Think it through!

[vicarz]

While facebook and Glen Beck (a parody of a Kids In The Hall sketch it turns out) are debating the merits of a USA Today article claiming Feds make more than the private sector.
Here is the source material from July by The Heritage Foundation. (study link)

It's a bit of a read, but the obvious question is - If things are so good, why don't more people fight to get in the gummint? Where does this "us" vs. "them" mentality come from? Isn't the point of free market intelligent design by an unseen guiding hand of perfect knowledge? Why aren't gummint workers the best and brightest
(even this study concedes that the avg Fed has more education and experience than the equivalent private sector employee)
as private sector people glide to where they are the most rewarded?

Ugh - conservatives, fine, but you can't have it both ways:

Unfair evil conspiracy made up of hundreds of thousands,
who are simultaneously incompetent yet engaged in advanced coordinated subterfuge;

Free market with perfect information that needs no regulation,
where a huge portion of the workforce has an unfair advantage that creates a hole where the incompetent are overpaid while the hard-working skilled workforce is slaving away for substandard wages unable to benefit from the system that rewards idiocy.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

If things are so good, why don't more people fight to get in the gummint?

'Cause the application process is an unholy hell-bitch.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Well again, if that's the case the best and the brightest would be fighting to get through it. I agree it keeps people away, but then the question becomes if it's so hard - why are there so many accusations of incompetent government workers? How can they be so lazy and yet work harder than their private sector counterparts to garner employment?

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Plus there are plenty of hoops to jump through to get into med/law school. I've never heard anyone say they thought it was easy to get board-certified or pass the bar exam but plenty of people try.

I've never tried to get a job in the government but I had heard it was a fair bit of work. But I just figured it was the same idea...there are enough people wanting in that they can afford to make it a pain in the ass for applicants.

[jukebox-heroine.livejournal.com]

people don't go for government jobs because of the stellar pay. they do it for the benefits & job security. who can pass up lifetime health care & the fact that after your probation is up, you practically have to burn down the building to get fired?

[vicar.livejournal.com]

As someone that has fired dozens of Fed workers, I resent that (smiling!) It's actually not that hard to fire people - blame the manager that fails to do that part of their job.

[joanarkham.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a huge myth about government. It's not "can't" it's "won't".

Having said that, I think in a lot of offices it's easier to just make someone's life miserable until they quit.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Which is why this accusation is so funny compared to the private sector - ever seen "The Office?" Wonder why it strikes such a chord with so many? Ever received crappy service from a private company?

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Oh I hadn't known that. I keep hearing stories of crazy co-workers that aren't getting fired because "hey...it's a government job. You can't fire them as easily as you can in the private sector."

[vicar.livejournal.com]

That much is true - but it's not _much_ harder. In fact, a lot of the private sector fails to take action for fear of lawsuits. We just build the cost of litigation into our personnel processes and take the action anyway. Sue away!