We've definitely not come up with any system that's anywhere near perfect - so ALL political systems need to be criticised. How else do we improve things?
I actually quite liked what we called a 'mixed' economy before Thatcher got her hands on things. Again it was FAR from perfect but had definite long-term potential. A good chunk of the system was in private hands (regulated of course) but the core stuff, the important stuff, like Health, Education and essential Infrastructure was owned and run by the State. Sure, you still had Private schools and Private Health establishments but the majority of things like that were available to everyone at low/zero direct cost and at a more than reasonable level of quality. Things like Education and Health should never be run purely for profit. Nor should, for example, the provision of vital services like water. Basing the provision on such things on the ability to pay never made much (indeed any) sense to me...
Some good points there, Kitten. What happens when something that should be public is privatized can be seen in GErmany with the trains. Or in the States with the health system. Some sectors really should stay in the hands of the state. Of course, as long as it's not a dictatorship.
When the opened up our bus services to 'competition' it was a "good" kind of chaos for a while with lots of companies vying for our service - so LOTS of cheap buses. Then as company after company dropped out the survivors hiked up their prices and reduced their services to the minimum.... Pretty much the same happened with the trains too. So you go from State run services which are pretty much OK, to a short period of 'competition' and 'efficiency', followed by monopoly and poor service.... All too often followed by the State taking over again and fixing things - until the inevitable calls for competition and efficiency again!
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Looks like many people got that advice.
We've definitely not come up with any system that's anywhere near perfect - so ALL political systems need to be criticised. How else do we improve things?
I actually quite liked what we called a 'mixed' economy before Thatcher got her hands on things. Again it was FAR from perfect but had definite long-term potential. A good chunk of the system was in private hands (regulated of course) but the core stuff, the important stuff, like Health, Education and essential Infrastructure was owned and run by the State. Sure, you still had Private schools and Private Health establishments but the majority of things like that were available to everyone at low/zero direct cost and at a more than reasonable level of quality. Things like Education and Health should never be run purely for profit. Nor should, for example, the provision of vital services like water. Basing the provision on such things on the ability to pay never made much (indeed any) sense to me...
Some good points there, Kitten. What happens when something that should be public is privatized can be seen in GErmany with the trains. Or in the States with the health system. Some sectors really should stay in the hands of the state. Of course, as long as it's not a dictatorship.
When the opened up our bus services to 'competition' it was a "good" kind of chaos for a while with lots of companies vying for our service - so LOTS of cheap buses. Then as company after company dropped out the survivors hiked up their prices and reduced their services to the minimum.... Pretty much the same happened with the trains too. So you go from State run services which are pretty much OK, to a short period of 'competition' and 'efficiency', followed by monopoly and poor service.... All too often followed by the State taking over again and fixing things - until the inevitable calls for competition and efficiency again!
So true. Vicious circle.
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