Competence and intent

In politics, competence sometimes serves as a rhetorical proxy for intent. Politicians like to talk about how terrific they/their ideas are. They aren’t always as gabby about what they/those ideas aim to accomplish.

Example: privatization. Some conservatives insist that private enterprise is simply more efficient--more competent--than the government. So why not let the private sector take over certain public functions?

But even if we concede that business is categorically more efficient than government, there remains the question of what it's doing so efficiently. If it's a for-profit company, its primary aim is to make money--whatever service it provides, however enthusiastically, the bottom line is the bottom line. And a capitalist society has an interest in its companies making money! But that doesn't mean that efficient profit generation is by definition superior to less-efficient mission-driven service provision. Is a great apple always better than a decent orange?