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

[IndyPragmatist123]

87. Well, without a private sector, the public sector could not exist

The private sector funds the public sector through tax revenue. This is obvious.

The private sector is also much more efficient than the public sector. Money is the greatest motivator in our society, and if there is an opportunity for profit, you can bet your ass that a private company is going to do whatever they can to capture that. That could be through lowering costs of production or increasing prices. The private sector provides the things that people want. The public sector provides things people need.

A private sector job will not exist unless there are private citizens who want that service (ignoring military contractors and similar businesses that rely on government contracts to exist). The reason that Wal-Mart exists is because millions of Americans shop there. The people have the power to eliminate Wal-Mart, but there are enough people that want lower prices at the expense of fair labor and quality goods to keep Wal-Mart alive and thriving.

The private sector offers the opportunity to get rich. (There are many examples of people getting rich from the public sector, but this should not exist) Thus, people (mostly republicans) would rather have as much of commerce as possible within the private sector because that increases the possibility that they may be the lucky individual who gets rich.

I think it's fair to say that the private sector is better than the public sector because the public sector could not exist without the private sector. However, when the public sector can offer something better than the private sector, or offer something that the private sector cannot provide (or will not provide), then there is no reason to oppose the public sector.



In response to your comment: "I can think of a lot of "private sector" jobs that do not serve society". I disagree. All private sector jobs serve society in some way. They may not serve you or anyone you know individually, but if they did not provide something of value to someone, they would not exist. Large financial institutions may screw over the little guy, but they provide great opportunity for profit for wealthy investors. Thus, they serve this segment of society. Another example is a strip club. This business may not serve the vast majority of society, but for a few individuals (bachelor parties and lonely old men), they are very valuable. This is just a case of differing values and opinions. What may not serve you, may serve someone else very well. Again, this falls into the category of providing services and goods that people want versus goods and services that people need.