That could be. But I also think there are certain projects/work that you can only do in the govt. There are probably very few roles for doing fundamental astron

That could be. But I also think there are certain projects/work that you can only do in the govt. There are probably very few roles for doing fundamental astronomy science research outside of academia or government, for example. A physicist may turn down a higher paying gig in the financial sector because they want to spend their time studying fundamental physics. Others are probably conservative in nature and highly value the job security. Others, like you mention, may just not be able to cut it in the private sector. I suspect (admittedly without evidence) that someone in the NSA or Marines are not primarily driven by a paycheck. Maybe that's what you mean by "true believers"? You might need to define what you mean by "outrageously generous". I've worked in multiple public and private roles and, in general, the private ones were the ones with much more generous packages, in terms of pay and benefits.