Vox Day wrote a great article this week where he delves into the types of people who join the police force. This is one of those things that got me thinking as well: what kind of people get employed by the government?
I'm talking about all the various government jobs that are out there. I'm fairly certain that if there is a job in the private sector, there is probably something equivalent in the government. I know I could be a software developer in some government agency somewhere. In fact, I'm fairly certain that I would make more money, get better benefits, and maybe even have a security clearance to find out what Sandy Berger did steal from the National Archives.
So why don't I do it? Well, the reason is simple: I got into software development because it is the profession I like doing and because I despise government work. From what I've heard, most Federal workers don't do much of anything. While I may be a more productive blogger (or porn-viewer), I would still find myself feeling like I'm wasting my life on the taxpayer's dime. I'll take wasting my time on my company's client's dime, thank you very much. At least they willing gave us money in return for the product my company produces.
I believe this is the main thing that separates many in the private workforce from the government worker: those in the private sector love what they do for a living and are probably less likely to view it as a job with which to get by. I know that there are many people who view their job as just a job in the private sector and there are many people who love their job in the government (watch out for those people).
I remember when my wife and I went to get our marriage license (now, I hated having to do it, but it's what I had to do in order to get married). The courthouse clerk who handled our paperwork was probably the most impressive bureaucrat I've ever met. He was well dressed, unlike everyone else who looked like they had just come from the street, memorized everything, knew where everything was, and was probably just as old as I was. This was a man who loved his job as a courthouse clerk. I was quite impressed with him, needless to say.
But I don't think most people ever join government employment because they love the work. More than likely they do it for two major reasons: they want to get paid well or they like to bully people and no one else was hiring. From the Post Office to the military, I'm sure you find your fair share of people with a host of mental illnesses running things in the government. These are not people who you want running a hamburger stand. I know that politicians are bad, but think about the kinds of people who gleefully carry out their 'orders' without questioning their own conscience.
Have we considered that maybe, just maybe, most government workers have suppressed that little voice in their head that says, "Hey, that's a bad idea", when they are on the job? Maybe these people suffer from a mental illness, maybe they don't, but I do know no sane person would do half the things that the government does on a regular basis.
It is high time that those of us in the productive sector started looking down on the government worker as nothing more than an authoritarian moocher. Now I know that's asking for trouble, but if we keep on letting them walk over us, they will continue to bully the common man. There are enough laws on the books that allow bureaucrats to do just about anything they want and get away with it. Mark my words, until we start tackling these things head on, no amount of voting will resolve anything.
The political class, as it is being called these days, doesn't include just the 'elected' leaders, but the hundreds of thousands of people who 'work' for the government. It is high time we held them accountable as well.