no third solution » Archive
A Guy’s Gotta Eat
In response to my recent post, Government Employees Are Overpaid, someone objected via e-mail, I believe to one of my statements in the comments section, “Most of them don’t know it, because they’ve never had an honest, reflective thought in their entire lives, but they’re all thieves” (to be fair, many n the “private” sector fit that bill in one way or another too, so I’m not trying to single anyone out). I know government = bad, but you know a guys gotta eat. “Yes” a guy’s gotta eat. And “Yes” I’d steal a loaf of bread to feed my starving family. I can rationalize it, but it’s still probably theft. Sure, it gets insanely complicated and quick-like, because now you can take some of Chartier’s points and start overlaying them: … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blog Reactions, Employment & Labor, Government is Slavery
Government Employees Are Overpaid
A lot of people make a big fuss when the federal employee salary and benefit figures come out. There’s an article in USAToday that highlights the ever-widening gap between public and private compensation. For occupations that “exist both in government and the private sector,” government employees took home an average of about $68,000 in salary, compared to only $60,000 for their privately-employed counterparts. That’s a pretty sizeable gap. What’s more alarming is the value of fringe benefits: pensions, health insurance, vacation allowances, etc. Government employees took home an average of about $41K, compared to only $10K for comparable private workers. Do the math: that’s about a 50% premium. Many of them also get such unheard-of-in-the-private-sector benefits as: all federal holidays off work, four or more weeks paid vacation, 20-and-done for … Read entire article »
Filed under: American Politics, Employment & Labor, Taxation is Theft
Styrofoam Cups
At my office, a few months ago they discontinued styro-foam cups, which means I have to remember to bring in a coffee mug each morning, even if I don’t prepare a cup of home brew. Kind of inconvenient. What’s really inconvenient is after like 11am, when I don’t want coffee. I want some water. I can’t put water in my mug, because after you’ve tainted a stainless steel mug with coffee, everything tastes like coffee. I could walk to the drinking fountain every few minutes, but that’s not terribly productive. Or I could walk to the vending machine and purchase a bottle of water. But that means I’m wasting money, and to be honest, a plastic bottle is about as recyclable as a styro-foam cup, isn’t it? This was ushered in under an “environmentally … Read entire article »
Filed under: Food & Drink, Personal Life, Rants, Seen and Unseen