Re: Libertarian cartoons

In article <mike-7517D1.22344723082009@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Mike Ash <mike@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <proto-D1CA1E.14182923082009@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Walter Bushell <proto@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The would move faster if the politicians knew their job depended on it.
But, kvetch as they might, its not in the top hundred items in voters
issues. Ask them if they want to take money out of the schools to fix
the DMV, for example.

A major problem with representative government, as compared to private
enterprise, is that they don't really deal with anything that isn't on
the list of the top 10 (or 100) voting issues for the next election,
because working on those top issues is far more effective. By contrast,
minor issues usually have their own companies out in the private world,
and while floor wax may be priority #1000 for the public at large, it's
priority #1 for the Acme Floor Wax Company.

The problem comes when a single company basically has to provide a group
of related services (because the services are inherently closely
connected), and most customers don't prioritize some of them. For
instance I assume the reason picking up a package at UPS sometimes takes
two hours is that when most people pick a shipper, they aren't
considering the inconvenience the receiver will have to go through if
they happen to miss a delivery attempt and need the package that day. So
UPS can get away with providing horrible service here, and when you're
picking up a package shipped via UPS, you don't at that point have the
option to pay someone else a little more to give you your package in 10
minutes.

Of course the free market crowd will insist that long lines at UPS are
the efficient result of people making rational choices based on their
true preferences, while long lines at the DMV are an example of the
inherent inefficiency of government.

BTW, the last couple of times I dealt with the DMV the clerks were most
polite and helpful and they are certainly not the ones that apportion
resources or set policy.

I've found the DMV to take about as long and to be about as pleasant as
a visit to the local cable office. Which is to say that both groups will
be among the first up against the wall when the revolution comes, if I
have anything to say about it.

--
"The game of professional investment is intolerably boring and over-exacting to
anyone who is entirely exempt from the gambling instinct; whilst he who has it
must pay to this propensity the appropriate toll." -- John Maynard Keynes
.

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