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A cartoon depicts a chasm with a rope bridge, once connecting both sides, cut and hanging from the side of the cliff, sabotaged by a suit standing on the well forested right side beside a spool of rope and holding a saw. The left side of the chasm is a wasteland of sawn tree stumps. There’s a sign that reads “Please return saw and rope when done”. An empty box sits beneath the sign. The suit calls out to a person in the wasteland on the left side of the chasm “BUILD YOUR OWN DAMN BRIDGE LIKE I DID!” The person in the wasteland replies “WITH WHAT?! “
Caption: Capitalism at its finest
h/t to @dgar@aus.social
A capitalist would keep the bridge and charge people for crossing.
Except when profit no longer rises by double digit percentages every year, then they cut the bridge.
And then declare bridge bankruptcy, absolving them of building a new bridge.
The bridge is not a literal toll road but a metaphor for economic mobility.
The capitalist has found opportunities to improve his his wealth and has now created conditions where others are barred from same opportunities.
That’s the most efficient use of capital though. Everyone building their own bridge is stupid.
No the most efficient use is the government building the bridge because they can do it most cost efficiently when they already have to build 1000 bridges.
It also works for health care. Socialism works.
Government costs a lot of extra money, even when the scope is just building a 1000 bridges. That’s not cost efficient at all.
The capitalist alternative is worse though, because the cost for using it will be higher, even if the cost for making was lower.
But that takes capital away from the government who could be spending it on healthcare…
Opportunity cost
They can do both.
Magic money tree eh?
They certainly seems to have one for military and police.
Every country does. Every country doesn’t need to be building bridges constantly though, there’s only so many rivers. It’s inefficient.
Better to contract that out via competitive tenders to specialist bridge builders.
Infrastructure needs to be constantly maintained and rebuilt. Do you think once someone builds a bridge, it’s fine and no one ever needs to replace it? Or that a river needs a new crossing somewhere else?