link to original reddit post by /u/R_O
Currently over half of the public EMS and fire departments in the U.S. are under-staffed and over-worked. One example, the Baltimore fire department, has responded to over 350k calls in the last 12 months being 25% under-staffed and working mandatory overtime on a weekly basis. The national turn-over rate for EMS worker is at a record high as are requests for emergency assistance. Obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and acute health conditions are rising on an annual basis.
Police departments across the country are currently responding to a record number of calls and crime despite a dwindling amount of officers, many of which vacated their positions in the last 12-18 months. Police officer training programs, equipment and salaries have all been cut pretty much across the board (with exceptions of some larger cities like LA). One city, Chicago, has been named the most dangerous and violent city in the U.S. Despite draconian gun laws and focused criminal campaigns, the police cannot seem to stem the rising violent activities. Detroit is another story, the DPD seemingly all but abandoning the city to it's fate.
With 'defund the police' campaigns and a fleeing workforce, lack of appropriate state funding in numerous cities with rapidly rising crime, and an exponentially increasing number of medical emergencies, this system will break. However the public will still be pleading for these services.
And then you have the U.S. armed forces. All branches are facing a manning shortage (especially the USAF and USMC) and also have major retention problems. Add in a critical rise in obesity and lack of force readiness and you have a compromised defense stance that has likely never been seen before in the American standing military. Military members face issues finding housing in the current market when they move or PCS (BAH is not meeting rising costs of housing), delayed payments from a over-worked and under-trained financial staff and a surprising amount are forced to utilize supplemental social programs like EBT, WIC and FAFSA. Entire base functions are being privatized and run by private contractors, namely IT, functional services and maintenance because they can do more with less, do not PCS and are cheaper.
So what does the State do when the public services that enforce their will and maintain a civil society break down and fall apart? Why even let it happen? And why seemingly support and endorse the privatization of these sectors?