3 ms·

I don't think the GP is enraged that there are competent private sector actors. I'd guess they're enraged that this competence can't be transferred to the place

I don't think the GP is enraged that there are competent private sector actors. I'd guess they're enraged that this competence can't be transferred to the places where it could matter 10x or 100x more. I feel kind of similarly. An obvious example is that the president could have picked a highly competent, non-partisan manager as the head of his coronavirus team. Regardless of his competence, Vice President Pence is clearly a polarizing figure without a track record of dealing with crises of this scale. This crisis could really benefit from a highly competent manager who could bust heads and sweep away bureaucratic hurdles. But that person would need to be someone honestly trusted by all stakeholders. We're seeing lots of actors maneuvering to gain ideological advantage even in the midst of these terrible events (shame on them). I don't even know if such a person exists any more but their non-existence would mean the US is in for serious trouble.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
krapp 7y ago
The problem is, if that competent manager existed, Americans would never elect them or trust them. Americans have been taught to trust in the benevolence and competence of corporations, and that government is incapable of anything but cruelty and incompetence. You can never have a truly functional government in a country with an amendment to their Constitution that guarantees its people the opportunity to shoot it dead if they want. As soon as it even began to coalesce, Americans would hamstring it, strip it down and try to starve it to the point that it could be drowned in a bathtub.
smallnamespace 7y ago
The public sector also has a fixed pay scale for seniority that tops out around 160k a year salary. We could pay government employees more, but then voters would complain.
vikramkr 7y ago
Dr. Fauci is pretty popular as a choice like that right now
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

krapp 7y ago

The problem is, if that competent manager existed, Americans would never elect them or trust them. Americans have been taught to trust in the benevolence and competence of corporations, and that government is incapable of anything but cruelty and incompetence. You can never have a truly functional government in a country with an amendment to their Constitution that guarantees its people the opportunity to shoot it dead if they want. As soon as it even began to coalesce, Americans would hamstring it, strip it down and try to starve it to the point that it could be drowned in a bathtub.

smallnamespace 7y ago

The public sector also has a fixed pay scale for seniority that tops out around 160k a year salary. We could pay government employees more, but then voters would complain.

vikramkr 7y ago

Dr. Fauci is pretty popular as a choice like that right now

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]