Public v. Private Wages

This article from USA Today is more than a year old, but I just came across it and I'd like to save it for prosperity.

For total, overall compensation for public sector employees is roughly twice private sector employees. An excerpt:

"Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data are the latest available.

The federal compensation advantage has grown from $30,415 in 2000 to $61,998 last year."

This is interesting. A public sector job used to be low paying but the upside was you had job security. A private sector job used to be higher paying but has less security. Now, public sector workers have the best of both worlds. No wonder there are plenty of people looking to get into a good government job (the Bush Administration added about 90,000 additional federal employees). This is obvious and not new. But it bears repeating.

Thoughtbook, Pt. 1

What is the purpose of a government? What values do we want to capture in a government? Who governs? Who pays? Who follows? What must you do? What must you pay? How do we set it up? Who gets to define the terms of the agreement? Who watches the watchmen?

What do we do?

These questions scratch the surface. Some have answers that don't satisfy me.

Government can stir the drink, but it can only stir the drink poorly.

Few people give the time to be thoughtful about the positions they take. Be thoughtful. Why do you want a vast social safety net? Why do you want abortion to be illegal? Why do you think it's okay to ban certain foods, drugs, or types of speech? There are some fundamental decisions that go into those kinds of policy positions. Some may think that it's all a battle of minutia and semantics, but those who hold that position are wrong. Understanding core, first principle, groundwork positions is integral for coherent macro-level positions.

Most people in the US are hypocrites and hold contradictory policy positions. Ban this but leave that alone. Get your hands off of 'x' but grope 'y'. I think government should prohibit the sale of marijuana but permit the sale of beer. Growing pot for personal consumption is wrong but home brewing is as American as apple pie.

I don't advocate for one particular type of policy, just for consistency and thoughtfulness.

Pop

Greetings to my many (one) follower(s). This is an unofficial official post. Nothing serious here. Just sitting in Starbucks, sipping my tea.

I will be starting law school in a few weeks, where I am sure my mind will be blown with the download of legal knowledge, the hypocrisies inherent in the system (come take a look at the violence inherent in the system!), and the altering of how I think. I am sure my mind will explode with how smart my professors are. Harvard/Yale undergrad, Yale/Harvard Law, Ph.D., L.L.M., M.F.A. (what just doesn't belong?)

Reading "The Buffalo Creek Disaster" by Gerald Stern has been a nice and easy introduction to law, procedure and public interest. Not done yet, but it is moving along quickly. Some interesting things so far: (1) Local lawyers can take issue with, and potentially block, an out of state attorney/firm from representing local people, which appears to be some attempt by someone to keep work local; (2) the "corporate-veil" as being something that needs piercing, very violent so far; (3) how emotional the author is on behalf of the victims of Buffalo Creek, how his meeting with Zane Grey Staker (because of my grandfather, I know where the first name comes from) was made unprofessional at the coffee bar by Mr. Stern, perhaps it is hard to keep yourself emotionally distant when representing a group like these victims, but from my years in auto claims, emotions are what get you in trouble and cause you to need a ten minute walk around the building (waste of company time!).

I don't want to be a gunner (thanks for the lingo, Jeff) but I think I will be the step bellow it: the guy who comes well prepared, has one or two questions he needs answered, did all the reading, had a good night's sleep, and isn't a dick. Is that possible?

Since I will be on my own for the immediate future, I will have more time to devote to updating and giving you, fair reader (the one of you) more opportunity to discover the thoughts percolating in my head. Consider this the ice breaker, my first time posting, as a way to break the inertia. Happy reading.