Quote:
Originally posted by madp
Well, again, with the excessive taxation and government regulation in Britain and other Western European countries, it does not suprise me that private enterprises have a tougher time running the show than when it comes to public transportation. If the government dictates how many trains must run to each area for a capped price, private industry is likely to fail. If they untie their hands an let them run it like a true business, you may have different results.
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Yeah, that must be it. It can't possibly be that private enterprises may not always be the right solution.
In the UK, the government basically did what you say - untie their hands. The result: utter chaos, with passengers being lucky if trains run at all. (Trust me; been there, done that, waited for hours.)
In my country, the government did not untie the hands completely, and the trains are still quite good. However, if the hands were to be untied, we'd see the train services in some areas of the country disappear entirely. And frankly, given that prospect, I prefer the current "inefficient" situation over your "private industry" solution.
I think this whole argument boils down to one thing, and one thing only: you feel that your government is a stealing, cheating, inefficient POS, and I feel that my government is doing it's best to make my life better. The whole outlook is different, which leads to different views on this subject.
FYI, I also support the Dutch tax system, where rich people pay more taxes, so that poor people may get enough money to survive. I gather from your remarks that you don't.