Fun_People Archive
22 Jan
Privatize!

Date: Sat, 22 Jan 94 23:10:39 PST
To: Fun_People
Subject: Privatize!

 From: Rich Lague <laguer@ucs.orst.edu>
 From The Nation of Dec. 13, 1993:

PRIVATIZE!

Middletown, Conn.
	I read the three articles on our cut-proof defense budget with 
increasing depression. Then I had a great idea: Privatize defense. Close 
down the Pentagon and let the insurance companies take over: We could 
call it "managed competition." If I wanted insurance against invasion by 
Canada and Cuba, I'd shop around for the best plan at the lowest rate: 
_very_ low, I imagine, since claims would be few, based on historical 
experience. Expanded coverage might include reimbursement for damage 
caused by Ukrainian or Pakistani nuclear raids. Broader policies could 
insure against the incursions of Japanese fishermen and Mexican illegals. 
Deluxe policies might offer protection against emotional damage from 
watching hostile Arabs of Africans on TV. Each insurance company would 
weigh the likelihood of large claims against the expense of maintaining 
armed forces strong enough to prevent invasion, terrorist attacks and 
other costly events. Or they might band together in D.M.O.s: Aetna with a 
navy, Prudential with a modest Star Wars system, and so on. Let the free 
market do its work, and watch corruption, politics and waste vanish from 
the defense scene.
Richard Ohmann

© 1994 Peter Langston