I see your decision to accept "a reasonable degree of ineffiency... in strategic areas" as an optimization as well. I'm thinking that it could be seen as impro

I see your decision to accept "a reasonable degree of ineffiency... in strategic areas" as an optimization as well. I'm thinking that it could be seen as improving your long-term efficiency. I think we can distinguish between them: Long-term efficiency, where we get the most output over time by not burning anybody out, and by keeping morale high And short-term efficiency, which is what everybody focuses on, because that's all shareholders care about (gains now!) and it results in the kind of soul-sucking capitalist rat race that you seem to think the entire country lives in. I'm thinking also that this is a very city-minded view, or maybe a corporate-minded one, and if you were to make the decision to sacrifice some (a lot) of potential earnings and go found or work for a small business in a small town, you might find that not all parts of America value people only based on their contribution to the GDP.