&gt; He said that having a few very wealthy people decide what were the most important causes was bad compared to having the democratically elected government decide. You may disagree with that, but it is quite different from simply saying public good and private bad.<p>How is that any different from the comment you&#x27;re replying to?  If the government is running something, it&#x27;s a government (&quot;public&quot;) program rather than a private one.