Except it never was. The state government allowed a private operator Connex to bid for the contracts and operate the rail. So there is some kind of private ownership. Except that the state government still owns the equipment, trains, rail lines and stations ! And that there is a pile of regulations as thick as a phone book that the private operator must comply with. It is the tiniest shade of difference from a totally state-run and owned bureaucracy.
So when people complain about problems with public transport, they ought to think that it is due to the socialisation of that industry, seeing as the status quo of the industry is miles from pure private ownership and free markets and only an inch away from the opposite end of the spectrum, pure socialism.
The same mistake is often made when bashing America.. the problems in America (poverty, expensive health care) are due to its "capitalist" nature. Often people say that in America, the rich don't pay their fair share of taxes - which is completely wrong:
The facts paint a very different picture though, showing that the rich are persecuted and taxed far more than anybody else - the top 1% pay over 1/3 of the taxes. If this isn't socialism, then I don't know what is.For tax year 2004, taxpayers filed 132.2 million returns, of which 89.1 million (or 67.4 percent) were classified as taxable returns.
(…)
Taxpayers with an AGI of at least $328,049, the top 1 percent of taxpayers, accounted for 19 percent of total AGI, representing an increase in income share of 2.2 percentage points from the previous year. These taxpayers accounted for 36.9 percent of the total income tax reported, an increase from 34.3 percent in 2003.
(hat tip: The Liberty Papers)
I just returned from a visit to America and I know people who work in the medical field there. I found it hard to believe, but they insisted that if an illegal turned up to their hospital, they aren't even allowed to ask for identification, and they cannot refuse them and it's all free.
ReplyDeleteComing back to this, smearing the rich for not paying their share of tax, it’s the old class politics of the communists. The current leftists are just communism-lite, if they really cared about the poor, they’d be encouraging them to work hard, take a second job and tax them less for their hard work instead of punishing those who work hard.
Interesting to hear.
ReplyDeleteI guess it highlights some of the major problems and contradictions when you implement 2 left-wing policies simultaenously:
1/ Open Borders
2/ Socialised medicine, education and massive welfare
The minute someone crosses into your country, they qualify for these huge benefits that taxpayers have been funding. You've really got to get rid of one or the other, or even both.
Letists would hate to deal with the issue, but I'd personally be glad to see #2 disappear.
Another interesting post which I might "borrow" :)
ReplyDeleteI knew the anti-capitalist rants against US were overblown, but I had no idea the figures were that skewed.
What you said about the trains was an interesting point as well. NSW trains are pretty bad, but the privately run bus services out my way are even worse.
My brother argued that this was because private companies were not as good at "providing public services" - but I pointed out to him that the area is divided out into government sanctioned monopolies...
PS: I've added you to my blogroll
ReplyDeleteYeah, thats what passes for "privatization" these days - government licensing schemes which create a monopoly operator.
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding me to the blogroll.