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>The government is notorious for being corrupt and inefficient

So is the private sector. Excellence is rare. Such is life, welcome to earth.



The private sector goes out of business. The government lives until it collapses.


> lives until it collapses.

Usually due to government intervention.

Corrupt and bloated businesses also "live until they collapse". I trust in democracy more than markets.


> I trust in democracy more than markets.

I don't. People vote against their best interests all the time. The SF housing market is self-inflicted from people voting against new housing, because many of them don't understand the concept of supply and demand.

Neither markets nor democracy are perfect, but at least free markets are efficient.


> many of them don't understand the concept of supply and demand.

Or they understand supply and demand perfectly well, and figured out that if they legislatively block new development, fixed supply + growing demand = rising home prices = better investment.


>Neither markets nor democracy are perfect, but at least free markets are efficient.

Markets (free and otherwise) work against people's best interests all the time as well, in which case their efficiency is not a virtue.


>but at least free markets are efficient.

Big ol' citation needed there


Maybe they understand that there's very little empty land to build housing on.


> I trust in democracy more than markets.

It seems strongly that former requires the latter. Without markets you have a totalitarian state. And black markets. Everyone everywhere wants and needs to trade, for themselves and their families.

The idea of genuine democracy is the loyal opposition. You dochange the government, regularly, without collapsing everything into anarchy.

Endemic corruption will lead to systemic collapse. This makes it worthwhile to vote the best corruption reform candidates regardless of ideology or party.

Democrats have voted Trump, Republicans support Bernie on that basis. It's not completely silly.


Nah, it really doesn't. Or at least that's much too weak a signal to actually provide a constraint on bad corporate actors.


When corporations implode these days, shareholders get the shaft while the executives responsible parachute out with 10s of millions of dollars.




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