Two weeks ago, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Dick Rowland quoted an insightful article written in 1954 that is still relevant today.

John C. Sparks’ “If Men Were Free to Try” made a point that seemingly impossible tasks in 1900 -- such as air flight, long-distance conference calls, and a pneumonia vaccine -- have not only been overcome, but have shaped the world we live in today.

A seemingly manageable problem like ground transportation efficiency, however, has not been solved in the past 100 years. The difference? Of the above, the government decided it was in charge of ground transportation.

Transportation organization, though seemingly easier than the other tasks, has not improved to the same degree that air transportation, phone communication, and medicine has.

Locally, Mayor Hannemann of Honolulu County is going ahead full-force with his plan for the rail, in spite of arguments of inefficiency, possible eminent domain issues, and viable alternatives.

If ground transportation on Oahu were privatized—truly privatized with no government-constructed monopolies—would we run into these same problems?

Sparks was right in that all these impossible feats were accomplished not because a government mandated long-distance conference calls to be put into wide-use, but because there was a sincere demand among the consumers, an honest supply from businesses, and an entrepreneurial spirit to guide them all.

These transactions require an honesty and ingenuity that the government cannot provide. The government cannot produce anything unless it takes from someone else -- a negative way of operating that, in the process, eliminates incentive for efficiency. The only way the government will profit is to parade its need while blatantly ignoring other alternatives, and then take all it can from its taxpayers their hard earned work.

In the end, this negative process results in the lack of innovation that the positive results-aimed private industries will produce. With the government’s blind demand, the taxpayers lose the benefit of an open-minded entrepreneurial spirit that seeks the best solution constantly.

The private industry’s innovations naturally solve its own problems; developments in air flight, phone usage, and medicine have all come about in this more efficient method. No doubt, were someone designing the rail for profit, he or she would immediately pay attention to concerns raised. Why can’t this happen with Hawaii’s ground transportation?

Frederic Bastiat states in his book, The Law, that when the government starts producing, “it substitutes the will of the legislator for their own wills; the initiative of the legislator for their own initiatives.” And that is exactly what is happening with our rail.

Reid Ginoza is an Intern with the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and will be entering his Sophomore year at Bennington College in Vermont.

A Fresh Perspective is a project of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Submit proposed articles to mailto:hana@grassrootinstitute.org