[prajeshbhat]

The right wing of USA cannot stop glorifying the virtues of Private Enterprise. Their sacrosanct mantra is that the government is perpetually inefficient. Only private big corporations work.
But it seems to me that the one thing the top dogs of private sector do most efficiently is to use their enormous wealth to ensure that the Governments remain inefficient. This is true all over the world. How? Through campaign donations and kick-backs, direct, indirect, under the table, in the bedroom and what have you! They make sure, through the main steam media, that the public only gets to see and hear about the most incompetent politician they could find who would do as told once in power( see George Bush).

Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.
-- Douglas Adams

You might say the the governments are just as bad in poor countries. But the politicians in poor countries are brought into power by drug lords and mafias and the like. Those are the third world equivalent of Wall Street Bankers.
I believe that the day the government discover efficiency, all private sectors would be wiped out. Obviously. I mean, why would anyone buy any thing from a faceless organisation that owes no accountability and no obligations towards their fellow man, when they can get the same thing or service from a representative government that they have democratically elected and can remove from power whenever they feel like.
So if the Goldman Sachs and the JP Morgans and all other BAILOUT QUEENS (these corporations are basically wards of the state, they won't last two days in the free market) are serious about capitalism, they should spend their every last dollar trying to make sure that the government remains incompetent. That only the most incompetent sycophant sell-outs make it into the government.
Can you imagine the day the people of USA wake up and take control of their own government. These corporations will be destroyed.
Just some thoughts. In the meantime, here's business as usual:-
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/wall-street-and-greece-shades-of-enron/

[Pretorian]

That comes in a bundle along with democracy. Are you against democracy?

[prajeshbhat]

Not at all. I am trying to make a point that governments are not inherently inefficient. That's just a lie propagated by the right wingers and MSM. Most departments of the Government that they point out to be inefficient are being run by politicians who are put there by these rich people. Here's a good article I read:-
http://governmentisgood.com/articles.php?aid=20&p=1

And we see plenty of cheats in the private sector. The common myth there is that most incompetents and cheats would be weeded out by the "Free Market" before they reach high positions. That explains Enron.

[Narz]

Interesting article. I forwarded it to my mother (who, as a libertarian, will of course not read it).

[Pretorian]

Not at all. I am trying to make a point that governments are not inherently inefficient.

Well, democratic ones, are. So are you against democracy?

[prajeshbhat]

They say economic failures are caused by government intervention in the private sector. It goes both ways. What they never mention is that government failures are caused by private intervention, by the wealthy people who have the means of bribing top politicians. Can somebody explain to me if these politicians are so inefficient, how come they are offered $ 2 million a year jobs in the private medical industry right after they block medical reforms?

[Bill Hicks]

I get what you're trying to say, and I'm about as FAR from being a right-winger as anyone can be without having a Communist Party membership card, BUT...

"Democratic" governments ARE inherently inefficient by their very nature, and that is what keeps the people relatively free. On the flip side, Nazi Germany was the most efficient governmental system every devised.

Now i could go on to scoff at the notion that America actually has a democracy and not an oligarchy, but that's a whole different discussion.

[Bill Hicks]

Can somebody explain to me if these politicians are so inefficient, how come they are offered $ 2 million a year jobs in the private medical industry right after they block medical reforms?

Because this is not a democracy, it's an oligarchy (or should I say "oilagarchy" ). Such corrupted governments are always VERY efficient at shoveling money to rich people, such as with the TARP law.

[Outcast_Searcher]

I get what you are saying too. But only the government (or some big corporations like say IBM where I worked for many years) could come up with things as STUPIDLY run as the DMV, the USPS, and many aspects of MANY regulatory agencies like the FAA, the EPA, the SEC, the IRS, etc. etc.

I really doubt that evil corporations force the census bureau to still use 50's technology and spend MANY $BILLIONS and MONTHS on the census, when doing it via the internet could likely be done 5 to 10 times as quickly and efficiently.

Big entities are inherently inefficient. Allowed to grow unchecked, big governments become the biggest entities anywhere over time.

[Cid_Yama]

Bullsh*T. Our Politicians are bought and paid for.

