3 ms·

> It's not just a 'perception of gov't incompetence': it's a widespread phenomenon How do you know? I know a couple of talented, hard working statisticians tha

by guelo 9y ago

> It's not just a 'perception of gov't incompetence': it's a widespread phenomenon How do you know? I know a couple of talented, hard working statisticians that work for the census. They tell me a lot of good work gets done there. Well, at least until this year when they have suffered complete demoralization after a Trump political appointee crashed their china shop.

jessaustin 9y ago
Lots of private sector employees manage to deal with the fact that their CEO is an asshole.
- taejo 9y ago
  For some agencies, it's not so much that the CEO might be an asshole (whether or not the president is an asshole is a fairly minor detail, IMO, as long as he can do the job). This is more like a pharmacologist working at a company making a vaccines being taken over by an anti-vaxxer.
  - jessaustin 9y ago
    I don't understand that analogy. I don't keep up with all the news, but my impression is that Trump hasn't done all that much. He has rolled back some regulations that originated in executive orders, left some positions unfilled, while eliminating some other positions. Do you mean to say that the conflict is between his "this bureaucracy will be smaller" and the public servants' "this bureaucracy must be larger"? The growth of the bureaucracy is not the purpose of any of these bureaucracies, even if some bureaucrats have convinced themselves otherwise. Even if you don't care about bureaucracy size per se but only want to see more regulation, "moar is better" is also not a sensible philosophy of regulation, in a government that is theoretically representative of the will of the electorate. ISTM Trump governs exactly like any other republican would govern, which is nearly the same as any democrat would govern. His vilification and resulting election are a property of the media/content landscape more than they are due to anything particular about him. I stand by my initial impression, that the "problem" is that Trump is an asshole.

by guelo 9y ago

jessaustin 9y ago

Lots of private sector employees manage to deal with the fact that their CEO is an asshole.

taejo 9y ago
For some agencies, it's not so much that the CEO might be an asshole (whether or not the president is an asshole is a fairly minor detail, IMO, as long as he can do the job). This is more like a pharmacologist working at a company making a vaccines being taken over by an anti-vaxxer.
- jessaustin 9y ago
  I don't understand that analogy. I don't keep up with all the news, but my impression is that Trump hasn't done all that much. He has rolled back some regulations that originated in executive orders, left some positions unfilled, while eliminating some other positions. Do you mean to say that the conflict is between his "this bureaucracy will be smaller" and the public servants' "this bureaucracy must be larger"? The growth of the bureaucracy is not the purpose of any of these bureaucracies, even if some bureaucrats have convinced themselves otherwise. Even if you don't care about bureaucracy size per se but only want to see more regulation, "moar is better" is also not a sensible philosophy of regulation, in a government that is theoretically representative of the will of the electorate. ISTM Trump governs exactly like any other republican would govern, which is nearly the same as any democrat would govern. His vilification and resulting election are a property of the media/content landscape more than they are due to anything particular about him. I stand by my initial impression, that the "problem" is that Trump is an asshole.