0xC9: America: Just Needs More Socialism

First, read this bit of fine propaganda (I added bold to each department/service provided by government):

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US department of energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the national aeronautics and space administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US department of agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the food and drug administration.
At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the national institute of standards and technology and the US naval observatory, I get into my national highway traffic safety administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the environmental protection agency, using legal tender issed by the federal reserve bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US postal service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the department of labor and the occupational safety and health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to ny house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it's valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the internet which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.

Source: Unknown Author

The obviously take-away from the above tripe is that government is our savior. Indeed, what's a little extra socialism on top of all the other socialism, right?

I always assert that government sucks at everything it does. That doesn't mean it can't do anything right. For example, NASA strives and usually archives for zero bugs in its software. Zero bugs in space software seems like a good idea, right? But how would you know if it wasn't? I know that might seem like a strange question, but stick with me.

First, a couple things in general. Some of the agencies above are actually not true government agencies in the strictest sense. The Federal Reserve, OSHA, and the US Postal Service are examples that do not have a true government charter. They are also not truly private organizations either. They are quasi-governmental entities, the epitome of fascism because they operate under special favored status.

Second, just because government can perform a duty does not imply that this job should be performed in the first place. I elude back to the zero bugs notion with NASA. It is wasteful to devote resources where they are not needed. To ignore this is to spend without consideration of limits. We like to think that wise people have weighed the benefit verses the cost, but how can they know the true cost?

Benefit vs. Cost

To do a true cost/benefit analysis, one must have a good understanding of the cost. Both cost and benefit are predictions, but cost is the most concrete. That's because benefit is more subjective than cost. Is it beneficial to plant corn or wheat? That's difficult to quantify with cardinal numbers. Can anyone say something is "five beneficial units" better than another? But if you ask what the cost is to plant corn or wheat, this can be expressed and quantified. Cost is concrete.

Government may be able to assert benefit without cost. It may say that we must perform a certain task regardless of the cost. It can say there is no price tag on a particular benefit because it is priceless. But this is a value that may or may not be shared by everyone. So usually, cost and benefit should go together.

Take a look at what Judge Napolitano thinks of every single one of the above agencies: