"The private sector always does things 'better' than the public sector" is a perennial and pernicious argument. There is of course no 'natural law' that makes this so. But defending it often rests on a confusion between Administration and Purpose.
FedEx is 'better' than #USPS, private charter schools are 'better' than public schools, a private payments system is 'better' than one run by the Fed, private banking is 'superior' to public banking... you get the gist
The idea is that the public sector cannot manage admin complexity, which is nonesense (Military, anyone?).
The fundamental fact is that some services must be guaranteed to ALL. Full stop. And guarantees can only be provided by the public sector that holds the public purse strings
The fundamental fact is that some services must be guaranteed to ALL. Full stop. And guarantees can only be provided by the public sector that holds the public purse strings
The efficiency litmus test is the wrong one. Core economic & social rights must be secured for all members of society. Postal services, the courts, voting, education...Whatever the merits of private sector, it's not in the business of guaranteeing UNIVERSAL access. By definition.
That is exclusively the prerogative & responsibility of the public sector. Public options: post office, public schools, public defenders, public libraries, social security, Job Guarantee, M4A, Homes Guarantee can only be secured for all by the political & monetary sovereign.
The public purpose and universal access are the litmus test. Administration is secondary. Surely, we can have a well-funded and administered public sector. But we don't, b/c of market ideology and the resulting systematic defunding & admin sabotage in the name of privatization. /
