link to original reddit post by /u/PaperbackWriter66
I was out on some public land today to do some shooting, land which is 'owned' by the Federal Government and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Because it's a popular shooting spot, the ground is covered with spent casings, expended targets, and often piles of litter and other trash. Why? Because anyone can come here and dump whatever shit they want, often without consequence, and there is no owner around to stop them and government workers have little to no incentive to stop them.
Do the government workers who manage the land ever clean it? Occasionally they will take care of the bigger trash piles, but the expended brass? Nope, never.
Enter into this one Mr. Methhead, whose name I did not get, who I see here every time I come picking up brass. Now, I ca't be certain, but I'm pretty sure he's picking up brass because the market will pay him to do this---he can send the empty brass to any number of places who will pay for dirty brass so it can be reloaded. As a result, someone comes out here and cleans up the spent brass and everyone ends up better off: he gets money, reloading companies get empty brass they can use (which will eventually meet the needs of hobby shooters like me), and the land gets cleaned.
And so we see the difference between public and private: where the government has no incentive to clean, a private actor does, and does so efficiently.
Just thought I'd share a little story with y'all, one which struck me as amusing when I thought about it.