8 ms·

The U.S. Cannot Be Run Like a Business (2017)

56 points by xnx 2y ago

RickJWagner 2y ago
For a long time the US government has spent $4 for every $3 it took in. This is not sustainable.
jefurii 2y ago
2017
dont-trust-libs 2y ago
[flagged]
- BugsJustFindMe 2y ago
  Earnest question: Why did you make a new account just to post that comment?
  - unethical_ban 2y ago
    It's not an attempt at earnest discussion, so why expect an earnest answer? They attacked the messenger, not the message.
  - dont-trust-libs 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - Jtsummers 2y ago
    They're just trolling. Remember the old advice: Don't feed the trolls.
- isoprophlex 2y ago
  Which libraries don't you trust? xz?
dandanua 2y ago
[flagged]
- dctoedt 2y ago
  No reason to flag it — it's a useful explanation of a clearly-established truth.
vannevar 2y ago
But we're seeing in real time that it can be run like a piggybank.
- lazyeye 2y ago
  Well till now it's been a piggy bank for a million political operatives, hacks and grifters so even if true it still might save the taxpayer money...
  - EnergyAmy 2y ago
    That take is so naive it hurts. Musk will siphon more money to himself than anybody before, because he's destroying any checks on his ability to loot the government.
    - lazyeye 2y ago
      Not remotely naive. Fairly obviously a large proportion of USAid, in particular, is nothing more than a Democrat slush fund that funnels taxpayer money into Democrat "charities" and the like. I don't think I'm the naive person in this conversation.
      - piva00 2y ago
        Any sources for the large portion going to Democrat charities? Would appreciate something with a table or graph if it exists.
        lazyeye 2y ago
        Seriously...the information is overwhelming if you're paying attention. Do your own research.
        vannevar 2y ago
        "Do your own research," the losing argument's last resort.
k310 2y ago
The constitution gives us the right to pursue happiness, but no mention of attaining it. That means spending trillions on ways to achieve what comes from within if we just look there. About your downvotes: you sure are in a mean mood today! Find your inner happiness.
- unethical_ban 2y ago
  Yes, zen hard enough and food will be in your stomach, viruses will be studied, and nuclear weapons will be safe.
fooker 2y ago
Not that I disagree, but people thought Twitter would crash and burn in a matter of weeks if not days after workforce reduction. Be prepared to be wrong, and the political consequences if you are wrong about this.
- throwaway2016a 2y ago
  I've been using Twitter since the early days and while it hasn't crashed and burned it definitely performs worse than it used to. The only bots now are the ones willing to play dirty so every one of my tweets typically gets liked by at least one "adult" account with 18+ material on it. I go to my lesser used accounts (that I have for my business) and 90% of the ads are for scams, NFTs, outright porn, and sleezy mobile games. Let alone the technology itself. Someone liked one of my tweets the other day and it showed up in my notifications but it took hours to show up on my page as a like. Sometimes I tweet and it doesn't show up for a long time and I don't even know if it successfully posted. And every single one of my notifications is right wing, not a single liberal notification on most days. Not even mentioning that Musk has been pretty eager to ban people he disagrees with. Which is the opposite of what he said he would do. And "tweet" was a "verb"... you know how hard it is to get your own verb as a product? But he just threw that brand equity out. So yeah, it may not have crashed and burned but from a technology and a culture perspective it is not what it used to be.
  - throwaway2016a 2y ago
    This comment was at least +5. It is 100% factual based on my actual experiences. Yet now it is at 0 with no replies overnight. How about we do what HN was made for and actually have intelligent debate on the topic? If you downvoted it you must have an opinion. Unless of course you're a bot or a voting ring. The only thing I can see a legitimate downvote for is the right vs liberal promoted tweets. But that's not actually a political statement. My Twitter account is 100% tech no politics AT ALL yet somehow 90% of my recommended tweets it shows me notifications for are FAR right (not even center right). That should be concerning no matter what party you're in. That is beyond coincidence. It is definitely not showing me them based on my interests as I have shown no interest in tweets like that. So what is it using to show them to me?
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
mannyv 2y ago
HBR throws the baby out with the bathwater. The government can't be run like a business because the government is for everyone. That said, it doesn't need to be run like a non-profit.
josefritzishere 2y ago
If you have ever watched a private equity firm acquire and systematically destroy a profitable company, you know exactly why the government should not be run like a business.
scrubs 2y ago
This indirectly substantiates my theory that the single biggest problem in the US federal government is congress. When a institution does not wield power (righteously for its customers) the power vacuum is filled by (1) lobbies (2) big business coercion that congress folds on (3) the executive branch doing what congress should be doing and (4) with trump probably incompetently with conflicts of interest. Folks systemic break down is no joke. The congress modus operatum: Tell you I'm an outsider () tell you I care about kitchen table issues () bloviate on and raise money on wedge issues (*) repeat is woefully bad, and is a major part of the problem starting to pick one point N. Gingrich. (If newt was a dem same issue same result).

