# Why doesn't the Federal government just sell its assets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-federal-government-just-sell-its-assets/484772 "2009-02-07T01:51:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-federal-government-just-sell-its-assets/484772/61 "2009-02-08T19:06:32Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The “Feds” could make racial discrimination legal tomorrow. But that’s not going to happen either. > > If it’s not politically feasible, it’s not feasible. That’s what feasible means. This is not a yes/ no matter and requires lots of explanation and maybe debate. Just because you say it is not feasible doe not put an end to things. So it IS legally possible but right now it is politically very difficult. AMybe. Maybe not. Maybe it will change over time. The Fed owns a lot of land which could be sold to private owners and nobody would bat an eye. Do you really think if they sold a block in DC the country would revolt? Or if they sold some land somewhere which is not of any special significance? Of course it is possible. They just need to do it rationally, slowly and selling the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-federal-government-just-sell-its-assets/484772/62 "2009-02-08T19:29:25Z")
> [@IdahoMauleMan](#): > > What if it is? Are you dismissing that out of hand, with a sigh and a shrug of the shoulders? I don’t know if he is, but I certainly am. > [@](#): > > I never said private corporations are always efficient, although if they aren’t they will eventually succumb to the forces of the market and go bankrupt. Unless the government bails them out, that is. You yourself give the fatal flaw in your argument. Anything big enough to make a difference is also “too big to fail.” The government would have to bail them out if they did succumb. Experience reveals how bad that is for the economy and for the social contract, which is far more important. You’re proposing a scheme in which there are no real penalties for failure, so it’s not private enterprise to begin with. > [@](#): > > It seems like we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Percentage-wise, virtually nobody in the country believes this, which is why Libertarian beliefs consistently fail to get traction. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-federal-government-just-sell-its-assets/484772/63 "2009-02-09T05:20:13Z")
We’re getting off the topic but to answer your questions: > [@](#): > > 1. All the stuff we’re talking about, all these assets…are yours. And mine. How does that feel? Do you actually feel like you have any control over their use? Over how much they cost? Over how much they could be sold for? Are they really ‘yours’? Yes, I do feel they’re mine. I don’t regard the government as some alien entity. I think the government works for me (afterall I help pick who runs the government) so I feel that I have a say in how government-owned assets are controlled. I don’t have that same feeling with private property - that’s owned by its owners not me. > [@](#): > > 1. Why don’t we find out whether it’s possible for the private sector to do better? Why do we enforce a government monopoly via rule of law? Maybe the gubmint could do better. Maybe it couldn’t. Myself, I’ll put my money on the latter. But why don’t we find out? What do you say? What have we got to lose? It seems like we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Read a newspaper. Watch some TV. Do you get a sense that everything in the corporate world is running smoothly right now? > [@](#): > > 1. Don’t you want more control over your own money, and your own decisions? Why are you so willing to assume someone you’ve never met, who takes your money by force, and who gives you no options on quality, service or price, is operating in your best interest in the most efficient way possible? Wouldn’t you prefer to have that power for yourself? Yes, I do prefer to have control over of my own life. Selling off government services to private ownership is handing away control over a part of your life to somebody else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-the-federal-government-just-sell-its-assets/484772.md?page=3)