Privateer Capitalism - Unlocking Efficiencies with a New Vision

Can Letters of Marque fix our Infrastructure?

While I lack not for ideas, conversation topics, or stories, I often find it hard to write anything! Fiction, non-fiction, or even tweets are hard for my brain to commit to publishing into the world. Thankfully, I drove over the same pothole that I’ve been driving over for the past two years and I was hit with (what I thought was) a great idea.

Bloated Government - Dissatisfied Citizens

Regarding issues people can feel, few rank higher than road quality/congestion, especially in small-town America. As farmland becomes subdivisions and abandoned lots turn into fast food restaurants, the roads see higher use that turns into multiple frustrations for drivers.

With public transit being non-existent, how do small towns cope with the burden of fixing/repairing roads? In my experience, they unfortunately cannot. Several issues dovetail to create a near-impossible mountain to climb, and raising property taxes is a sacred cow that can only be done once otherwise new city-council members will be elected.

The issues are:

• Too many roads for too little in tax revenue

• Increased usage and overreliance on roads means they need more frequent repair

• Lack of skilled workers in road repair

• Long wait times leading to increased costs to fix

While penny taxes get passed (but not always) and county officials do their best to put signs saying, “Your penny tax fixed this road/bridge” the sentiment around taxes is generally hostile. I’ve noticed that people who argue for lower taxes also want the government invested in high capital cost projects (roads/highways) that are incapable of turning a profit only because they see an intrinsic value in their existence.

Unfortunately, basic road maintenance gets thrown into long queues and the famous Parks & Rec scene becomes more of a reality than a throwaway joke.

A Libertarian Solution to a Democratic Problem

I was inspired by a story I read about a group of young adults in Oakland, California who were repairing potholes under the cover of night, because the government essentially stopped fixing the roads. While most people would say, “Good for them! They are doing what the government should,” and they are in one way right, having these repair pirates can be problematic in several ways.

Our public works have standards for a reason and if by attempting to fix a pothole, sinkhole, or other road issue they create a new one, the legal liabilities can be long and costly. Yet, outsourcing this work to private entities with some level of oversight could free up city/county/state resources to focus on larger capital projects with better timelines for success.

How do we make this work? Does this already happen?

My idea is for a jurisdiction to have a set of guidelines for road quality and repair, and offer limited slots for “letters of marque” that would allow private entities to fulfill maintenance contracts as they appear. You could create a fixed budget item for this mission, and freelancers would have to submit line-item invoices with a capped labor cost to be paid.

This way you can encourage passionate people who are motivated to do a job well done without price-gouging the taxpayer. We already see this happen with Request for Proposals (RFPs) in other areas, such as trail building, but recent DOGE budget cuts have devastated the AmeriCorps. As taxpayers notice, “hey, these roads are actually getting fixed,” I am pretty certain they would be more likely to approve small tax raises in the future, but giving them fewer services for more money is a recipe for disaster.

TL;DR: Use private sector labor to fix government-owned roads to reduce costs, timelines, and free up public sector resources for bigger projects. Better road quality means happier residents and safer communities.

Future Content

I really wanted this substack to be more urbanist/transit-focused, but I don’t know if the world needs yet another zillennial ranting about planes, trains, and automobiles. However, this issue (and prodding by some friends) led me to make my first Substack post!