Privatization -- Solution or Fascism

Stephen L. Doll

1993

Published in:

Social Trends Newsletter Jan/Feb 1993, No. 110

Good morning. Welcome to the Grand Canyon. It's our pleasure here at Natural Wonders, Inc. to bring you this awe-inspiring spectacle. How many, please? Four of you? Fine. That will be two hundred dollars. Cash or Charge?"

"Two hundred dollars? I won't pay it! There are plenty of other canyons around. I'll go to Bryce."

"I'm sorry sir, but Bryce is undergoing a leveraged buyout, and they have suspended operations temporarily. We are offering a special in November, one free admission with three adult admissions. Plus, we includea free roll of Natural Wonders film for your camera that can be developed at any of our hundreds of outlets across the country. Or, may I recommend another attraction? No charge for the recommendation."

"Isn't there any place I can see for free?"

"Oh, excuse me a moment...Security, this is Gate Three. We have an unauthorized aircraft over Sector Twelve, trying to get a free look. Can you intercept? Good. Thanks."

"I'm sorry for the interruption. As you can see, nothing is free. If you want to cheap out, the best we can do is recommend one of the less attractive attractions. Or maybe you'd prefer a crowded one. High volume allows us to offer a better deal."

"No, let me out of here. What's the quickest way to Phoenix?"

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, but if you insist, we offer Highway 16. We're running a special for a limited time only-- twenty-three cents a mile. But you'd better hurry."

"Twenty-three...why, that's highway robbery!"

"Be nice, now. Remember the signs you saw on the way up here."

"What signs?"

"We reserve the right to refuse use of this road to anyone."

If the previous scenario seems a little far-fetched, consider the latest proposal by the Price System think-tankers, specifically Robert Poole of the Reason (?) Foundation of Los Angeles. His idea, for which President Bush has paved the way by making it easier to privatize state and local operations, calls for turning over the overhauling of the infrastructure to private business: roads, bridges, airports and water treatment plants. (San Francisco Examiner, May 10, 1992)

Springboarding off the floods in Chicago due to deteriorating underground water conduits, free enterprisers are all set to jump into the public sector game. After all, if the government can't keep things up and constantly operates at a loss, it just makes good sense to turn over the entire operation to profit- seeking entrepreneurs. (Of course, little mention is made of the fact that the original pipelines involved were installed by private contractors and maintained by them until the business went belly-up.)

According to an ingenious plan worked up by Joe Kingsbury Smith, Washington editor of the San Francisco Examiner, here's how the game of "creating a new order of prosperityand sanity" by turning over the public domain to private enterprise would work (quote from Randolph Hearst, Jr.). Invite the states and local governments to buy into the game, on a voluntary basis, of course, (with a little nudge to their volunteer spirit in the form of subsidies). The work force would be drawn from the ranks of the unemployed with a no-strike provision writtenin, again on a voluntary basis, but one that can be imposed if need be.

Get it? Who has created, and is perfectly capable of adding to the ranks of the unemployed, but business. Lay off the work force, then draft them back to work to rebuild and refurbish as theirpatriotic duty--but with no strikes. (And let's not forget all the displaced government workers who will be pounding the pavement.) Forced labor at whatever wages business deems in line with their profit margins, with the blessings of the government.

And all it would take to enact this pleasant scheme is a sweep of the pen of the Chief Executive Officer of the United States.

f course, the proposal is presently limited to the infrastructure and is supposed to be for only two years' duration. But with such and enterprise in place, how long would it be before the entrepreneurial hounds are let loose on every other item useful to humans that can be scarfed up and dispensed in limited quantities, or milked or mined or harvested for all they're worth: national parks, forests, waterways, land, sea and sky. Such a grim forecast already exists in the oxygen stands in Mexico City.

While we're considering the exhilarating prospect for every phase of the social operation being carried out on a "what's in it for me" basis, let's remember that it was government, not business, that instituted things like child labor laws, forty- hour work weeks, seat belts, environmental protection and food labeling. If left to the tender ministrations of business, the sweat shops would still be in full swing, and kids would still be coughing up coal dust.

Who but business has bitterly and vehemently opposed, and continues to lobby against, every measure for the welfare of the general populace that might cut into their profits? When the corporate arm is finally sufficiently twisted, the cost is, of course, passed on to the consumer.

On the positive side of this, if you don't mind corporate control of every facet of your life, there are ample opportunities for budding free enterprisers. For example:

"Look, dear, isn't that a red-winged blackbird?"

"Yes, I believe it is."

"Excuse me, are you two looking at that bird there?"

"Why, yes, we are."

"I thought so. I represent Songbirds, Inc. We have exclusive rights to all pay-per-views. That will be two dollars."

"Two dollars! To look at a bird?"

"Relax. That's nothing. These are a dime a dozen. If you were watching some rare species, like a spotted owl, it could run you fifty bucks."

Or how about this...

"Excuse me, sir. Didn't I just see you help that old woman across the street?"

"Yes, you did."

"Well, I represent The National Brotherhood of Good Samaritans. May I see your union card?"

"My...what?"

"Your card. You can't go around stealing work away from our members, you know."

(Gasp of astonishment)

"Oops, that'll cost you, too. I also represent Fresh Air International. You just stole air with that last gasp."