If there's one area we could probably advocate for a common usage and coordinated efforts rather than competitive efforts, it is the air with regard to radio frequencies. These are a shared and common resource that the government controls. While your neighbor can go buy a block of land, slap up a building and start selling clothes, burgers or changing your oil in the event they think you uncompetitive or that they could do a better job, this isn't true of television, radio and cell service which is controlled through the FCC at the federal level.
Also it isn't as if the stakes are so high here as to drive people to extremes. This isn't grandma's cancer medicine. This isn't whether your daughter gets into the right college because she's going to the right high school. This isn't what your child put in their mouth and swallowed this afternoon.
So a common resource that should be managed for the common good in a field where the stakes aren't so high as to lead people into extreme or irrational thought and how does the government do? They totally have screwed it up. The bane of most people's existence is how terrible television be it over the air, or cable and cell companies treat their customers and how their costs are not related to what is delivered. Radio isn't much different and all suffer from the same problems in various ways.
1. They create false tiers to keep you from the solution you need and force you instead into expensive additions. Most are familiar with this related to cell service or cable television. What you want is never available at a pay as you use it or go rate. Other regulated resources are treated exactly in this manner. You don't have to predict how much electricity, water or natural gas you might use and pay for overages at ridiculous rates or purchase one item to get another at a reasonable cost.
2. You pay for the service and then pay for the advertising as well. On television, you get commercials over the air including massive numbers of infomercials. These same channels are shown on cable where you are actually paying to now watch commercials/infomercials. With regard to cell service, we are seeing capped data plans precisely at the point when costs per megabyte are dropping and instead overages are being added on. (The exact opposite of the rest of the world.)
3. The government determines who can compete and who can combine and they continually approve of crony capitalism. The real point is they endorse cronyism period. There's always an out left for the connected after the one size solution is imposed on us all. The government has allowed continual consolidation within these industries while claiming to be on the look out for the little guy. They clearly instead engage in just the opposite behavior. You end up with large oligarchies of companies who are guaranteed to have no competition.
So really given what government does with television, radio and cell phones, why would anyone want to trust them with education, nutrition and health care? Shouldn't they prove they can handle their business in these smaller areas before tackling larger issues?
President Obama, since I believe the government can't push the economy on a string but can only get out of the way of it, please attempt to address these small areas where you actually have a true stake, can claim to help the common person and can actually attempt to find some middle ground and do some good. Get the infomercials off the air. Force competition back into these fields. Mandate pay as you use, not false tiers and fears of overages.
If you want to build some trust in government, don't take over my health care. You've already taken over the television, radio and cell industries because they all have government leases and licenses for what they do. Make them effective and earn some trust in a small area before asking for bigger ones. It won't even cost trillions a year. It doesn't need to be shovel ready. No one will care about the citizenship status of those watching, listening or talking.
It's easy. It's small. It's also an area where the government has failed miserably.
Also it isn't as if the stakes are so high here as to drive people to extremes. This isn't grandma's cancer medicine. This isn't whether your daughter gets into the right college because she's going to the right high school. This isn't what your child put in their mouth and swallowed this afternoon.
So a common resource that should be managed for the common good in a field where the stakes aren't so high as to lead people into extreme or irrational thought and how does the government do? They totally have screwed it up. The bane of most people's existence is how terrible television be it over the air, or cable and cell companies treat their customers and how their costs are not related to what is delivered. Radio isn't much different and all suffer from the same problems in various ways.
1. They create false tiers to keep you from the solution you need and force you instead into expensive additions. Most are familiar with this related to cell service or cable television. What you want is never available at a pay as you use it or go rate. Other regulated resources are treated exactly in this manner. You don't have to predict how much electricity, water or natural gas you might use and pay for overages at ridiculous rates or purchase one item to get another at a reasonable cost.
2. You pay for the service and then pay for the advertising as well. On television, you get commercials over the air including massive numbers of infomercials. These same channels are shown on cable where you are actually paying to now watch commercials/infomercials. With regard to cell service, we are seeing capped data plans precisely at the point when costs per megabyte are dropping and instead overages are being added on. (The exact opposite of the rest of the world.)
3. The government determines who can compete and who can combine and they continually approve of crony capitalism. The real point is they endorse cronyism period. There's always an out left for the connected after the one size solution is imposed on us all. The government has allowed continual consolidation within these industries while claiming to be on the look out for the little guy. They clearly instead engage in just the opposite behavior. You end up with large oligarchies of companies who are guaranteed to have no competition.
So really given what government does with television, radio and cell phones, why would anyone want to trust them with education, nutrition and health care? Shouldn't they prove they can handle their business in these smaller areas before tackling larger issues?
President Obama, since I believe the government can't push the economy on a string but can only get out of the way of it, please attempt to address these small areas where you actually have a true stake, can claim to help the common person and can actually attempt to find some middle ground and do some good. Get the infomercials off the air. Force competition back into these fields. Mandate pay as you use, not false tiers and fears of overages.
If you want to build some trust in government, don't take over my health care. You've already taken over the television, radio and cell industries because they all have government leases and licenses for what they do. Make them effective and earn some trust in a small area before asking for bigger ones. It won't even cost trillions a year. It doesn't need to be shovel ready. No one will care about the citizenship status of those watching, listening or talking.
It's easy. It's small. It's also an area where the government has failed miserably.
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." -George Orwell
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." -George Orwell
Oh, it's supposed to read there. 
