There has been a lot of chatter about the Rasmussen poll that found that only 53% of Americans prefer capitalism to socialism. 20% prefer socialism, 27% don't have an opinion.
In one sense, this level of support for capitalism is quite strong, given that most Americans associate "capitalism" with corporate greed and scam-artist FatCats like Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford. Corporate fraud and abuse is a media darling; we are inundated with images of the abusers of the free market.
In contrast, while Americans are inherently distrustful of government collectivism and control of the economy, it has no public face. Government fraud, waste, and abuse is dog bites man, and it usually only pierces our media bubble when it is uncovered on a massive scale.
In other words, there is significant journalistic bias in the coverage of FatCats vs. FatCratz, and our evaluation of the public sector vs. the private sector is therefore based on an inaccurate set of impressions and information.
FatCratz seeks to restore balance to the debate between the public and private sectors. It is a journalistic project that exists to put a face on the inefficiencies of the public sector, both malicious and passive. The goal is to shine a light on even the smallest sources of waste--those too small for investigation or standard journalism--so that public policy and public opinion might be shaped by a full accounting of the facts.
We also believe in the power of "sticky" stories, and this is where we need your help. We believe we will be most effective if we entertain, so send along your anonymous stories illustrating how wasteful our government can be.
Why would a public sector employee reveal the weaknesses of the public sector? Because she is a public servant, and every moment she is at work, she is spending other people's money.
Help us make government a better place to work.
Comments