‘Privatization would end government ineptness’ by Walter Block, was an interesting paean to the “market” but didn’t convey the whole story.

What we do know is that most government programs and institutions will fail if they are de-funded, or their budgets badly cut. (See, e.g. Gary Wills: ‘A Necessary Evil- A History Of American Distrust Of Government’, 1999). We know, for example, that Bush seriously cut the Army Corps of Engineers’ budget at least two years before Katrina struck. Thus, a first place to look for ascribing fault is not the ability of the Army Corps of Engineers – but the funding to enable to complete their projects properly.

It reminds me of when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Barbados (1971-75), and government once made the error of privatizing some road works programs. Before long, the budgets overshot the government’s ability to pay and the quality of work left much to be desired.

The water privatization scheme attempted in Bolivia is already a well-documented disaster, and it was finally abolished after major riots – when the privatizers tried to charge inhabitants for using rain water! I mean, after all, these miscreants attempted to skirt the precious “market”! How terrible!

In most nations public works operate just fine, once they are adequately funded by TAX dollars. The problem is that too many in this country no longer want to pay the taxes to support the intense work that needs to be done, especially now with a massively crumbling infrastructure.

“Privatizing” will not solve this, since the demand for obscene profit will simply supersede all other priorities (look at Halliburton in Iraq!) and make all the necessary work -programs much more expensive, at a time the nation is already veering toward $500 billion/year deficits.

Philip A. Stahl – former Loyola student (1964-65) and author: ‘The Atheist’s Handbook to Modern Materialism’.