Friday 19 November 2010

The privatisation of the public.

I've been arguing for some time that there is now no such thing as the public and private sector; that the divide between the two has become so smudged they can no longer be seen as distinct entities.

Finally some proof of this in the Guardian. In the first 5 months since the election Capita received 3.3 billion, which as the article points out is greater than the annual budget for the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

What's more shocking is that the figures seem to refer only to Central Government spending. If we looked at local government the scale to which firms like Capita perform the functions hitherto carried out by local authorities we'd no doubt conclude that somehow, behind our backs, the whole state apparatus has been privatised.
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2 comments:

  1. The Plashing Vole19 November 2010 at 02:03

    For quite a while now government has been an enormous carcass devoted to feeding the private sector vultures. A little pride and belief in itself would lead to a reduced role for these greedy companies and a more efficient government. No chance…

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  2. Neil8019 November 2010 at 03:09

    I definately agree. One thing I've reflected on after posting this is; does it matter who delivers the services? After all the state is still financing the services, but a major issue is in whos interests are services provided. The private sector firms have an interest in services being delivered in a particular way i.e the way that's most profitable for them(not to mention the clout they now have to ensure they get their way), not necessarily what is the best way for individuals or communities. It reminds me of that conversation Engels had with the man in Manchester when he told him of how bad conditions were asnd the mans reply was 'yes, but there's a lot of money to be made here' Basically the private sectors only interest is in the bottom line. Whaty makes me even Sadder is Engels account of industrial-revolution Manchester is a treatise on why we need the state to temper the market. It seems that over 150 or so years later we have now lost sight of just why we need the state

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