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AwesomeBrainPowers t1_j1zhncg wrote

Reply to comment by VyrPlan in Winter weather upends water systems across the Deep South by getBusyChild

This is what “running the government like a business” gets: a preoccupation with minimizing spending, particularly on non-immediate (but necessary and inevitable) expenditures.

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impulsekash t1_j1zkykv wrote

"running goverment like a business" really means rich people not having to pay taxes.

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tehmlem t1_j201zy4 wrote

"run the government like a business" You know, where one guy on top reaps a disproportionate amount of the benefits by exploiting the people at the bottom.

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mcmonties t1_j20510k wrote

Oh, so like a monarchy?

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tehmlem t1_j20ax8x wrote

No no, a monarch is at least ostensibly accountable to their people. A business can just laugh when people are angry at them.

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malphonso t1_j21msqt wrote

Yep. Koch Energy may have poisoned rivers repeatedly, lobbied for laws that benefitted them at the expense of workers and citizens, and supported candidates opposed to basic human rights. But, good luck switching to a competitor.

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TrespasseR_ t1_j1zpvny wrote

Or most businesses, or they cheat claiming far less than what they earn

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AwesomeBrainPowers t1_j1zvzsm wrote

That's definitely what ends up happening—and it's probably what most politicians who support that slogan actually mean—but there are probably a non-trivial number of people who either only understand that phrase to mean "maximize operational efficiency" (without bothering to really parse what that entails) or genuinely don't understand that government should be a service, not a business.

It's historically laughable and demonstrably false, but I'm sure plenty of people still think that way, somehow.

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sekirobestiro t1_j20383r wrote

It really means “profits first and all of my contractor buddies get first dibs on all new projects”.

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putalotoftussinonit t1_j20wabp wrote

“We do not need a $250,000 campus-wide Wi-Fi system just so you can be on Reddit all day!!” “Your organization owns unique linemen vehicles that require routine software and firmware upgrades that can be performed over the air during down time. Your decision will now force the maintenance teams to individually link to each truck, update it, remove it from the bay, park it, and get the next truck. Each upgrade can take three to four hours. I wish you the best of luck in 2018, I quit.”

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No_Cartographer_3819 t1_j21ntef wrote

A few years back in Ottawa, Canada, a high tech mogul won the mayoralty on the run-it-like-a-business platform. Homelessness? He proposed building tourist kiosks in the places where homeless sleep, such as beneath bridges. Council? He said he could only implement his agenda if all of the 30+ councillors thought like him. Not "agree with me" but "think like me", a purposeful use by an autocrat. He lasted one term, thankfully, losing his second try with only 24% of the vote.

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docholiday t1_j21tyhp wrote

LOL, the government is hardly "minimizing spending". Both parties have spent money in the last decades like drunk sailors. How about having a government that actually governs properly?

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sweetpeapickle t1_j20rz6c wrote

I get that for some that's what running a business is like for most businesses. Only for those who own the business, & never step foot in it. Your everyday business....is how small governments should be run. Then there would be actual budgeting for things that occur. Just like how a person may run their own individual life. You know plan for today, the next year, the rest of your life-knowing full well as things "age" they'll need to be replaced. Where I live, they don't think about those things, then oh we need this, this, & that-NOW. And guess who pays for ALL that now? The people who live here. I own , run my business. I've saved for those emergencies, for things that will break down, a lot of it that went back into the business when Covid hit. And it pisses me off, that the village government decided to raise our taxes so the schools-all of them could have things that were not needed immediately. This happened right before Covid. Oh then well the water system needs to be upgraded, increase water/sewer by 83% in 1 year-this was during Covid. Replace water meters, & make people pay for all those estimations that were not quite right(some had to pay 1000's in a couple months). This is a government who did not budget, like a business would. And we're all paying for it. Yes, I get the "big" businesses have those at the top that get millions, if not billions. But that is not a basic business. You probably budget for your home....that is a business model. That is what is needed. People in government who think about the things that will be needed down the road & to plan for it.

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