> I know that the next step is you explaining why these don’t count, or saying “wow only 3” or whatever, but

Oh, there's more: Medicare, Social Security, the highway system.

The whole food/medicine regulatory system is also a big one, and it's the reason a lot of US (and European) products like baby formula are imported into China, because they can be more trusted.

My bet is the GP's going to weasel out using his "that people willingly buy" language. The flawed assumption there is the government should be conceptualized as just another company selling in the market, when the government's actual role is very different.

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WalterBright an hour ago | parent | next [-]

> My bet is the GP's going to weasel out using his "that people willingly buy" language

Well, they aren't willingly buying it. They are funded with taxes.

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wredcoll an hour ago | parent [-]

People can choose not to use a lot of those things.

	▲	WalterBright 32 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Right, but they cannot choose to not buy them.

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SunshineTheCat 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

As with anything, they are all things that could be done better by a company.

Airlines are a great example of this. They have changed very little in the last 30 years (again, thanks to all the government regulation and red tape).

Smartphones, TVs, (and literally anything else not in the hands of the government) has also seen rapid improvements.

Anything the government handles is always rife with overspending, inefficiency, and corruption.

A company must maintain profitability to stay alive.

The government on the other hand, is $38 TRILLION dollars in the red.

Yes, the things that "people willingly buy" are the literal engine that makes all of this possible. It is not the reverse.

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fyredge an hour ago | parent | next [-]

> As with anything, they are all things that could be done better by a company. No

> Airlines are a great example of this. They have changed very little in the last 30 years (again, thanks to all the government regulation and red tape).

And thanks to regulations, we have less airline accidents than ever. Private companies are more than willing to "externalise" any accidents from cutting costs otherwise.

> Smartphones, TVs, (and literally anything else not in the hands of the government) has also seen rapid improvements.

So does government funded medical research, which improves the quality of life of people corporations deem "unprofitable".

> Anything the government handles is always rife with overspending, inefficiency, and corruption.

Because large corporations and rich donors lobby them to do so.

> A company must maintain profitability to stay alive.

So does a government, debt only lasts as long as the lender believes in your ability to pay it back.

> The government on the other hand, is $38 TRILLION dollars in the red.

And which of the Mag7 are not in debt? I remind you that if you wish to compare the USA to companies, they are literally an entity of over 300,000 people. No company employs that many people.

> Yes, the things that "people willingly buy" are the literal engine that makes all of this possible. It is not the reverse.

No, government enforced order is what allowed the engine to exist to begin with. No one would innovate if their IP could not be protected, and we would regress back into cartels if the government could not enforce private property.

The prosperity of the modern world is build upon a foundation of solid governance.

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wredcoll an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Remember how great the privately owned meat packing plants were at making sure the food was safe?

> Anything the government handles is always rife with overspending, inefficiency, and corruption.

Boy will you be surprised when you get a job.

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cyberax 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Oh yeah. I feel sooooo good dealing with Comcast. At this point in life, I spent more time on the phone with Comcast support than I ever spent time in various DMV offices.

> A company must maintain profitability to stay alive.

Yeah. And once it becomes a monopoly (like Comcast), it can just keep raising prices.

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WalterBright an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Comcast has a monopoly granted to it by the government.

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cucumber3732842 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Have you ever called the DMV? In my state it's worse than Comcast. 45min wait time when the lines open in the morning, only increasing from there.

I "owe" Comcast $200. They say I didn't cancel at an old apartment. I say I did. I have the email. They insist. They've sent me a letter once a year for a decade. About 2yr in it went to collections. They're still trying.

Imagine the consequences if I did that with government.

Say nothing of the fact that if I tried to pay it, Comcast would be able to take my money no problem. The government would take a check, ACH or charge me $5 to use a buggy 3rd party CC processing service.

	▲	wredcoll an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I have called the dmv. They said enter a number and we'll call you back later, which they did. It wasn't fast but it was fairly efficient. I've had the irs write me a letter saying I owed them money. They were correct and I paid them in a couple of months. It wasn't very hard. I don't enjoy paying taxes but I do very much enjoy the things they buy.
	▲	cyberax an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Well, ask your state to fix the issue. Perhaps elect better politicians? The states where I lived all have online booking. And their websites are well-designed and functional. There are customer support emails and phone numbers. > Say nothing of the fact that if I tried to pay it, Comcast would be able to take my money no problem. About that... A couple of years ago I got locked out of AT&T because I forgot to update my credit card. And I couldn't log in because it required a (you guessed it) one-time SMS password. Their "pay your bill" needed a bill number, for which I needed to log into their website. Their fix? Visit the store. > Imagine the consequences if I did that with government. A couple of years ago I accidentally overpaid the IRS (I paid the capital gains tax twice, as it was already deducted during the sale by the broker) to the tune of $10k. A year later, they sent a letter asking me for clarifications. I called them, and they sent me a refund check. > The government would take a check, ACH or charge me $5 to use a buggy 3rd party CC processing service. And what's wrong with a check or ACH?