to not put in the effort and leave it to the public to pay for third party services, or they're actively encouraged to do so with under the table bribes).
hermitcrab 3y ago
I think private ISPs are fine, as long as there is meaningful competition. Meaningful competition is not really possible with water companies.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

gary_0 3y ago

Don't forget roads and mail delivery. And there are people who look at that public infrastructure that basically allowed civilization to develop, and they go "what a shame, someone could be collecting rent on that". > if the vast majority needs the same thing It's more that if you privatize certain necessary infrastructure, the owners either end up as monopolies and/or require heavy regulation, which means the customer can't just buy from someone else and/or new companies can't unseat dysfunctional incumbents.

ianburrell 3y ago

The government doesn’t need to provide it. There should be type of company for utilities that are basically non-profits for providing the service. Government owned makes sense for most. But could also have co-op where the customers own the company, or charity. Also, the utility doesn’t have to provide everything. MVNO, which are cellular providers on top of other provider, could work with mobile provider utility. Internet is the other ones where in some countries multiple providers sit on top of phone company.

mitthrowaway2 3y ago
Isn't that a public company / crown corporation? (Not to be confused with a publicly-traded company)
- ianburrell 3y ago
  In the US, public companies are traded on stock exchange. There are state-owned corporations. The federally owned ones are a mix of semi-independent like Amtrak and USPS, and ones that should be governement agencies. Municpally owned corporations tend to be independent but are owned by states or cities. Municipal utilities are pretty common but work best for small ones like water. The US has whole categories of 503c non-profit organizations, with 503c3 tax-exempt charities the most well known. I can't tell if there category for non-profit utilities. I think there should be room for companies between government-owned and for-profit, companies that do a service without making money.

thinkmassive 3y ago

When my trash stopped being picked up reliably, I appreciated the option to switch services. How would that work?

saulpw 3y ago
You can have "premium" services for-profit over and above base-level services. In countries where the government provides healthcare, you can pay for amenities like a private hospital room. Or if the government is too slow with mail delivery, you can pay a courier to overnight it. and so on.
coldtea 3y ago
I'm pretty sure you can still pay someone to pick up and dispose of your trash regardless of any public trash disposal service regime. Like how you can hire private bodyguards, and not leave your safety to the police. Or course your trash stopping being "picked up reliably" and the presence of alternative private services are often not independent events (either the government/local government decides to not put in the effort and leave it to the public to pay for third party services, or they're actively encouraged to do so with under the table bribes).

hermitcrab 3y ago

I think private ISPs are fine, as long as there is meaningful competition. Meaningful competition is not really possible with water companies.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]