I don't dispute the historical validity of your criticisms of government; but I seen no reason this is an inherent problem of public institutions. Rather than just throwing our hands in the air and saying "let the private sector handle it... we can trust them..." we should work on and demand improvement from our public institutions.
Unfortunately, our current federal government, despite having run on a platform of accountability, transparency and efficiency, have demonstrated themselves to be the most secretive bunch of pork-barelling, back-room dealing, scoundrels we've ever had to deal with. Their answer to the problem of accountability is to get rid of the accountants; soon we'll have the most fact-free government in history.
Governments given enough power to dominate our lives will become secretive or corrupt. If they're big enough to sustain you, they're big enough to dominate you. There is no accountability once the balance of power shifts to government, not only to set the direction of the country, but to micro-manage the lives and choices of its citizens.
In addition, government cannot effectively provide services and simultaneously police itself in providing those services. A great example is the way in which the government overlooks its own transgressions in power generation, but acts quickly to to enforce regulations involving private providers.
Better to give the government the role of a standards enforcer and let private companies carry out work under their oppressive watch.
Location: Aylmer (Gatineau) across the river from Ottawa
Posts: 16,193
Quote:
Originally Posted by bryanc
I don't dispute the historical validity of your criticisms of government; but I seen no reason this is an inherent problem of public institutions. Rather than just throwing our hands in the air and saying "let the private sector handle it... we can trust them..." we should work on and demand improvement from our public institutions.
Unfortunately, our current federal government, despite having run on a platform of accountability, transparency and efficiency, have demonstrated themselves to be the most secretive bunch of pork-barelling, back-room dealing, scoundrels we've ever had to deal with. Their answer to the problem of accountability is to get rid of the accountants; soon we'll have the most fact-free government in history.
Because bloated bureaucracies by their very nature create inefficiencies and there is always the public purse funded by public tax dollars and the potential to merely increase taxes to cover the inflated costs.
On the other hand private institutions can and often do run more efficiently because often the only way to increase profit is through functional efficiencies, i.e. if you continually increase the cost of your product or service you reach a point of diminishing returns because your product/services are simply too expensive and people stop buying from you and buy from your competition instead.
Seems your memory is selective when it comes to pork barrelling and secrecy if you think the current administration is the worst in that department... Trudeau, Mulroney Chretien were all as bad in their own way... we just have greater means to know that we don't know now, then it was secret because we had no way to know or at least significantly less means to know.
Location: Windsor, gateway to the world, but I can't find the damn key!
Posts: 4,233
I think we put far too many people in jail and, the greatest crime in my opinion, is that once we have them in there we punish them further by our treatment. We should not forget that going to prison is the punishment, not being in prison. Too me I think Harper just has penal envy.
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I think we put far too many people in jail and, the greatest crime in my opinion, is that once we have them in there we punish them further by our treatment. We should not forget that going to prison is the punishment, not being in prison.
I also believe that being in prison should be something of a punishment as well.
Location: Aylmer (Gatineau) across the river from Ottawa
Posts: 16,193
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rps
I think we put far too many people in jail and, the greatest crime in my opinion, is that once we have them in there we punish them further by our treatment. We should not forget that going to prison is the punishment, not being in prison. Too me I think Harper just has penal envy.
Sorry Rps I know people who have worked intimately with our system and I don't think you fully understand the system and what it was designed to do well before Harper ever came along...
I think the fact is that Harper is bringing us back to the original intentions... i.e. a penal system and not some "oh sorry you are such a degenerate it must be societies fault we will rehabilitate you" system...
Which never worked... look at the number of repeat offenders under such a system.... when that was the case we just simply made it easier to re-offend without any serious consequences...
That will teach them... re-offend and we will simply attempt to rehabilitate you all over again without any serious consequences and you are back on the street to re-offend and the "correct" process starts all over again... "oh sorry you are such a degenerate it must be societies fault we will rehabilitate you"... over and over and so it goes....
Location: Aylmer (Gatineau) across the river from Ottawa
Posts: 16,193
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macfury
I also believe that being in prison should be something of a punishment as well.
Being in prison should be primarily about punishment and secondarily about rehabilitation.... rehabilitation should occur in half-way houses and the like once by good behaviour while in prison you demonstrate you want to reintegrate within society...
If you don't demonstrate that behaviour then f**k you and stay there until you have the right frame of mind... If you don't ever develop that frame of mind then stay in prison until your dying days...
Society as a whole and its security should come before the so called "rights" of criminals and degenerates... who I would argue have given up their rights and freedoms by committing the heinous crimes they did in the first place...
Want to maintain your rights and freedoms...? Then "don't do the crime if you can't do the time." Pretty simple actually.
Society as a whole and its security should come before the so called "rights" of criminals and degenerates... who I would argue have given up their rights and freedoms by committing the heinous crimes they did in the first place...
...and yet the crooks who led the world's largest bank failures and economic catastrophe for millions of people got bonuses and sailed off into the sunset on their luxury yachts... funny, that.
I don't dispute the historical validity of your criticisms of government; but I seen no reason this is an inherent problem of public institutions. Rather than just throwing our hands in the air and saying "let the private sector handle it... we can trust them..." we should work on and demand improvement from our public institutions.
A little hard to do when the party faithful just look the other way, wink and say "All is well he's our guy."
A better approach would be to look at an issue as if it was the other parties guy. If you would be calling for blood then, you should also call for blood when it's your guy.
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...and yet the crooks who led the world's largest bank failures and economic catastrophe for millions of people got bonuses and sailed off into the sunset on their luxury yachts... funny, that.
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