mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) (08/17/85)
In article <7800377@inmet.UUCP> nrh@inmet.UUCP writes: >Charles: as with the discussion of consumer testing agencies, you seem >to have never heard of the private agencies that already accomplish the >things you think must be done by government. Netnews makes people sound >nastier than they mean to be (some study at CMU tends to confirm this, >I'm told) so please don't take the following advice unkindly: Please try >to consider what private alternatives exist before arguing that >something must be done by government. A surprising (and to me, >heartening) number of things most folks feel must be done by government >are done quietly and efficiently by private organizations. I don't think you understand the nature of my concerns. I have no problems per se with a private post office, or with any of a host of proposals. But using UPS or UL or Consumer's Union as examples has serious pitfalls, since all of these facilities exist in an environment where there are governmental agencies to pick up the business that these organizations cannot or will not take on. It simply doesn't follow that, in the absence of such agencies, private corporations will fill the void. Perhaps they will, but I think it's likely that some business currently handled by the government would not be picked up. In the case of private corporations picking up enforcement duties, I get the strong impression that people simply don't care that such a system would perpetuate the current situation which enourmously favors those with money. When justice is something you buy, it is hard for me to imagine that any but the rich will have justice. Charley Wingate