Lynn McAlister UE 
@erin This whole philosophy - that government should function like business - just drives me crazy. Businesses serve consumers and their purpose is profit. Government serves citizens, whether it's profitable or not. Treating citizens as if they are exclusively consumers will never put us in a better spot in any way.
lydy@lmgenealogy The other other thing is: government backstops business. Government takes on those social goods and services that business cannot or will not provide. And it exists in part to restrain the excesses of businesses.
@lydy Yes, that's exactly how it's supposed to work. But somehow business has convinced government that it's much better at providing health care, education, utilities, etc., than the government is. For a price, obviously. And governments have been too willing to agree.
@lmgenealogy Yeah. Government as business is a profound category error. I think that capitalism has become a sticky metaphor that prevents us from thinking about human interactions in any framework divorced from profit.
@lydy Agreed. And I really don't know how we get back from there.