Thread by @stubbornella, This obsession with government being run “like a business” has got to [...]

This obsession with government being run “like a business” has got to die. They literally have opposite goals! Government should exist to create equity. The whole point is that the mail gets delivered everywhere (even the middle of nowhere when it isn’t “profitable”).

Public transit trains and buses go everywhere and are meant to provide access to everyone... including disabled people, even if that isn’t a market that’s going to rake in the cash. In fact, generally disabled folks pay *less*.

A business does the opposite, charge riders as much as they will pay and only serve areas where people will pay more than it costs to serve them.

Government is supposed to be concerned with equity, community, and the greater good. Businesses are primarily concerned with shareholder value.

So when you hear about a company “disrupting public transit” or some other essential service provided to *everyone*, what you should hear is that they are skimming the profitable bit off and leaving everyone else to fend for themselves.

Yes, governments are inefficient. And change is difficult. But often there are good structural reasons for that! And ignoring them means leaving someone behind.

Similarly, public schools can’t just accept the bright or wealthy students. So when we think about charter schools and private schools, our primary concern should be for the kids that won’t get chosen, that aren’t likely to make the school look good. That aren’t “profitable”.

Kids with disabilities, from challenging circumstances, from poverty.

This is part of why the president’s clowns make me so angry... whether devos or dejoy or any of the others trying to dismantle what little social safety net we have.

Do they really want to live in the world they are creating? Do they suffer from such poverty of imagination that they don’t realize how terrible it would be if there were so few haves and so many have-nots?

It’s time we asked more of our government. A functioning post office is not too much to ask!

I would not be here today had the government decided not to invest in me via the free/reduced lunch program. Something that will never seem profitable if you’re as short sighted as the current administration but truly is when you consider my whole lifetime.

We’re stronger because of each other. We can do more with our combined efforts. To hell with minimal government that benefits only those that don’t need it.

I want a government to be concerned with healthcare and childcare, solving pandemics (ffs!), schools, social security, public transit, the post office, racial justice, climate change, and so much more. We need to believe in ourselves and invest in our collective future.

If you made it this far, Vote! Please.