56 points by xnx 2y ago

RickJWagner 2y ago

For a long time the US government has spent $4 for every $3 it took in. This is not sustainable.

jefurii 2y ago

2017

dont-trust-libs 2y ago

[flagged]

BugsJustFindMe 2y ago
Earnest question: Why did you make a new account just to post that comment?
- unethical_ban 2y ago
  It's not an attempt at earnest discussion, so why expect an earnest answer? They attacked the messenger, not the message.
- dont-trust-libs 2y ago
  [flagged]
- Jtsummers 2y ago
  They're just trolling. Remember the old advice: Don't feed the trolls.
isoprophlex 2y ago
Which libraries don't you trust? xz?

dandanua 2y ago

[flagged]

dctoedt 2y ago
No reason to flag it — it's a useful explanation of a clearly-established truth.

vannevar 2y ago

But we're seeing in real time that it can be run like a piggybank.

lazyeye 2y ago
Well till now it's been a piggy bank for a million political operatives, hacks and grifters so even if true it still might save the taxpayer money...
- EnergyAmy 2y ago
  That take is so naive it hurts. Musk will siphon more money to himself than anybody before, because he's destroying any checks on his ability to loot the government.
  - lazyeye 2y ago
    Not remotely naive. Fairly obviously a large proportion of USAid, in particular, is nothing more than a Democrat slush fund that funnels taxpayer money into Democrat "charities" and the like. I don't think I'm the naive person in this conversation.
    - piva00 2y ago
      Any sources for the large portion going to Democrat charities? Would appreciate something with a table or graph if it exists.
      - lazyeye 2y ago
        Seriously...the information is overwhelming if you're paying attention. Do your own research.
        vannevar 2y ago
        "Do your own research," the losing argument's last resort.

k310 2y ago

The constitution gives us the right to pursue happiness, but no mention of attaining it. That means spending trillions on ways to achieve what comes from within if we just look there. About your downvotes: you sure are in a mean mood today! Find your inner happiness.

unethical_ban 2y ago
Yes, zen hard enough and food will be in your stomach, viruses will be studied, and nuclear weapons will be safe.

fooker 2y ago

Not that I disagree, but people thought Twitter would crash and burn in a matter of weeks if not days after workforce reduction. Be prepared to be wrong, and the political consequences if you are wrong about this.

throwaway2016a 2y ago
I've been using Twitter since the early days and while it hasn't crashed and burned it definitely performs worse than it used to. The only bots now are the ones willing to play dirty so every one of my tweets typically gets liked by at least one "adult" account with 18+ material on it. I go to my lesser used accounts (that I have for my business) and 90% of the ads are for scams, NFTs, outright porn, and sleezy mobile games. Let alone the technology itself. Someone liked one of my tweets the other day and it showed up in my notifications but it took hours to show up on my page as a like. Sometimes I tweet and it doesn't show up for a long time and I don't even know if it successfully posted. And every single one of my notifications is right wing, not a single liberal notification on most days. Not even mentioning that Musk has been pretty eager to ban people he disagrees with. Which is the opposite of what he said he would do. And "tweet" was a "verb"... you know how hard it is to get your own verb as a product? But he just threw that brand equity out. So yeah, it may not have crashed and burned but from a technology and a culture perspective it is not what it used to be.
- throwaway2016a 2y ago
  This comment was at least +5. It is 100% factual based on my actual experiences. Yet now it is at 0 with no replies overnight. How about we do what HN was made for and actually have intelligent debate on the topic? If you downvoted it you must have an opinion. Unless of course you're a bot or a voting ring. The only thing I can see a legitimate downvote for is the right vs liberal promoted tweets. But that's not actually a political statement. My Twitter account is 100% tech no politics AT ALL yet somehow 90% of my recommended tweets it shows me notifications for are FAR right (not even center right). That should be concerning no matter what party you're in. That is beyond coincidence. It is definitely not showing me them based on my interests as I have shown no interest in tweets like that. So what is it using to show them to me?

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

mannyv 2y ago

HBR throws the baby out with the bathwater. The government can't be run like a business because the government is for everyone. That said, it doesn't need to be run like a non-profit.

josefritzishere 2y ago

If you have ever watched a private equity firm acquire and systematically destroy a profitable company, you know exactly why the government should not be run like a business.

scrubs 2y ago

This indirectly substantiates my theory that the single biggest problem in the US federal government is congress. When a institution does not wield power (righteously for its customers) the power vacuum is filled by (1) lobbies (2) big business coercion that congress folds on (3) the executive branch doing what congress should be doing and (4) with trump probably incompetently with conflicts of interest. Folks systemic break down is no joke. The congress modus operatum: Tell you I'm an outsider () tell you I care about kitchen table issues () bloviate on and raise money on wedge issues (*) repeat is woefully bad, and is a major part of the problem starting to pick one point N. Gingrich. (If newt was a dem same issue same result).