I've been thinking about this a lot, cos while I understand the privatisation in the 80s of rail (and electricity generation?) was largely understood to be an unmitigated disaster it also happened in context with the stock market crash and whatever else - I just don't know much about that time, being a kid back then, and all...

Does anyone have a good story to simplify it? Someone pointed me to a great podcast (the spinoffs juggernaut) about it, but it's about 8 hours long, so I haven't had a chance to dip my toes in...

I think Seymour's being a fuckin Looney, but that's because it's not ownership that matters - it's the service that's important, not the profits. Once profit steps in, it takes over the other priorities, plain and simple. The govt might be a clunky tool for running things, but it's sure better than private enterprise (or worse, state-sanctioned monopoly!)

[–] liv 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

If you have 1h47 to spare, the old documentary Someone Else's Country is quite good.

[–] TagMeInSkipIGotThis 2 points 5 days ago

Was coming to recommend the same.