Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> By and large, governments are still vastly less competent than multinational corporations

Is this something you know firsthand or something you think you know because a huge amount of money has gone into spreading that message for political purposes? Anyone who’s worked for or with a multi-national knows that they’re hardly as efficient as the marketing would have you believe, and anyone who’s looked at libertarian media knows that it’s almost entirely funded by rich people seeking tax & regulatory reductions, banking on you confusing their interests with your own.



Privatize the fire department and you'll soon see just how shrewd they become.


Denmark hasn't burned down yet. And there are plenty of other examples.


As a recovering libertarian, I remember how the idea of making all roads tolled to pay for maintenance was an instant conversation killer.


Roads should be privately provided: they aren't even a public good.

How they are financed is up to the operators. Perhaps they want tolls, perhaps local stores want to chip in to improve their business? Perhaps something else that would take someone more than 30 seconds to imagine?

(In any case, roads being provided by local government isn't all that bad. It's relatively easy to change your local government by moving from one town to the next. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiarity)




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: