Do you think it would be better if our gas electric and water was owned by the government?

Question

as what i can see is that the fat cats are rolling in the money that normal working people are paying for

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

Absolutely not.

State ownership has never shown evidence of improved service and the cost is still ultimately borne by the taxpayer.

Increases in energy prices are generally determined by the initial supplier and the nature of supply and demand.

In other words the government would still have to buy the energy of services from private companies that are usually overseas owned.

Of course,you are right to point out that speculators do have a degree of control over the ultimate cost to the consumer.However,speculators are the movers and shakers of the financial markets and pay a great deal of tax and stimulate the economy in other areas.Without them,we would be feeling the pinch in other areas.

The only way to make a lasting impression on the energy market is to reduce consumption and therefore demand.To artificially reduce the cost through forms of subsidy will simply increase the demand and the cost at source will rise accordingly.

To reduce demand is to change our habits to suit a more energy efficient lifestyle.

Answer 3

I don't live in the United States, but do you really think that a government, state or Crown corporation is any diffferent from a private one?  They all play the same game, and have basically the same structure and practices.  They all rob the people.  What difference does it make whether a government or political party is capitalist or socialist when both governments or parties are on the system?

Answer 4

Comrade you and Representative Waters from California are on the same wave length.  In her own words "we should socialize....I mean take over all companies and the government can run them better".

The government ie. Communist approach has one huge flaw:  MOTIVATION.  

When there is no profit the labor tends to have to be motivated by something else.  Military is patriotism, police and fire to serve their community.  The Russians and other communist state found out that most won't be motivated by these things outside of these occupations.  So the motivation was threats which work but not very effective.  China abandoned Communism for Capitalism only keeping the political part not economic.  USSR was sent down a economic meltdown leading  to the breakup.  The more the government runs the more the service is poor and performance suffers.  The lessons have been learned by the majority and only a few extreme leftist in the Democratic Party and their buddy Hugo Chavez still believe in it.

Answer 5

what a good idea! harry.

Answer 6

Gas and electric used to be owned by the Government!  Then Margaret Thatcher privatised it.  The benefits could be that the price would be fixed by the Government but that all depends on what price they fix it at!.  The right thing was to privatise these services so that their could be fair competition with other companies offering their services.  i.e customer choice.  The problem is that they are all ripping us off now so there is no point in moving to a new supplier!  Generally, it is not a good idea for a Government to have a monopoly on one service.  Especially our Government.

Answer 7

Yes , most definitely . These commodities are essentials for us living in the colder regions of the Globe. It should never have been placed in the hands of  speculative businesses. They love any opportunity to put up prices to the level of exploiting their unfortunate customers who cannot be without it. They take control on the pretext that the supply lines are old and need replacing . Even the water board does it.

Once they get the government to agree and sit back, they devise ways to take out from their customers as much as they can. They give their officials huge Pay rises ,bonuses,and their shareholders some profit. The customer does not get a better service as they cut out their former responsibilities like attending to leaks,and bursts ,reinterpret their involvement in maintenance and expect the customer to find their own private insurance against routines they were doing .Even simple phone-calls to report a fault is linked to higher cost phone numbers.In the end YOU Lose and gains to the government by VAT increases buys Government Inaction to stop this method of exploiting the Population . The ones who can least afford it slip into debt and stay disadvantaged . Frustrated and angry ? Yes we are ,both you and I.

Answer 8

Yes, there would be some control then !

Answer 9

Yes. It seems to me when all the necessary commodities in life were deregulated here in Canada the price of the product spiraled and has not settled down to a normal state. Scams and con-artists come out of the woodwork and many are taken for a ride.

We here in Ontario had a good thing with "Ontario Hydro" until the government sold it to private enterprises.

Currently the governments are looking into selling off rights to our health care and you can bet we are going to pay for it.

Water, electricity, heating oil, natural gas, all these things are a requirement in the northern states of the United States and in every Province and Territory of Canada. In the hands of private investors the costs of these necessary aspects of living in the modern world are prone to higher prices than they would be in the governments hands.  

Answer 10

Yes they should, they should never have been sold in the first place.

Answer 11

NO

Answer 12

I doubt government ownership would change that.

I think private ownership is a good thing. Where a natural monopoly exists, government regulation and oversight is needed.

Answer 13

No way.

Answer 14

The only thing good about socializing stuff: The prices can be controlled.

Answer 15

No, want the government to controll as little as possible.

Answer 16

Yes, of course.

I just love the idea of us being at war with a country that owns all our infrastructure.

It's going to be even better when they sell-off the NHS to the americans.

Then life's _really_ going to be fun.

Answer 17

What difference would it make so my answer is no.

Answer 18

Yes, but that Government couldn't be an incompetent socialist one.

Answer 19

In Quebec we own our Hydro power and about to own our water. This way we do not leave our natural resources to private companies who would dilapidate these resources or sell them to foreign interests. When the Hydro wants to raise its price it also has to be approved by the government and it can not be raised more then 2%.  

That being said: Canada is a socialist Country, I doubt this way of doing would be welcomed by capitalists like the US...although you have been interested into our free health care (another socialist way of thinking) for a long time now.  

Answer 20

no...    

Answer 21

poopy

Answer 22

when these were nationalised, they were chock full of people, over staffed, and bloated, and the idea of a free market was supposedly to make to a better deal for the customer. I am not saying what we have now is right, but i remember a time when in many of these types of industries jobs were for life, and you couldn't get shot of bad workers

Plus many were like working in the print, on the newspapers same applied, and i knew that many jobs were passed from father to son, because the unions were king and ruled the roost.  

Answer 23

Yes, it would be. Utilities should be in public ownership, industry that makes money for the country should be private. Unfortunately we have neither now. We are in a big mess !!!!