FDR fought them and made significant headway, but then he died. Now the "Captains of Industry" as FDR called them, rule in the place of the Democracy that was our birthright. Or should have been, since it was all over with FDR, and we were born into Democracy's aftermath.

We have lived in a Plutocracy for over 60 or 70 years. Heck, when were we not living in a Plutocracy? The America of FDR and the Frank Capra movies perhaps never was. Just an illusion to placate the masses.

We, as a nation, are enslaved. Think not, you are a fool.

Even I, with all the wealth at my disposal, can't make a bit of difference.

I can't even make myself a target. I'm like a flea biting at their ankles.

I was born into the Register, with a diamond encrusted platinum spoon in my mouth.

They are good people. They just have their own mythos that precludes even consideration for you. You are no one. You are the peasants who have always had to be managed, culled, maintained in a useful manner.

That sounds so much like Zardoz. I guess truth is where you find it.

All I can do is try to help those trampled upon.

[pup55]

Unfortunately, since people are selfish jerks, it is nice to have some form of government to keep things moving smoothly, and work on an occasional project that could not get done otherwise.

But, right now, we are in an era that the "government" as an institution, has lagged way behind the rest of society from technological and innovation standpoint. I suppose there have been periods in history like this before.

You have the further complication that people in the government get jobs and tend to stay in them, unlike private enterprise where there is an occasional pruning, and that a lot of them get them for some other reason than competence. For a couple of decades, it was because of minority status, and for a couple more, it was because of ideology, i.e. you are a graduate of Liberty University. This probably goes back to the days of the ancient Egyptians, and for sure goes back as far as John Quincy Adams who loaded up the government with his political supporters. It's why you have to stand in line at the DMV.

Plus, we're living in a country where being smart works against you most of the time when running for political office. You're much better off being able to eat barbecue and shoot firearms, because there are more barbecue eaters and firearm shooters than there are scientists and engineers in this country, and we have a long tradition of distrust of the educated elite, going back to Jackson. It's a democracy. So, our current crop of elected officials either dumb down, or pretend to dumb down for political expedience. That explains why the damn serious job of selecting our leaders devolves into people wearing funny hats and throwing streamers every four years, and the top tier of government officials are former equestrian judges or precinct chairmen from Boondockia, which happens to have an early primary.

What is the end game? Well, there have been times of crisis in our history, when things got so bad that enough competent, thoughtful people finally came out of the woodwork and fixed some of the problems we had, and everybody else finally realized that there was a problem that could not be solved with platitudes and let them get on with it. Hopefully that is what will happen now, but I am afraid we have not hit rock bottom yet.

[Fishman]

Dang right Cid, FDR was against public unions also. Oh how the left moans when the people reject the financial failings of the left. No similar comments here back in January 2009 when Obama was inaugurated

Praj, pick up a history book. There was this experiment called the USSR that pretty much did exactly what you demanded. No one takes your liberty away like a government. Don't expect the "people" to rise up, at least not those that can read a history book.

Pup, Kerry's grades in college were worse than Bush's, Obama is portrayed as brilliant yet we can't see his grades. Perhaps your judgement of wisdom is different from reality? In general those bbq eater/gun owners, (bitter clingers as the president calls them) hire those "brilliant elite" because as we see now with our "brilliant elite" in office, the b.e. are clueless how the real world works. Those elite give us Keynesian economics, they "know best", except most of the time they don't. Those bitter clingers will try the b.e.'s ideas until they fail. Its the b.e.s contempt of the bbq eater that leads to the downfall of the left.

[vision-master]

The little fishy can be no other, look @ where he's from. Brainwashed from birth, eh.

[pedalling_faster]

Can somebody explain to me if these politicians are so inefficient, how come they are offered $ 2 million a year jobs in the private medical industry right after they block medical reforms?

