Bernie Sanders: “If I were to run for president, do you know how much money the Kochs would spend?

[badtoworse]

63. The need for direct government ownership and oversight is greatly overestimated

There definitely are things for which the government needs to be responsible and which should not be done by private industry. The justice system, national defense, emergency management and many regulatory functions (environmental, securities and banking, utility regulation, etc.) are examples of what the government and only the government should be doing.

I don't have a problem with the government owning the roads, but there's no reason why the guy filling the potholes or plowing the snow has to be a government employee. We absolutely need to have mandatory saving for retirement, but there is no reason why the government needs to manage the system. Australia requires workers to contribute to qualified retirement plans, but the government does not manage the plans and can't take your money and spend it as fast as you deposit it - it's your money. IIRC, Chile also has a privately run plan where worker contribution is mandatory. I'd prefer such a plan to what we have here.

It should be mandatory that our kids be educated, but there is no reason why the government needs to run the schools. I could see the government in a regulatory role with education (i.e. setting standards, minimum curricula, safety, etc.). I grew up in NYC (Queens) and saw just how crappy the city schools were (and IMO still are). Many other large cities offer their kids a similar public "education". Why should we force parents to fund and/or send their kids to such schools? To me, this is an example of socialism at its worst.

I could go on, but I don't think I need to. I think the government is already way too large and way too intrusive. A socialist government would expand government ownership and management to many more areas in the economy. Sorry, I don't want that.