Private Enterprise vs Public Service

Introduction

This is not a rant against good private enterprise, but it is NOT a public service, despite many politicians telling us that certain ones are. This is a bit of observational history and why the world is in such a terrible economic and climactic state because of people being sold the new god of money.

This started in the late seventies with two malicious incompetent leaders destroying their infrastructure and economies in the name of money

So, How Did It Come To This?

After the Wall Street Crash, Franklin D Roosevelt put controls on the banks to prevent it from happening again and created the New Deal despite opposition from the right wing, to help rebuild the country's economy.

After the Second World War in the UK, Labour came to power and borrowed heavily to create social housing, social security and the National Health Service. The conservative party opposed this all the way.

The Labour Government built and improved the infrastructure in the UK, and it was owned by the UK, and water, power, communication, housing, and the National Health Service was an asset to the country.

Private housing was fine but people on smaller wages could rent a council house, and not be ripped off by unscrupulous landlords. I know these are very high-level observations, and there were lots of issues with the mismanagement of utilities and corruption, but when Thatcher and Reagan came to power the destruction started.

Thatcher made out that the country had to be run like a household, but that the point of a Government is to keep an economy moving to provide an environment for businesses to thrive and create jobs which in turn brings income through taxes.

Her Government raised interest rates resulting in lots of foreclosures enabling her cronies to buy up properties and businesses on the cheap.

Then here and Reagan removed bank controls that Roosevelt had put in place allowing the banks to play fast and loose finally resulting in the financial crash of 2008.

Meanwhile, Thatcher sold off council housing and stopped councils from building more because people in council housing tend to vote Labour. She also brought heavily armed police in to decimate the Unions, and that is still happening today by changes in the law.

Gas, Telecoms, Water, and Rail were all sold off to line the pockets of those with money. Because the power of unions was reduced, wages became decided by "the market" and wage suppression became the norm. Prices of goods rose, but wages didn't, so to survive, people dropped into credit debt.

I then realised what Right-Wing fiscal policy was. Steal something, sell it and then say look how clever I am.

When an area such as water and trains, is in national ownership, it is a public service for the benefit of all in the country.

When that is privatised it becomes something to generate money for shareholders. It is only any good if it can be sold.

In the UK most of the infrastructure has been sold off, often to foreign governments, which is odd because of the general xenophobia that permeates our Government.

So the UK's population is paying over the odds for all infrastructure products while other European countries reap the benefits subsidised by the taxpayers in the UK.

Conclusion

This is just to say that public transport, social housing, water and power should all be under national control. They should not be privatised. Privatisation only works for those who take the money. It never provides a public service.

Public Services are paid for by taxes, they are not a trough for carpetbaggers and shareholders.