Mastodawn

Of the lessons that can be drawn from Mamdani’s campaign and now Mayoralty, one of them is talking about (and delivering) the efficient, high-quality public services that well-run, well-resourced government can provide.

We see time and time again that getting the “market” to deliver what the state should provide results in over-paying for substandard services. Or being unable to deliver anything at all — Auckland’s light rail and Kiwibuild being prime examples.

The state can, and should, have the capacity to plan, deliver, and maintain the high-quality infrastructure and services that modern life demands.

“Maintenance is always cheaper than repair, and one of the main differences between a business and a government is that a business's shareholders can starve maintenance budgets, cash out, and leave the collapsing firm behind them, while governments must think about the long term consequences of short-term thinking”

H/t to @pluralistic

https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/24/mamdani-thought/#public-excellence

Pluralistic: Socialist excellence in New York City (24 Feb 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Superstars of the Apocalypse Feb 25

@joshjacobsen @pluralistic

Andreas K Feb 25

@CosmickTrigger @joshjacobsen @pluralistic Well, homelessness is profitable, it's the solution already.

Superstars of the Apocalypse Feb 25

@yacc143 @joshjacobsen @pluralistic

Capitalism kills over 100 million people every five years. More than the over-estimated total communism killed in the entire 20th century.

I consider that to be genocide. Marx and Engels would call it "social murder" but I think quibbling over the difference between mass murder and genocide is just a matter of 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡, but the end result is the same.

(BTW the screenshot is from my Mastodon politics-posting account. This one is primarily for music)

Superstars of the Apocalypse Feb 25

@yacc143 @joshjacobsen @pluralistic

People might say genocide is when you specifically try to wipe out a culture or ethnic group (like Biden's racist 1994 crime bill was intended to do, seeing as it was written *specifically* to target black people)

But I posit that poor and homeless people are a culture unto themselves.

People are saying Israel purposely denying Palestinians food and water is genocide.

Couldn't the same be said for food and housing?

MarjorieR Feb 25

@CosmickTrigger @joshjacobsen @pluralistic I thought it already had - Defoe's Modest Proposal:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal

I'm sure Epstein will have discussed it with his tech bro friends.

A Modest Proposal - Wikipedia

Superstars of the Apocalypse Feb 25

That's savage 😆

And yet, the godawful AnCap Murray Rothbard (who stole the term 'libertarian' from the left) actually suggested this unironically in his book "The Ethics of Liberty", which is hilariously devoid of either

ChookMother 🇦🇺🦘Feb 25

@CosmickTrigger @joshjacobsen @pluralistic Yup. Any day.

@joshjacobsen @pluralistic also, infrastructure designed by the private sector goes to enormous length to avoid maintenance, making the upfront cost massive, and then.... some overlooked part will still break!

JWM (Joe No Se)Feb 25

@ASprinkleofSage @joshjacobsen @pluralistic …and with cost-plus contracts having become the norm, these up-front costs have only gotten higher over the years.

@ASprinkleofSage @joshjacobsen @pluralistic I'm so sad this is so absolutely true in every sector.
Almost weekly I'm in meetings trying to explain that software costs are mostly in the long term maintenance of its infrastructure and the software itself.
I suppose this is even more true in the actual infrastructure of society.
But none of that is the big sexy work with the big sexy check attached to it.

@bovaz not to totally derail this conversation about infrastructure but i imagine those meetings are extra fun in the era of vibecoding

@NocturnalNessa every other meeting someone asks how much are we using AI tools to improve our workflows, and I have to spend a few minutes explaining why the answer is less than 0.

Kevin Huigens🕯Feb 25

@bovaz @pluralistic @joshjacobsen @ASprinkleofSage

Spent my career arguing this. Jerry Weinberg said "The only wear-and-tear on software is maintenance " They made a movie about the oil well fire fighter Red Adair but not once did they mention the equipment he sold to prevent fires from starting in the first place. That's not what sells.

Epic Null Feb 25

@bovaz @pluralistic @joshjacobsen @ASprinkleofSage It occurs to me that this is one thing people would have a much better feel for if they did the maintenence of showing up to city council meetings.

Because maintenence is a fairly regular topic.

Wait why are people avoiding the meetings then presuming to know how to better run a government?

Nu Modular Feb 25

@Epic_Null The same math as the US failing to graduate an overextended duopoly, into a multi-party system more accurately representing its constituencies.

It's more profitable at the top, to suppress multiples at the bottom.

Biomemetic Feb 25

@Epic_Null @bovaz @pluralistic @joshjacobsen @ASprinkleofSage

Where I live, most of the meetings are perfunctory " we hear you" spaces and the actual decisions and deliberations are made and done elsewhere.

Epic Null Feb 25

@biomemetic @bovaz @pluralistic @joshjacobsen @ASprinkleofSage That goes a long way towards explaining the most annoying parts of the Brown Act tbh

MsMerope Feb 25

@Epic_Null @bovaz @pluralistic @joshjacobsen @ASprinkleofSage

Reasons

Darwin Woodka Feb 25

@Epic_Null @bovaz @pluralistic @joshjacobsen @ASprinkleofSage

The pothole doesn't matter to you unless it's in front of your house. Just like we are told by our city that people zooming down our street at 40 mph is fine and we can't have speed bumps because "it would slow down the fire trucks if they need to use that street"

@joshjacobsen @pluralistic

Whatever you do, dont look at MYKI and what it cost...nor compare it to any actual world class ticketing system

Dodgy Theories Feb 25

@joshjacobsen @pluralistic I wonder does China use the "market" to deliver public goods?

Darwin Woodka Feb 25

@dodgytheories @joshjacobsen @pluralistic

Yes, in the sense the government in China ca direct private business to produce public goods. But we do the same here with government contracting.

Richard Quinn Feb 25

@joshjacobsen @pluralistic

Agree, however…

"…governments must think about the long term consequences of short-term thinking"

Not entirely. Governments only have to think up to the next election.

That's why we need more involvement of the people in decision making.

The people affected by a decision should make the decision. Then the government should enact the wishes of the people.

What we currently call democracy is merely one day of democracy followed by years of near dictatorship.

Darwin Woodka Feb 25

@rq4c @joshjacobsen @pluralistic

Politicians think to the next election. Government is more than politicians.

Richard Quinn Feb 25

@darwinwoodka @joshjacobsen @pluralistic

True, but it's the politicians who make the decisions, and can overrule long-termist civil servants.

Darwin Woodka Feb 25

@joshjacobsen @pluralistic

This fits one of the thoughts I’ve been having lately about how our government is being hollowed out right now by Trump into a sad shell of its former self, and we wil be left having to rebuild it.