He did say remove conservatives…

Yeah I get the old adage about government run programs. While a cute stereotype I would like to remind you if it wass not for the US government the Internet as we know it would not even exist.

Private vs public is not a new debate by any means. I think the tax preparation business in the US a great example. Decades ago the US government was deciding whether to develop a government web based front end to file US taxes. Predictably the existing big players objected to this and offered a deal.

The gist of the deal was they would let most tax players file for free. Why waste government money and resources when the private sector can do it cheaper. Sounds good right?

Well in the end it did not work out that way. Websites used dark patterns to get tax preparers to pay when they should not. They had many data breaches and you can assure yourself they mined the fuck out of any data you share with them.

I like the idea of a standard government phone. Secured by our best technology and locked up tight from data miners.

Perhaps passing stringent privacy laws and regulating the hell out of these technology companies could be enough to turn the tide and certainly they would prefer this to the prospect of the government taking away their monopolies.

I am firmly on the side of the government providing these services though because of the reality we are facing.

There is a reason we don’t just use any email. It takes time and energy to change providers and in the case of being locked out not even possible. I have no issue with private email, but I do have a problem with the government expecting to communicate with people and not providing that means of communication.

Until we recognize email and banking as a right we will continue to allow private companies and the government to fuck us over. Private companies are all spying on you do not believe their privacy bullshit for a second.

You may be better off doing business with a private company from a country who actually respects your privacy through codified laws, but that does not really solve the problem.

You would have actual rights and redress with a government agency plus when someone hacks the government’s data it would be a big deal and people would go to prison instead of a private company just shrugging their shoulders and saying oh well.

The government would not need to sell your data. The government would not be able to just change terms of service on a whim. The government would be mandated to provide the services without having to enshittify services later on to capitalize on profits.

The current system of the government calling the shots but not being held responsible should come to an end and these basic services should be provided as a right. To think that private companies can literally destroy your life by removing your ability to bank or communicate and not be held responsible is beyond ridiculous.

It is way past time for the US government to offer their citizens email that is not owned by a private company and used as a tool to steal your private information.

This private-public partnership that controls all of our banking and communication is pure bullshit. It is basic services the government should provide. Instead we have private companies either charging us exorbitant fees or turning us into the commodity.

Meanwhile the government has complete control and can tell them to stop servicing us at any time and there is no redress. The government can literally tell your bank to stop doing business with you and you have no rights. Plus, being a private company, they can also stop servicing you because they happen to have a hair up their ass today.

There is no real choice anymore and the consumer always gets screwed. We really fell down the privatization well of retardation and it does not look like we are clawing our way back up anytime soon.