Public Craps < Public Oks < Public Goods < Public Greats < Public Awesomes

Reply to:  Public vs Private System of Representation

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TNAR, what if 50% of taxpayers didn't value any option in the public sector? You're looking at it all wrong. I can guarantee that 100% of taxpayers are going to want better options in the public sector...just like 100% of consumers want better options in the private sector. Who doesn't want better options?

So consider the factors...

1. 100% of taxpayers will want better options
2. taxpayers will be able to choose how they spend their taxes
3. 100% of government organizations are going to want more revenue

What do you get when you put these three things together? What is the result? Do we end up with fewer options? Does the variety of options decrease?

Once we implement pragmatarianism...the government will be like putty in the hands of taxpayers. Why? Because taxpayers will incentivize government organizations to do better things with society's limited resources.

Right now you're attacking pragmatarianism by describing the supply of public goods on the first day of pragmatarianism. This is why I said that your view is shortsighted. You have to understand and look at the market process over time. What happens to the supply of goods over time?

It shouldn't be that difficult to predict the general result. This is because there have been several instances where countries have transitioned from command economies to mixed economies. What happened when they created markets in their countries?

In 1978 when Deng Xiaoping created a market in China...how would you have described the supply of goods on the very first day? Would you say it was optimal? Would you say that there was a wide variety of goods to choose from? Of course not...it was only the first day. So would you point to the variety, quality and quantity of goods on the first day to criticize the decision to create a market in China? Of course not...yet that's exactly what you're doing here.

"Oh, pragmatarianism isn't that great because 50% of taxpayers wouldn't find any public goods that they wanted to spend their taxes on." You're going to blame the crappy supply of public goods on pragmatarianism? Really?

A crappy supply of public goods is the logical consequence of allowing 500 people to choose how an entire country's taxes are spent. A small variety and quantity of poor quality goods is the logical consequence of command economies. Yet this is what you are using as an argument AGAINST creating a market in the public sector.

You're using the symptom of the disease to argue against the cure.

When we create a market in the public sector...the supply of public goods won't perfectly match taxpayers' preferences the next day...or the next week...or the next year. But the trend in the supply of public goods will be towards the preferences of taxpayers. How could it not be when they are the ones choosing how to spend their taxes?

Why spend your taxes on public craps when you could spend your taxes on public oks? Why spend your taxes on public oks when you can spend your taxes on public goods? Why spend your taxes on public goods when you can spend your taxes on public greats? Why spend your taxes on public greats when you can spend your taxes on public awesomes?

We won't have public awesomes on the first day that pragmatarianism is implemented. Yes, this is true. But if we don't implement pragmatarianism then we'll never have public awesomes.