Some people yell about smaller government, that government
is evil and Ayn Rand was right, private sector can handle everything and they
will gladly do so in exchange for profit.
In the other camp, we have the team who yells exactly the opposite; that
profit is an unnecessary byproduct and is not a true motivator of innovation and
progress.
The error is in believing that either position is
universally true or universally false.
Maybe the private v. public conversation is taking our eyes
off the ball. Maybe it’s the large
v. small, the global v. local.
Maybe we need huge government to counterbalance the presence of huge
corporations. Maybe we wouldn’t
need excessive regulation if there weren’t any corporate farms or
mega-banks. Maybe innovation would
actually increase if profit were removed from the equation and maybe social
wellbeing would erupt if regulation were no longer necessary.
Of course, the operative word is “maybe”. We don’t know if such a bold new plan would or wouldn’t have positive outcomes,
and that makes attempting a change risky.
Our systems incent those in power to stick with what we know doesn’t
work to avoid the risk of losing what we have if the new plan doesn’t
work. I suppose that makes us all
conservatives, doesn’t it?
Where I buy our tomatoes is not enough.
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