The Difference Between Business and Government

[rpannier]

I normally can't stand this guy, but he makes some good points in this article

All three—Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman in California and Linda McMahon in Connecticut—still face large hurdles in November's general elections but they are serious candidates with reasonable prospects. And all three have based their campaigns on a common attribute. No, not the fact that they are women—after all, Connecticut has a woman governor and both of California's current U.S. Senators are women. What Fiorina, Whitman, and McMahon all tout as the credential that proves their superior qualification for high office is the fact that all three are highly successful in ... business.

snip

The business of business is business and the goal of business is to earn a profit in the provision of goods and services. The business of government is service—well managed, one hopes, and not wasteful, but never at a profit.

snip

Businesses seek maximum efficiency; governments seek sufficient efficiency. We might well save a considerable amount of money by delegating our national security to mercenary armies drawn from other countries (as opposed to keeping a high-cost standing army and paying U.S. wages to private combat zone contractors), thus erasing the need to maintain a perpetual and costly military infrastructure. We could assign the processing of Social Security checks and welfare payments to low-wage workers in Madras or Oaxaca. State governments could close welfare offices and require that all transactions with government be conducted electronically, with no recourse to potentially sympathetic human beings. These are choices governments make reluctantly and businesses make routinely.

snip

Distinguish that ethic from the commitment of government to provide a safety net for those who are, quite often due to no fault of their own, non-productive members of society (at least as measured by the workplace). In business, the non-productive are cut loose; in government, the non-productive are cut checks. That is because the society as a whole, with the full support of Republicans and Democrats alike, believes widows, orphans, the mentally or physically infirm deserve sustenance and protection.

snip

Business and government are not opposites, but they are distinct; the mindset is necessarily different; the understandings are different; the obligations are different. Whether you cheer for these three women, and others like them, to win or lose in November, we should demand of them a downplaying of the business credential and a focus on how they would meet the actual challenges of governance on the specific terms of public, not private, service.

link:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/06/the-difference-between-business-and-government/58085/

[Demeter]

1. Since They Are Such Horrible Failures in Business

they decided to take their expertise to the public service.

[Bitter_Cling]

2. The principle difference

Is that in business there are ethics.

[izquierdista]

3. Where?

Is that you channeling Ken Lay from the dead?

[rasputin1952]

4. Are you kidding me?

The only ethic in business today is the dollar and the squeezing out of every one from the consumer that be done, no matter how.

[The_Commonist]

5. That didn't take long...

Buh-bye!

[ljm2002]

6. Oh right...

...like the jokers at Enron who talked about sticking it to Granny while they manipulated power availability in California back in 2001.

Like the banks and mortgage companies who steered people into ARMs when they were perfectly qualified for regular, fixed-rate mortgages.

Like Fox News, who won a lawsuit brought against them by two employees who were fired for refusing to present a story that they, and Fox, KNEW was FALSE.

Like BP who pressured their rig managers to ignore safety issues, and claimed to have contingency plans for a big spill. But when a spill happened, they changed their tune to "This has never been done before at this depth".

In other words, in case you are not getting the drift here, these businesses all LIED THROUGH THEIR TEETH.

Does government have ethics problems? You bet it does. So does business. It is, in fact, an issue with human affairs in general. To try and differentiate the two is becoming fruitless anyway, as our government and others are now being treated as wholly-owned subsidiaries by the big multinationals these days.

[90-percent]

7. Modern Corporate Business Ethics

If you want to do something and it's illegal, donate to the politicians of your choice with the requirement that they change the laws so now what you want to do is legal.

Like getting Glass-Steagal repealed in the late 90's. Or loosen up safety requirements for deep drilling oil rigs, which I suspect came from Cheney's secret 2001 energy industry meetings.

-90% Jimmy

[90-percent]

8. Quote from ljm2002 above

"Like Fox News, who won a lawsuit brought against them by two employees who were fired for refusing to present a story that they, and Fox, KNEW was FALSE."

My understanding of this unfortunate ruling from Florida is that IT IS PERFECTLY LEGAL TO KNOWINGLY LIE IN A NEWS BROADCAST.

How the hell are American's supposed to be informed about anything if we all have no idea if we're getting the truth or outright propaganda?

I even got through to Thom Hartmann a week ago to discuss it. He told me he had these fired broadcasters on the air with him a couple of years ago.

Therefore, if you're an informed critical thinker, you have to assume that all the news you're getting could be complete bullshit. Pretty much like everything else our formerly trustworthy institutions are feeding us these days!

-90% Jimmy