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There is a serious moral hazard faced by most administrators of the so called "heroic professions" (doctors, nurses, teachers, fire-fighters etc). The trouble i

There is a serious moral hazard faced by most administrators of the so called "heroic professions" (doctors, nurses, teachers, fire-fighters etc). The trouble is that their jobs involve taking care of people and a significant portion of their personal identity is wrapped up in this. Doctors will work extra unpaid hours "off the books" so patients won't suffer, teachers will buy classroom materials with their own money, fire-fighters will still respond to fires, even with inadequate safety gear etc. Bureaucrats are more or less free to make whatever cuts they want in these professions because they know that those on the front lines will quietly mutter "I will work harder" and pick up the slack until the stress finally drives them from the profession entirely. I've never once seen an employee of the DMV run out to kinkos and spend their own money because the copier was broken.

potatolicious 16y ago
It applies to a lesser extent to what we do also - if I had a dollar for every time coders and designers were shortchanged on time by management, but we pulled extra hours anyways; 'cos goshdurnit, we take pride in doing things right. It also reminds me of why I left the passion that led me to software - gaming. I did a lot of amateur game dev all through high school, even networked a fair bit with the local game studios and got some valuable mentorships out of the deal. But if there's any part of the engineering profession that screams of management abusing your love for your work, it's game development.
- neilk 16y ago
  You're right that people have that attitude, but pride in one's work is more advantageous in our industry. We expect our jobs to be relatively short-term (five years at most). And with every job completed, even for failed projects, we learn something new, and probably portable. I don't need my former manager to prove that I know what the "this" keyword does in Javascript. It's a lot harder to tell whether teachers are any good. I guess this is why they willingly submit to systems that privilege seniority.
mslate 16y ago
These "heroic professions" also share another common characteristic: they can do no wrong. Doctors? They self-regulate the size of labor supply in their fields, inflating their salaries. Why do you think we have a doctor shortage? You really think there aren't enough smart people to do the job? No, the AMA controls the number of med school graduates each year by limiting the number of accredited medical schools. They also lobby governments to legislate that nurses can't perform medical procedures (all towards the not-so-discrete goal of preserving their six-figure salaries). Teachers? They can't be fired thanks to tenure policies. This was the biggest issue with public schooling when I grew up, and [continues to be](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/nyregion/16rubber.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/nyregion/16rubber.html?_r=...). Survive three years and you have job security for life. If my workplace hired and fired based on seniority, we would have gone bankrupt years ago. Firefighters and policemen also can do no wrong--aside from amazing pensions they have great job security and the power to help those they know more than others in the event of disaster (e.g. Katrina). For every example of those in the "heroic professions" doing the right thing, you have the same careerism and self-preservation that those in private industry strive for. But in many people's eyes, they can do no wrong.
- RBerenguel 16y ago
  In part I agree with you. Tenure (which here in Spain is different: all public workers that got their job through examination can't be fired!) is a big problem. There are a lot of amazing teachers (I've had a lot in my life, since school through university), but there is a lot of lousy teachers (also had a lot of these) that do nothing and can't be fired. And the ones who love teaching (a few of my friends are math teachers) have to suffer more or less what the article says. Education always takes the blame, regardless of the quality of the teacher. Also, they have an increasing responsibility: parents no longer "educate" children (how to behave well, be quite, listen, be respective), it is something that now school teachers and HS teachers have to do, without any level of help from a lot of parents. A simple example, is that when a child gets some kind of "fine" (bad grade, a written note to her parents, whatever), most parents blame the teacher and don't believe "their little child" misbehaved.
  - 16y ago
geekam 16y ago
Reminds me of Atlas Shurgged. Who us John Galt!?
- nhangen 16y ago
  I'd like to see someone explain why they downvoted the parent. Is it because everyone dislikes Rand, or because of the comment itself?
  - scrod 16y ago
    I up-voted it because I thought it was supposed to be ironic.

potatolicious 16y ago

It applies to a lesser extent to what we do also - if I had a dollar for every time coders and designers were shortchanged on time by management, but we pulled extra hours anyways; 'cos goshdurnit, we take pride in doing things right. It also reminds me of why I left the passion that led me to software - gaming. I did a lot of amateur game dev all through high school, even networked a fair bit with the local game studios and got some valuable mentorships out of the deal. But if there's any part of the engineering profession that screams of management abusing your love for your work, it's game development.

neilk 16y ago
You're right that people have that attitude, but pride in one's work is more advantageous in our industry. We expect our jobs to be relatively short-term (five years at most). And with every job completed, even for failed projects, we learn something new, and probably portable. I don't need my former manager to prove that I know what the "this" keyword does in Javascript. It's a lot harder to tell whether teachers are any good. I guess this is why they willingly submit to systems that privilege seniority.

mslate 16y ago

These "heroic professions" also share another common characteristic: they can do no wrong. Doctors? They self-regulate the size of labor supply in their fields, inflating their salaries. Why do you think we have a doctor shortage? You really think there aren't enough smart people to do the job? No, the AMA controls the number of med school graduates each year by limiting the number of accredited medical schools. They also lobby governments to legislate that nurses can't perform medical procedures (all towards the not-so-discrete goal of preserving their six-figure salaries). Teachers? They can't be fired thanks to tenure policies. This was the biggest issue with public schooling when I grew up, and [continues to be](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/nyregion/16rubber.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/nyregion/16rubber.html?_r=...). Survive three years and you have job security for life. If my workplace hired and fired based on seniority, we would have gone bankrupt years ago. Firefighters and policemen also can do no wrong--aside from amazing pensions they have great job security and the power to help those they know more than others in the event of disaster (e.g. Katrina). For every example of those in the "heroic professions" doing the right thing, you have the same careerism and self-preservation that those in private industry strive for. But in many people's eyes, they can do no wrong.

RBerenguel 16y ago
In part I agree with you. Tenure (which here in Spain is different: all public workers that got their job through examination can't be fired!) is a big problem. There are a lot of amazing teachers (I've had a lot in my life, since school through university), but there is a lot of lousy teachers (also had a lot of these) that do nothing and can't be fired. And the ones who love teaching (a few of my friends are math teachers) have to suffer more or less what the article says. Education always takes the blame, regardless of the quality of the teacher. Also, they have an increasing responsibility: parents no longer "educate" children (how to behave well, be quite, listen, be respective), it is something that now school teachers and HS teachers have to do, without any level of help from a lot of parents. A simple example, is that when a child gets some kind of "fine" (bad grade, a written note to her parents, whatever), most parents blame the teacher and don't believe "their little child" misbehaved.
- 16y ago

geekam 16y ago

Reminds me of Atlas Shurgged. Who us John Galt!?

nhangen 16y ago
I'd like to see someone explain why they downvoted the parent. Is it because everyone dislikes Rand, or because of the comment itself?
- scrod 16y ago
  I up-voted it because I thought it was supposed to be ironic.