Lack of democratic accountability is not an improvement.

[snousle]

I'm noticing a certain theme in politics lately - that if the existence of a complaint is evidence of a problem, the a lack of a complaint means the problem doesn't exist.

Comments

[furr_a_bruin]

Spot on. I'm amazed by the nutjobs who rant about "I don't want a government bureaucrat deciding what health care I get" - but somehow it's OK with them when a corporate bureaucrat working for an insurance company makes the same decision?! Just bizarre.

Another example of what you refer to is when some wealthy corporation is polluting the environment; often the government is the only entity that can possibly stand up to them and make it stop. Even if all the landowners affected banded together, often they wouldn't have the resources to challenge a major corporation.

[qnetter]

I'm amazed by the nutjobs who rant about "I don't want a government bureaucrat deciding what health care I get" - but somehow it's OK with them when a corporate bureaucrat working for an insurance company makes the same decision?!

Yes, for them. Just as with everything else that fits in the "you should be able to buy your way out of it" bundle. You're missing one thing. Not everyone who's paying cash has to wait. If you're paying ENOUGH cash, there are concierge options. And that's what people laud as "liberty."

Sigh.

[barbarian_rat]

You are right on.
It made me think of "death panels" ala Obamacare ... while they don't really exist, "death panels" do exist in private insurance, they are just called "underwriters". You cannot contact them directly, although there is an appeals process, their final decision is just that final. Kinda gives you pause when Repulisivans state that want government to be more like private industry.

[bluebear2]

It's bizarre that anyone in this world would still be trying to make the 1980s theories still work after having proven themselves to be a mistake time and time again.

[danthered]

+1.

[fingertrouble]

Yup. Exactly.

I had a similar strange conversation about mobiles in the US when I was over in 2011. Turns out people are being shafted compared to Europe, because it's all private companies and a fear of any regulation means that unlike the UK where the mobile co.s are told to reduce prices and not shaft the customer and get caught colluding and fined heavily, there seems to be little such checks and balances in the US. Hence no transferable sims, some odd rules over data and some really expensive plans.

I was amazed, I thought the whole idea was the US capitalist free trade system was supposed to stop that sort of thing through mass competition....nope. You actually have to regulate otherwise the companies collude to stitch up the market and there is no reason to innovate because the status quo is comfortable. Strangely this idea of public control over private companies seems alien to the US? And also seems to be dropping out of favour here, worryingly...