> Because we have seen endless waste and corruption in our central planning, I no longer want them running or planning anything. If there was even a single government service that made even a semblance of efficiency and effectiveness then perhaps that one could remain. But overall it’s been an endless slide to shittiness in our public institutions.

Citation needed on this FUD.

Any "slide" is more likely due to punitive funding cuts in agencies like the IRS or due to corrupt leadership (including some presidential appointees) at agencies like the FCC. If anything, the Biden administration has been refreshingly high-functioning in its basic capacity as the executive branch of the federal government, regardless of how you feel about his public statements or policy agenda.

I'm not saying you're not correct wherever you are, but it's important to recognize that there is a significant cultural aspect in this. In the US, you would be entirely correct: talented people don't go into the government and thus the public sector is filled with subpar employees. In many EU countries, the government has more prestige, thus it attracts more talent and so it works better and gets more prestige. It's a feedback loop in both directions.

I can point to a great many effective government services in my own country in western Europe for example.

This book has about the same information content as The Conquest of Bread: a lot of interesting ideas and idealistic speculation, and not a lot in the way of practical instructions for organizing a robust large-scale society.

Edit: It's worth remembering that the earliest highways in the USA were privately-owned toll roads. And that the first mass transit systems were privately owned railroads. There is a lot to be said for free markets and the price system! But there is also a reason that these pieces of infrastructure ended up under the government umbrella.

Not at all. My argument is that some things are better when centrally administered to some degree, and that "I don't use it therefore I shouldn't have to pay for it" is itself an extreme and somewhat antisocial position to hold in general.