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The emotional aspect of "nationalizations" is so strong that the subject can't be tackled by pointing how unsuccessful they are, but by reversing the emotions it evokes. People is proud of something labeled "national", which leads them to pardon unknown limits of deficit as long as the symbol holds strong. Since it's a matter of pride, as long as the symbol holds strong it will be associated with national identity, leading to people to feel attacked personally if you point practical problems of the scheme, so they will stubbornly reject it beyond reason. So what I like to do is to remember people that when something is "nationalized" it doesn't mean that it now "belongs to the people", but the exact opposite: what's "nationalized" has no more to answer to the market but to the state, thus not answering to the market means it no longer belongs to the people, and answering to the state means it solely belongs to corruption, for demand and rentability are no longer a metric to drive production but the political agenda and internal favours. So the proper strategy to break that spell is to dissociate "nationalization" with the idea of "identity", complemented with their inherent economical failure as the last nail in the coffin.
That's quite interesting and it makes sense. It's hard to relate to for Americans, because we're so skeptical of national institutions (other than the military and park system).
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God bless that culture. But if the case arrives, that's the proper way to counter it. Here in Argentina "nationalizations", for boomers, are religiously sacred, and privatizations are the purest form of evil sacrilege. That's solely out of indoctrination, for national companies where always terrible and private companies excellent, but indoctrination on the symbol was religious. I'm not exaggerating, it's so strong, so embedded in our parents culture, that up to this day, even for ME (ME!!), the subconscious reaction to the sound of the word "nationalization" is embracing and warm, and the reaction of the word "privatization" is of rejection. So that much that I have to consciously correct it. The youth is thank god devoid from that influence, and will start fresh with a new culture that haves that compass corrected.
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Interestingly, "privatization" is also a dirty word here. People vehemently insist that all current government programs remain government programs, but they don't want anything else to be run by the government (except healthcare).
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Interesting grey situation! It's "easier" here for it's a black-or-white situation. From it, if the argument arises, I can advise to use the mentioned take to tackle it.
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