Would you sell your state to Google?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Only 1/4 serious, but I keep thinking about how poorly government services are run compared to Google’s services. If you could hypothetically (through initiative or revolution) cede control of your state/county/province to Google in exchange for a “better life through advertising”, would you do so?

They might, for example:
[ul]
[li]Drive you to and from work in shared drone SUVs (boring)[/li][li]Eliminate the DMV altogether in exchange for online services in the chatbox next to Gmail[/li][li]Replace all traffic tickets with occasional radio commercials, and targeted ads on the windshield HUD when you stop near a point of interest[/li][li]Replace property taxes with an e-billboard on your lawn and free solar on your roof which’ll help power their server in your attic[/li][li]Fund all secondary education, unify curriculum through a science-based partnership with Wikimedia and Khan, and provide free Chromebooks to all students/faculty in exchange for a 10% royalty on any future copyrighted works you publish or perform[/li][li]Have automatic road repairs by an army of drones based on traffic patterns observed through cell phones[/li][li]Replace income taxes with Google Dollars, where you just have to spend a certain amount every year buying stuff from Adwords advertisers[/li][li]Engage in military offensives by algorithmically analyzing a target region’s historical kill/death ratio, its likely return on investment per citizen-advertisee dollar, and popular support on Google Plus and your emails[/li][li]Simplify environmental regulations by tracking every house, car, and consumer item built by any US manufacturer, from supplier to disposal, and measuring their impact[/li][li]Analyze your personal nutritional intake and provide suggestions based on new G-FDA data, also buying food for you if you qualify for food stamps and delivering it to your house when the drone car picks you up for work[/li][li]Constantly compares your skill set and earnings to market averages and highlights new career choices when they become available[/li][li]Pre-screen you for all airline flights because they know everything about you, your purchases, and your social connections anyway[/li][li]Provide free wi-fi and childcare on a statewide fleet of Google Blimps[/li][/ul]

But that’s just the first 3-4 years, with additional programs to come. Would ya do it?

2

I live in Florida. I doubt Google could do any worse than the last few governors.

3

the things Google does and the things state governments do don’t even faintly resemble one another. It’s like thinking Apple should start making cars because of how good the iPhone is.

4

Well, Google did start making cars after Android…

5

Yes, google should buy my state and every state. I am sure that they will design an app that makes every single person happy with everything in the state, and absolutely none will complain.

6

no, they made a few things which look like a startled koala on wheels.

7

I’m from Illinois.

Google, take it away!! Although I’m sure Larry Page (is he the CEO?) doesn’t want to find himself keeping company with our former governors in prison. There’s just something about Illinois.

8

No.

Sure, Google would start governing my state in new, convenient, and paradigm-shifting ways. People would say to each other, “I can’t believe we ever let elected officials run things!”

Then Google would lose interest, not be able to monetize it, and announce one Wednesday morning that my state was closing.

9

If they could manage to fix PennDOT, I might consider it. (And maybe monkeys could fly out of my butt.)

10

As an avowed anarcho-capitalist, I would do it in a heart-beat! There is nothing that government can do that can’t be done better and more efficiently by private industry. That goes for the federal government as well.

And being from Illinois, it couldn’t possibly help but be a huge step up.

11

They’d just end up cancelling our state when they realized that there wasn’t any money in it.