At 7:05 AM -0700 5/6/03, Kevin S. Van Horn wrote:
Tyler Durden wrote:
Likewise with governments. I still need my trash taken out, and for potholes to be fixed.
What makes you think government is needed at all for these? My trash is taken out by a private company, not by any government. And privately built and maintained roads have existed for a very long time.
120-130 years ago, there was a privately owned toll road between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz. Now there is a publicly owned road, with no toll, and I haven't heard much call to go back to the old days. Why are the vast majority of people happy with the current situation? Some ideas: * Paying for roads through gas taxes has much lower transaction costs (in both time and money) than paying tolls. The modern electronic toll systems are a relatively new development, and while they compromise privacy, that privacy will soon be lost to the cameras. * People like the direct influence on road decisions that the political process allows. In the case of the Los Gatos -- Santa Cruz road, the people in Santa Cruz county who don't want their county to be a bedroom community for Silicon Valley have kept the road a twisty 4 lane freeway. Any more ideas? Cheers - Bill ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | Due process for all | Periwinkle -- Consulting (408)356-8506 | used to be the | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz@pwpconsult.com | American way. | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA