If private firms owned everything

Hello everyone!

In this writing prompt, I'm not against some people's opinions regarding some of the articles I have read concerning this topic, but it gives me weird thoughts. Have you experienced or seen that very common situation where a compound that is close to a waterlogged road blocks the only passable road just because they don't want people to trespass into their compound? In such a situation, oftentimes, if a person violates the rule of leaving the waterlogged road to pass through their compound, hell will break loose. You've seen that, right? That's exactly an example of what would happen if individuals were meant to own roads. It would not be a livable world as people see it. One day, the private firm or individual that owns that road could decide to shut it down, and everyone in the area that uses the road will have to find an alternative....or imagine a situation whereby the ownership of a road increases the charges to use the road?
Maybe this is happening and operating well in the developed countries, I see it as odd in my part of the world.

This same thing applies to water. You wouldn't know how important or scarce water is until you live in a community, city, or state that has no water, I mean, a place where the water depth is very far and cannot easily be accessed, especially when boreholes need to be drilled. I once lived in one of the eastern parts of Nigeria, where we paid heavily to get water because the boreholes in the community were few and were owned by the wealthy people. Sometimes, we would get to the one close to us, and there would be no water. We would have to trek very far to another one, and if we met the same fate, we would just give up for the day.
If, in general, underground water were made to be owned by individuals, where households wouldn’t be allowed to drill from the ground as we commonly have today, unless they submit to the terms of the individual owners, it wouldn't be easy at all.

The thing is, we know that governments are not always up to the task in terms of provisions for basic amenities, but the truth is, with these things in their hands, life has been, and will be, a bit more livable with regards to the taxes and fees we pay when using these amenities. Just like the roads we have in Nigeria, we have the freedom to travel everywhere without the need to pay directly for usage, as private organizations would implement if they owned the roads. The only thing we pay for often, which is against the law, are the tips to the security officers (particularly the police) while traveling the roads.

For water, drilling into one’s home is absolutely free. There are no charges for that, at least in the state I live in. In some communities, free water is distributed to different spots in the streets of the community. This is usually found in the villages, and the citizens do not pay for such, as it is the work of the government.

Private ownership of these facilities and natural resources would surely raise the cost of living in terms of the standard of living.

Thanks for reading.

Image used is mine