I can honestly say that I consider myself lucky enough to have been brought up in London in the 70's..... all my school pencils, books etc were provided for me as was milk at break time. Health system was free - completely.. free dental, free medical. Only Harley st had private doctors. Buses, tubes, trains all ran.. all owned by " the people", you were expected to contribute to the cost of the ride.. NOT pay full amount plus a profit. Council houses were in abundance.. I grew up in one. Once a year, council would come round and repaint it for us.. we had a garden front and back and lived on an estate... playgrounds were provided.. after school activities like sport were provided.. musical instruments to learn - all provided.
It was the heyday of government owned institutions... but... it didn't stop people moaning about the crappy health system.. crappy public transport ( a man used to issue you with a ticket!).. didn't stop the unions demanding more and more and people going on strike because they wanted more and more.
So in the early 80's we had Thatcher and ALL was sold off.. I mean - ALL.. trains, buses, tubes, houses, parks, health, dental.. greed ruled and greed conquered.
Now the pittance each person earned by buying shares and then selling is gone.. the infrastructure is owned off shore and profits are imperative.. people pay and pay again.
UK manufacturing base is now a thing of the past.. it got sold off.. the city was the way to go and so the top 5% saw massive amounts to be earned as they did all round the world, then made it all implode and again... the people pay. Now the UK is in recession ( as are we but a denial recession) and has no way to dig itself out other than fleece its own people.
Government owned institutions on reflection were great... unfortunately, people have to have hindsight to realise it.

.. Sorry - I digress... back to solar...