They don’t think that way. “It does not generate revenue, therefore it cannot be allowed to exist.” This philosophy is so deeply ingrained into the American psyche that it is inescapable.
Story time: American colleague and Canadian colleague are talking. Canadian says that university costs only 5000 CAD in tuition. American nearly falls out of his chair and yells, “BUT HOW DO THEY MAKE MONEY??”
And bear in mind that he was one of the most educated and successful people I have ever met, and yet he found it so difficult to fathom that a university could exist without making money. Now with that in mind, imagine convincing a large group of average people to fund public services.
You don’t even need to go that far. From a financial perspective, a fire department is a hedge bet against fire. It doesn’t exist to generate revenue, but it limit losses.
Not unlike fire insurance, except insurance only protects against the validation of property while a fire fighting team protects the real assets.
They need to understand it’s a service, not a business. Sure, a fire department doesn’t make money but, neither does a city that burns to the ground.
As a society, we have simply got to get past the notion that everything that exists needs to be monetized to be deemed worthy of existence.
They don’t think that way. “It does not generate revenue, therefore it cannot be allowed to exist.” This philosophy is so deeply ingrained into the American psyche that it is inescapable.
Story time: American colleague and Canadian colleague are talking. Canadian says that university costs only 5000 CAD in tuition. American nearly falls out of his chair and yells, “BUT HOW DO THEY MAKE MONEY??”
And bear in mind that he was one of the most educated and successful people I have ever met, and yet he found it so difficult to fathom that a university could exist without making money. Now with that in mind, imagine convincing a large group of average people to fund public services.
This is why the USA is the way that it is.
You don’t even need to go that far. From a financial perspective, a fire department is a hedge bet against fire. It doesn’t exist to generate revenue, but it limit losses.
Not unlike fire insurance, except insurance only protects against the validation of property while a fire fighting team protects the real assets.