4 ms·

You'd have to be desperate to want to work for the US government after you've seen how things work there.

ethanbond 3y ago
Or patriotic. There are lots of highly competent people who work in govt because they want to bring some competence to it.
- behringer 3y ago
  You'd last 3 months.
  - ethanbond 3y ago
    I know many counter examples. Maybe you’re projecting?
  - Dove 3y ago
    I doubt you speak from experience, but I do - I've spent a couple decades doing government contracting of one sort or another. I'm not desperate - I know I could make a lot more money in another sector - I'm patriotic. And I would say the majority of people I've worked with over the years fit that description. Certainly not all of them, and certainly it depends on where you go, but I think it's more the norm than the exception. One thing I've seen a lot over the years is people moving around the industry to what they perceive as problem spots, with the intention of making everything better. They get there and find it's much more difficult than they expected. I'm not saying there's no corruption or abuse, I hear about it on the news the same as you. But it's rare enough compared to the sheer amount of honest work that I've never seen it personally. I think a lot of what is perceived from the outside as dysfunction is people trying to solve hard problems imperfectly. Government is hard.
    - behringer 3y ago
      keyword here is contracting
polski-g 3y ago
Abolishment of the Civil Service Commission in 1978 that guaranteed competency invited incompetent employees into the federal workforce. And if you've ever worked with someone incompetent, you look for the exit doors as fast as possible -- or a way to push them out. But given its hard to fire people in FedGov, all the competent employees work in the private sector as subcontractors. If a politician ever wants to bring back state capacity, they need to bring back the CSC.
- tivert 3y ago
  > And if you've ever worked with someone incompetent, you look for the exit doors as fast as possible -- or a way to push them out. As long as they're not your immediate boss, there's a third option: route around the damage and freeze them out.

Or patriotic. There are lots of highly competent people who work in govt because they want to bring some competence to it.

behringer 3y ago
You'd last 3 months.
- ethanbond 3y ago
  I know many counter examples. Maybe you’re projecting?
- Dove 3y ago
  I doubt you speak from experience, but I do - I've spent a couple decades doing government contracting of one sort or another. I'm not desperate - I know I could make a lot more money in another sector - I'm patriotic. And I would say the majority of people I've worked with over the years fit that description. Certainly not all of them, and certainly it depends on where you go, but I think it's more the norm than the exception. One thing I've seen a lot over the years is people moving around the industry to what they perceive as problem spots, with the intention of making everything better. They get there and find it's much more difficult than they expected. I'm not saying there's no corruption or abuse, I hear about it on the news the same as you. But it's rare enough compared to the sheer amount of honest work that I've never seen it personally. I think a lot of what is perceived from the outside as dysfunction is people trying to solve hard problems imperfectly. Government is hard.
  - behringer 3y ago
    keyword here is contracting

polski-g 3y ago

Abolishment of the Civil Service Commission in 1978 that guaranteed competency invited incompetent employees into the federal workforce. And if you've ever worked with someone incompetent, you look for the exit doors as fast as possible -- or a way to push them out. But given its hard to fire people in FedGov, all the competent employees work in the private sector as subcontractors. If a politician ever wants to bring back state capacity, they need to bring back the CSC.

tivert 3y ago
> And if you've ever worked with someone incompetent, you look for the exit doors as fast as possible -- or a way to push them out. As long as they're not your immediate boss, there's a third option: route around the damage and freeze them out.