The Privatization of Everything Quotes

“The market cannot and will not save us because market incentives are directly opposed to public health.”
― Donald Cohen, The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back

“It’s about enabling and empowering citizens.5 Kansas City, Missouri, eliminated fares on in-city trips in 2019, and fully embraced a new way of thinking. The Kansas City Area Transpor tation Authority’s own president and CEO, Robbie Makinen, signaled the shift: “We got to stop acting like we’re in the profit business, because we’re not. We’re in the people business. It’s our job to take care of people, and this [doing away with fares] is doing that.”
― Donald Cohen, The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back

“Flint, Michigan, found this out after its lead levels soared to as high as 13,200 ppb, more than twice what would be considered toxic waste. In the case of Flint, local decision-making had been stripped away and handed to state-level conservatives looking to cut corners so they could cut taxes. Flint’s citizens didn’t have the choices that wealthier cities like Madison and Lansing enjoy. But even when citizens retain local control, they often feel their budget woes have painted them into a corner, and that’s when private-equity firms and multinational conglomerates swoop”
― Donald Cohen, The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back

“that the water systems were “beyond government capacity to restore.”10 This makes no sense. The public built these systems, and the public can repair them. It is a matter of public and political will.”
― Donald Cohen, The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back

“Pipes that were laid up to one hundred years ago are now leaking six billion gallons of water every single day—that’s as much as 18 percent of the total amount of water that the United States treats and pumps on a daily basis.”
― Donald Cohen, The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back

“The common good, not the desire for convenient access to a consumer good, has driven the development of public waterworks. Public water is not just another government giveaway. The public needs these waterworks for reasons of survival.”
― Donald Cohen, The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back

“for all others, access to health care should be a consumer product, not a public good.”
― Donald Cohen, The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back