Originally Posted by UIUCpilot85

The government runs nothing efficiently? You have to be kidding me. Why not privatize the police? Why not the fire department too? Isn't our military technically the government? Why not let the market decide what is an acceptable price for public protection. You're telling me NASA is an ad-hoc operation?

The idea that the market handles EVERYTHING better is ludicrous at best. Yes, generally, businesses are more efficient than the government. Yes, there are governmental institutions that are corrupt and inept. But, can you honestly watch CNN/FOX/MSNBC and truthfully believe that the economic models of countless banks, the big 3 automakers, and others have been operating on sound priniciples?

Now, I'm no governmental scholar, but I hardly think having rules constitutes socialism. I'm inclined to agree that regulation such as it was pre-1978 isn't good for the public or the industry. I do think, however, that a structured system of some sort operated under the principles of free enterprise with an abundance of competition is advantageous in comparison to the wild-west-last-man-standing mentality. Clearly, that has "been time and time again proven to run nothing efficiently"