On the firing, my first real job almost didn't happen. It was for a government contractor and another group was trying to slot its bad apple into the position.

On the firing, my first real job almost didn't happen. It was for a government contractor and another group was trying to slot its bad apple into the position. She was minority woman who was often found sleeping on the job, hanging out for hours in the women's restroom, etc. As a minority woman in a government job, she was impossible to fire. It wasn't until the politics settled that I could be hired. The real question is whether this is worse than the alternative[1]. The alternative was women and minorities unable to get jobs or stuck in their current job. I think in many areas our society has moved past that, but not in all. It is certainly worth looking at the regulations to see if we can improve the situation. 1. Unions are a completely different piece of the equation, especially when it comes to teachers. I don't know how you break that stranglehold, short of increasing completion by including schools that don't hire unionized teachers, but that's if you can even hire a non-unionized teacher.