Because this is not a democracy, it's an oligarchy (or should I say "oilagarchy" ). Such corrupted governments are always VERY efficient at shoveling money to rich people, such as with the TARP law.

the US also meets the definition of Fascism ... "Fascism is corporatism".

interesting article in the LA weekly about them sending out SWAT teams to harass desert dwellers for having out-of-code homes. that's a good example of the inefficiency of government, or the unsustainability of government - LA county is expending considerable resources harassing people who live more sustainably than most people in LA.

that's how NOT to prepare for Peak Oil.

http://www.laweekly.com/content/printVersion/1303834/

"On Oct. 17, 2007, Marcelle opened the door to a loud knock. Her heart jumped when she found a man backed by two armed county agents in bulletproof vests. She was alone in the cabin, a dot in the vast open space of the Antelope Valley, without a neighbor for more than half a mile. She feared that something had happened to her daughter, who was visiting from Montreal.

The men demanded her driver's license, telling her, "This building is not permitted — everything must go." Normally sassy, Marcelle handed over her ID — even her green card, just in case. Stepping out, she realized that her 1,000-square-foot cabin was surrounded by men with drawn guns. "You have no right to be here," one informed her. Baffled and shaking with fear, she called her daughter — please come right away.

As her ordeal wore on, she heard one agent, looking inside their comfortable cabin, say to another: "This one's a real shame — this is a real nice one."

[prajeshbhat]

There is always an alliance between the big businesses and state. The only reason there appears to be a struggle is because both are trying to figure out who gets to be the dominant partner. Right now it seems like businesses are winning. Instead of preparing for collapse the public is enjoying the show. On the right, they are cheering the businesses. On the left, they are cheering the government.

[Fishman]

Excellent comeback VM. I see you've been reading your Alinsky again. Don't debate the facts, attack some obscure point about the person trouncing your arguement. Won't work.

Pjb, "There is always an alliance between the big businesses and state". Like I wrote, the Russians tried otherwise, a complete failure.

[prajeshbhat]

Communist USSR was no different from the oligarchy USA has today. Their government promised a utopia where there is equal distribution of resources, in return people just need to let the communist government rule unquestioned. The wall street oligarchy promised untold riches if the people just hand over all of their savings, and let wall street rule unquestioned (deregulation). Both will ultimately lead to bondage. What is really required is a participatory democracy. The government and the wealthy need to be afraid of the general public. Communist USSR was not a participatory democracy. I read on Dmitry Orlov's blog that on election day, people were handed closed envelops to drop in the ballot box. When people asked the officials why they were not allowed to see who they are voting for, they were told that elections in USSR are state secrets. How come people of USA are not allowed to know the names of the banks that own the Federal Reserve?

[prajeshbhat]

“I don’t think you realize how hard it is for the oppressed to become united. Their misery unites them (…) But otherwise their misery is liable to cut them off from one another, for they are forced to snatch the wretched crumbs from each other’s mouth”.
Bertolt Brecht

[pablonite]

why would anyone buy any thing from a faceless organization that owes no accountability and no obligations towards their fellow man, when they can get the same thing or service from a representative government that they have democratically elected and can remove from power whenever they feel like.

There seems to have been a fundamental change in the modus operandi of large corps. At first it was all about manufacturing and selling a quality product but now the bottom line is the prime directive, it's the world of international corporate pirates who have no allegiance to anything except profit and concentration of power. For example, if a multinational corp can churn out one million cheap defective widgets in China, ship and sell them for a profit in the Americas or Europe and close the factory down only to rinse and repeat this would be considered a valid business plan. It has nothing to do with serving the common good which was the original intent that brought about the invention of the corporation. It is all defensible in maritime law since the share holders command and deserve profits according to the new and improved prime directive of the corp., not good will towards the "consumer".

I think it can all only go so far though and you get what you pay for in the end. Ignorance of the fact that in most western countries the highest levels of state and private cartel capitalist run multinational corps are being populated with a crowd of globalist elites, the revolving doors are everywhere. Of course that was always the plan, welcome to the global village. Just like Rome, it's going to get hard to control dissent at the fringes of the empire and the elites are already insulating themselves with private armies, draconian laws and remote island getaways

[Pretorian]

Communist USSR was no different from the oligarchy USA has today.

What do you know about either one of them? Half of the people in USSR were slaves until 1960s or so. In USA hundreds of billions were spent on obesity problems. No different? Go work in the fields for a few sacks of wheat and corn per year, then come back and tell us how did you do.