From: slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com (Mark Slagle)
Subject: Re: [misc.activism.progressive] Clinton Office Requests Comments
Reply-To: slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com
In-reply-to: bzs@world.std.com's message of Sat, 9 Jan 1993 19:46:59 GMT
Organization: You wouldn't ask this if you'd seen my desk.
	<BZS.93Jan8175219@world.std.com>
	<SLAGLE.93Jan9022251@sgi417.msd.lmsc.lockheed.com>
	<BZS.93Jan9144659@world.std.com>
Date: 12 Jan 93 02:28:47

In article <BZS.93Jan9144659@world.std.com>, bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein) writes:

> The problem I am trying to point out, ultimately, is that eliminating
> govt (perhaps just severely) is at best a questionable solution. 

The point that you are stubbornly resisting is that time after
time the government is the source of the problem.  Not in all
cases, to be sure, but in those cases where the government is
involved it is odds on to be doing more harm than good.  When
that is so, then eliminating the government interference is far
better than a questionable solution, it is the only solution.

> The
> problem obviously has much deeper roots. Govt at least is somewhat
> answerable (in western democratic system), even if not perfectly so.
> Private corps. etc are much less answerable in general, the average
> citizen has little influence on the general course of private corps
> except in very proscribed ways (I am not saying that is bad, I am just
> pointing out the difference.)

Influencing any large entity is difficult for the average
citizen, but IBM pays people to pay attention to the needs of its
customers while the government seems to be more interested in
paying people to ignore us.  And the other side of your coin is
that the government is far more susceptible to the adverse
influence of the non-average citizen.  The inherent incentives
favor those who would bend the power of government to nefarious
ends.  But when a rich developer buys the ear of IBM to serve his
ends, I am not forced to subsidize the resulting agreement.  And
as we have seen over the past year, even Big Blue is answerable
to the market.  We're having somewhat less success communicating
our displeasure to Uncle Sammy.

> I believe the problems we are having with the govt (e.g. huge deficit
> spending) reflects a much deeper problem that will just come right
> back, likely worse as much of the accountability will be turned off,
> in a system like the libertarians propose. 

There is a very direct accountability in business.  The feedback
on unpopular decisions is visited most emphatically on earnings.
Can you make the same claim for government?  When one of their
programs backfires, don't they just come back and hit us up for
more money to fund a program to fix the problems they created?
What other "company" can get away with charging more and more
for less and less?

> You can call the folks who run your public transport system "the
> government", or you can call them "the public transport corp" but it's
> not clear that changes much. 

No, you're right, it doesn't.  Because that's essentially the
present condition.  Various transit corporations or authorities
are granted a monopoly in a given area.  The real alternative is
when we call them "the several and various transit providers."
That changes everything, because now bad service or excessive
prices trigger entry by competitors and the bad guys either get
their act together or investigate the relative benefits of
liquidation.

> If their will is malevolent and they are
> determined to rip off the public etc then they will manage to do so
> under either system (perhaps in different ways.)

If they can.  But only the government has the means to legally
restrict entry to those who would compete with unproductive or
malevolent enterprises.

> The only thing that will stop the ruthless is people giving a damn.

That's what we're up to.  But what do you do when the ruthless
people are running the government and have the power and the
inclination to throw you in jail for giving a damn?

=Mark
--
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Mark E. Slagle                                 PO Box 61059
slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com                       Sunnyvale, CA   94088
408-756-0895                                   USA
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