Why is the "private sector" better than the "public sector"?

[ljm2002]

31. Because ideologues have kept repeating the mantra...

...for lo these many years...

It is an agenda that's been pushed by the corporatists. They have been very successful at it. They've bought off politicians from both parties. Democrats have made a bargain with the devil when they started going after corporate cash and started ignoring the unions -- i.e., the Third Way and neoliberalism. By doing so, they had to tone down their message, to the point where they all sound like a bunch of mealy-mouthed flim-flam artists with no spine; whereas the Republicans can continue to demagogue loudly and not fear reprisal from their corporate masters, who like what the Republicans are selling. Therefore they appear to have conviction, which voters like.

Furthermore, the advent of 401Ks and the like to replace pensions (defined contribution vs. defined benefit), has weakened the middle class, and has also given many the illusion that they are active participants in the stock market (yes yes I know, some of them / some of you actually do take an active role in how your 401Ks are managed -- but most do not, in any real sense). Anyway, this has tended to make people support the corporate agenda because they perceive it as advantageous to them to do so -- they want their 401K to retain as much value as possible, and that means they must support whatever the pundits claim will be the best for the stock market, which in turn is thought to represent the holy spirit of the invisible hand.

All the while, the 1%, or more accurately the .01% are siphoning more of the wealth upwards, and couldn't care less about the effects on the middle and working class, not to mention the poor, who they demonize at every turn.

People nowadays have this touching faith in the efficiency of the private sector. I have worked in the private sector for all of my career, and let me tell you, it ain't so. What the private sector is very efficient at is in enriching the operators, at the expense of everyone else. The slimier the operators, the more willing they are to cut corners, and cut their rivals off at the knees, the better they do. Really it's that simple. It's all about the incentives, and that is the behavior that is rewarded. I've observed it in companies large and small. No doubt there are exceptions, and no doubt the public bureaucracies have their own set of problems, but to revere the private sector as some savior is ridiculous on its face.