A simple thank you

[Cainehill]

That's fine WRT to some things - cars are a perfect example. But too many countries have "privatized" their water supplies, for instance, sometimes at the insistence of the IMF. The outside company comes in, and unfortunately, has stockholders, etc, and the company's only responsibility is to make the largest profit possible. Increasing efficiency doesn't get the largest profits, instead, cutting costs, lowering quality, and keeping prices stable or rising is. So the people wind up drinking bad water in the name of capitalism and the free market.

(I've lived in some countries that were like this, and my SO of 2.5 years is a native of one.)

Some things simply should not be privatized. Water supplies and other things the public health and welfare depend on; this indirectly includes such things as hazardous waste disposal, especially nuclear. (The USA privatized some government sections that handled nuclear waste, including taking Russia's waste and reprocessing it to make it useful for reactors again instead of useful for bombs. Oops - circumstances changed, the private company found it wasn't profitable to continue this, and stopped, leaving more bomb-capable waste sitting unprotected.)