I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the Democratic Underground, but it’s hilarious! I swear, if I didn’t already know these were real people who actually believe the things they write, you couldn’t convince me it wasn’t a satire site like the Onion, or the Daily Currant — you know, the one which Liberals keep getting fooled by. Anyway, bvar22 seems to think in a Democracy the “public” should control nearly everything. There’s no word on how any of this would be accomplished, or how it would be run, or who exactly “the public” is.
The Prisons
*The Courts
*The Police
*1st Responders (Fire, Emergency)
*Education (Universal FREE through Graduate degrees)
(Yes. Charter Schools ARE Private Schools)*The Postal Service
*The Administration of National/State Parks and other Public Lands and Resources including Energy.
*The Military (no armed “Private” Contractors, & NO “private contractors” of ANY sort in War Zones)
*Roads & Bridges
*A Basic National Transportation System
*Energy Grids (including Roads, Rail, Pipeline)
*Drinking Water
*Communication (Publicly Owned Free Internet for EVERYBODY)
*Health Insurance
In a democracy, ALL of the above (and more) should be protected assets of The Commons. They should ALL be publicly owned, non-profit, completely transparent and accountable to The Public, and administered BY a Government of The People on an EQUAL basis.
If “Private Enterprise” wants to compete with these Publicly Owned/Government Administered Agencies, they are free to do so, but Private Competitors should NEVER receive a single penny of Public (Tax Payer) Money.
The Privatization of ANY of the above should raise serious Red Flags in any democracy.
If all this stuff is supposed to be free, how do the industry’s employees get paid? Do we all just work for free?
Sifting Reality 
Most of the stuff is already owned publicly.
Prisons, Courts, Police, Fire, Postal Service, National & State Parks, Military, Roads & Bridges, and Drinking Water are all under public authority.
Obviously, private ambulance companies are extremely common. College is obviously not free, but it’s subsidized by the Public. There is no national transportation system, but most towns and cities have some sort of local transit system that is under the authority of government. Some energy grids are controlled by government. Health insurance is, in part, subsidized by government. And There is no “free” internet.
I don’t think college should be free, but I support student loans and I think the system needs to be reworked. Many people are excluded for ridiculous reasons. For instance, I didn’t qualify for a student loan because my parents failed to file taxes three-years in a row. It wasn’t my fault, yet I was punished for it. Absurd.
I think it’s fine to have private ambulance companies so long as they are under the authority of a county medical officer, which is already the case in Michigan. I don’t know how things work in other places.
In my area, our local transit system isn’t free. But it’s ridiculously cheap, like 60 cents, and you can go anywhere in the city. It helps a lot of people, particularly the elderly. I support it.
I can understand the desire to have energy grids be under government control because the threat of cyber attacks is very real. But so long as there is oversight, I think they’re okay in private hands.
I support Medicare and Medicaid. I think these systems need to be retooled, but I would never support their end. Too many children would lose health care coverage if Medicaid was ended. Too many elderly would be screwed if Medicare were ended.
I do support Public Access to low-data WiFi. You could pay for it with Public Access sales taxes on Internet purchases. Purchases over private lines would not be subject to sales taxes.