"This was not a matter of essence. Any organization—be it a country or a city—would make different decisions depending on the positions and goals of its rulers and individuals."
Noah paused.
"The various services, facilities, industries, activities... only in different periods, environments, and according to different needs could one judge whether they should be controlled by the authorities or by individuals."
There was a widely circulated saying: if you found a website that looked incredibly ugly... no, rather, extremely bare-bones.
And the customer service number at the bottom always connected to an automated voice, while the string of digits needed to reach a human operator was nearly as long as a phone number, then you could basically be certain that it was a trustworthy official website.
That was the official style: do less, make fewer mistakes; do nothing, make no mistakes. They did not strive for excellence, only stability.
The eight words, "Do not multiply entities beyond necessity," were carried out to the fullest in the authorities' way of doing things.
So, you could not expect the authorities to do well at those finishing touches—things that could be done without, but were better to have.
But those tasks that daily life, or even survival, depended upon; those that required giving up immediate benefits for long-term development, even enduring considerable losses—you could safely leave them to the authorities.
Conversely, individuals pursued maximum profit and greater user numbers, often coming up with all manner of gimmicks and novel experiences to encourage consumption.
Thus, in those seemingly flashy yet impractical aspects of basic survival—luxury, entertainment, and culinary indulgence—private enterprises were the professionals.
But work essential to survival, work that could only be done well by giving up immediate benefits, could not be entrusted to individuals.
Otherwise, things would happen such as electricity bills