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by zozbot234 189 days ago
There's no such thing as "the state" except as a societal arrangement. When you argue that "the state" should decide on who gets what, what you're really saying is that this should be the decision of a few power-crazed career bureaucrats, with no accountability whatsoever or any "skin in the game". At least the plutocrat is paying for the aid out of pocket: he will care somewhat that the money is not outright misused. Why should a random government bureaucrat be trusted to make good decisions?
2 comments
ajuc 189 days ago
> power-crazed career bureaucrats

Choosen by elected officials. Consistently underpaid.

As opposed to famously power-awerse and accountable middle management in corporations :)

> Why should a random government bureaucrat be trusted to make good decisions?

Think of state like a corporation in which every worker is in the board and has voting rights. Maybe then you'll get it.

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goatlover 189 days ago
There's no such thing as "society" except for societal arrangement. And societies of any decent size for the past several thousand years have arranged for governments who decide all sorts of things. Why would state aid be decided by a few "power-crazed" career bureaucrats in representative democracies? This sounds like a libertarian screed against the state doing anything but the minimal.
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zozbot234 189 days ago
Because career bureaucrats are the only way of running a large organizational arrangement that can even reach a semblance of "deciding all sorts of things". A few hundred representatives can't go at it alone. You get career bureaucrats in private enterprise too, of course, but the idea is that they should at least be kept on a short leash to whatever extent is feasible. That fails completely when you're dealing with an actual government at any scale bigger than a small village or HOA.
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ajuc 189 days ago
Corporations have way worse track records than countries, tho.

Compare colonies run by countries to colonies run by corporations for one example.

The difference is that in corporations you don't get to vote on who is the CEO.

And your country can't usually remove your citizenship without a REALLY good reason.

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