Privatization

[fisharmor]

Of course I do not advocate monopoly. Companies should be subcontracted for a limited period by a government auction on the basis of the best bidder gets the job.

Ok, but you're still attacking this from the angle of how we can save the government some money, and ignoring the fact that in order to do what you are proposing we need to ignore the massive infringements on property rights that allow government to do these things the way they do them.

What you propose is the very definition of fascism: the blending of business and government. That you want to cycle the business doing it based on "best bidder" doesn't change the fact that it's fascism.

(Also, not only is "best bidder" undefined, but you don't explain why an electric utility company will spring into existence every couple years to compete with the one company that has had the monopoly on work for that period, or otherwise how a group of companies will be maintained when they are not the "best bidders". Bailouts, perhaps?)

There are only two options available that liberty-minded folks should tolerate:
First, they could buy the easement in my front yard (or just confiscate it, since it's theirs anyway, despite the fact that I pay taxes on it) and be the ones to maintain it. Then it won't matter to me when they go digging it up.
Second, they could grant me allodial title to all my property, at which point the utilities and telecoms will have to deal with the fact that they have lines buried under MY PROPERTY.
Then they'd find out real quick that the way they've been doing things is complete horseshit, and they'd have to find another way to do it real quick.
And I guarantee that whatever they figure out - provided they had to add my concerns into the equation - would allow for REAL competition.

But like I said, simply rotating who has the ability to screw me over is not my definition of progress.