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Originally Posted by Spiritsoar
I actually agree with you, but I can't help playing devil's advocate on this one. Who decides what the government can do more efficiently than private industry? I agree with the services you listed already. Heck I work for the government. But why couldn't the government run other things more efficiently? Why not have government run banks? Or real estate agencies? Food is important to people. What if grocery stores are trying to make too much profit? Make government grocery stores. It'll help out the working class, and rich people can still go to their fancy grocery stores right?
I'll admit I don't know where to draw the line on this one, and I'll also admit that I really haven't solidified my stance on this issue yet, so thank you all for helping me be better informed. But I am a firm believer in a capitalist society, and I think we have to be careful of the slippery slope that leads to too much government control.
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Universal healthcare systems are less expensive per capita and as a percentage of GDP than entirely private systems, and the WHO says they provide a better standard of care. That's what convinced me that it's the solution for us. If large numbers of people were starving because of food prices, I would say that it's time to look at nationalizing grocery stores. If a large percentage were homeless because of an inability to find housing, we could start talking about government real estate. Banks are an entirely different can of worms that I don't want to open in this thread.