Two debunks
QTRR (Chris Irons) is a rational observer of the economic scene ... MOSTLY ... but his latest podcast falls into a standard Repooflican routine. He's defending billionaires and saying that billionaires are more likely to run government well, because government should be run more like a business.

This is two separate issues.

1. We should let corporate execs run the government instead of politicians.

2. Government should be run like a corporation.

Taking them separately.

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I debunked the first one in 2011. Read it. Since then we have several more data points, both domestic and foreign. We have corporate executive Trump here, and we have leaders like Orban and Putin and Salvini and AMLO and Bolsonaro and Macron abroad.

Trump is doing a great service for his fellow billionaires and FUCKING the rest of the country. He continues to debunk the case for letting corporate execs run the country. Among those foreign leaders, Orban and Putin and Salvini and AMLO are professional politicians who worked up through the layers of government to the top. Bolsonaro started in military then moved into professional politics. Macron is a corporate executive. All of the professional politicians are solving problems FAST and serving the people of their countries. Macron is FUCKING the people and making his fellow bankers rich. Just like Trump.

So my debunk is even stronger now.

Caveat about causation. This DOESN'T mean that every professional politician solves problems! Most of them are demons who want to ruin the country. This DOES mean that a leader who wants to solve problems MUST have the skills and knowledge of a professional politician if he's going to get shit done. He may know the correct path for the country, but he can't steer the country onto the correct path unless he knows how to drive this peculiar vehicle. A leader who knows where the bodies are buried can force the bureaucrat eunuchs to follow his orders.

Also, family helps. FDR was able to move up the ladder faster because bureaucrats were accustomed to obeying Teddy. Putin was able to move up faster than others because Grandpa was Stalin's trusted cook. It's not a pleasant fact, but it's an unavoidable fact. Hereditary monarchy works better than "meritocracy".

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Running the country like a corporation? I've debunked this before. Read it.

I agree firmly that the government should be run like a PROFIT-SEEKING business, not a SHARE-VALUE corporation. The Libertarians and Repooflicans DO NOT AGREE with this goal. They EXPLICITLY REJECT the idea of profit for the government. They agree with Democrats that government should provide all the services I want, and government should never tax ME. The I and ME are different, but the rejection of business is identical.

Real capitalism is the exact opposite of this arrangement. Real capitalism starts with PAY FOR VALUE. If you use a gov't service, you should pay part of the cost. If you don't use, you shouldn't have to pay. The only federal gov't service that ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE needs is protecting the borders from invasion. Since we no longer do that, all actual gov't services should be pay-to-play, with a profit margin on each service.

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Footnote for consistency: Until two years ago I was more inclined to root for outsiders. Even after debunking the "made a payroll" crap, I still hoped that an outsider would be able to look at things in a new way, catch the bureaucrats by surprise. After comparing Trump with those foreign examples, I saw the fallacy. A politician with long EXPERIENCE in dealing with bureaucrats knows what to expect, and thus has a better chance of fighting their tactics. An outsider doesn't know the tactics. The eunuchs will blindside him every time.
  ¶ 12:27 AM