4 ms·

Too balance this perspective, let's remember that not all public workers are bad people. Many of them are also underfunded and understaffed, and don't have the

by tbran 4y ago

Too balance this perspective, let's remember that not all public workers are bad people. Many of them are also underfunded and understaffed, and don't have the lawyers and means of a rich corporation. The GP's "hoodwinked" was apropos.

willcipriano 4y ago
Does any government agency claim to be funded correctly?
- tbran 4y ago
  There was an article here on HN some time ago about some enormous project in California (a bridge? a tunnel?). IIRC the state's engineering department was quite small and underfunded, and so they depended on the contracted company for their engineering expertise. This did not go well. As I recall, the problems were that the state engineers were not experienced enough (because private pays better and seniors leave) and there weren't enough of them. For the life of me, I can't remember what the project was, but maybe someone else here does. How about small towns entering into agreements with big box stores where they are simply unmatched and "hoodwinked" into accepting arrangements that aren't favorable. [0] Presumably, towns could make better contacts with better legal resources. Do you have a better solution to this problem or should we just let the corps run our lives? [0]: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/11/3/big-box-stores-are-costing-our-cities-far-more-than-we-ever-imagined https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/11/3/big-box-stores...
  - willcipriano 4y ago
    It's just highly suspicious that every criticism of government ends up at "You don't pay us enough money" especially in the United States. It's never incompetence, corruption or malfeasance, the solution is always hiring more of the people who made the mess in the first place and paying the existing ones more.
    - tbran 4y ago
      Alternatively, there is room for "incompetence, corruption or malfeasance" AND being underfunded or understaffed. I don't think there are any absolutes here.
  - aequitas 4y ago
    I remember this story to. Probably from a YouTube channel. My first guess would be this one[0] but I can’t find it. [0] https://m.youtube.com/@PracticalEngineeringChannel/videos https://m.youtube.com/@PracticalEngineeringChannel/videos
  - jholman 4y ago
    I think you're looking for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZxqVC_tBdc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZxqVC_tBdc Note, however, that the state, in this story, that has underfunding problems and cannot figure out how to adequately supervise the civil engineering contracts is not California, it's Texas. Y'know, for all those who like to take sides on California vs Texas.
- Volundr 4y ago
  https://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/army-thanks-but-no-tanks-090719 https://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/army-thanks-but-no-ta...
nanis 4y ago
> Too balance this perspective, let's remember that not all public workers are bad people. "This perspective" said nothing about "public" workers being bad and only referred to the implications of the incentives they have at scale.

by tbran 4y ago

willcipriano 4y ago

Does any government agency claim to be funded correctly?

tbran 4y ago
There was an article here on HN some time ago about some enormous project in California (a bridge? a tunnel?). IIRC the state's engineering department was quite small and underfunded, and so they depended on the contracted company for their engineering expertise. This did not go well. As I recall, the problems were that the state engineers were not experienced enough (because private pays better and seniors leave) and there weren't enough of them. For the life of me, I can't remember what the project was, but maybe someone else here does. How about small towns entering into agreements with big box stores where they are simply unmatched and "hoodwinked" into accepting arrangements that aren't favorable. [0] Presumably, towns could make better contacts with better legal resources. Do you have a better solution to this problem or should we just let the corps run our lives? [0]: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/11/3/big-box-stores-are-costing-our-cities-far-more-than-we-ever-imagined https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/11/3/big-box-stores...
- willcipriano 4y ago
  It's just highly suspicious that every criticism of government ends up at "You don't pay us enough money" especially in the United States. It's never incompetence, corruption or malfeasance, the solution is always hiring more of the people who made the mess in the first place and paying the existing ones more.
  - tbran 4y ago
    Alternatively, there is room for "incompetence, corruption or malfeasance" AND being underfunded or understaffed. I don't think there are any absolutes here.
- aequitas 4y ago
  I remember this story to. Probably from a YouTube channel. My first guess would be this one[0] but I can’t find it. [0] https://m.youtube.com/@PracticalEngineeringChannel/videos https://m.youtube.com/@PracticalEngineeringChannel/videos
- jholman 4y ago
  I think you're looking for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZxqVC_tBdc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZxqVC_tBdc Note, however, that the state, in this story, that has underfunding problems and cannot figure out how to adequately supervise the civil engineering contracts is not California, it's Texas. Y'know, for all those who like to take sides on California vs Texas.
Volundr 4y ago
https://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/army-thanks-but-no-tanks-090719 https://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/army-thanks-but-no-ta...

nanis 4y ago

> Too balance this perspective, let's remember that not all public workers are bad people. "This perspective" said nothing about "public" workers being bad and only referred to the implications of the incentives they have at scale.