We are hearing a lot these days from tea party advocates about the need to restore free enterprise, an implication that it has been taken away. We are told that democracy is built only upon the free enterprise system.
Not so.
Democracy is the idea that each citizen gets a vote, an equal say in government. When the economic system permits easy entry and competition between entrants, it is a free enterprise system.
As perhaps the most extreme example of socialism, communism has become the model used to criticize today's economic and governmental systems. In communism, few if any are permitted to enter freely into the major markets, there to produce and compete with the single controller of the nation's capital assets, the State. And where the State is controlled by a single party or association of bureaucrats, there is no democracy, no choice by the people of who will be calling the shots. No free market determines who may or may not enter it, or what prices they may charge for their goods and services.
Ours is a representative, not a pure, democracy. We have open, free markets.
Some markets are dominated by large groups. Wall Street dominates our banking system, yet an independent Federal Reserve Board has control over the monetary system. Our banks are owned by share holders, some being individuals, most being other large enterprises.
Whereby the vote of our representatives we have created entitlement systems, we have chosen government to provide for us in our later years, rather than depending upon our children as once was the case. This is not communism, but it is a long-standing form of socialism, one chosen democratically!
Whether it runs a military, an entitlement system, or an agency meant to foster a cleaner environment or a better education, bureaucracies tend not to work efficiently. Little if any competition encourages bureaucrats to be inefficient. But where there are few if any ways for many of these operations to be conducted competitively, we remain stuck with our bureaucrats.
Over my lifetime, I have seen the wages of non-unionized bureaucrats rise to unprecedented levels. Where once being a bureaucrat meant accepting a lower wage in exchange for an assured retirement after 20 or 30 years of steady and dependable work, now we have overpaid soldiers, overpaid politicians and overpaid local, state and federal workers, many of whom retire and double dip in second careers. Even our school teachers, dedicated workers in a truly noble profession, are being paid like never before.
Let's stop senseless hammering on socialism and free markets and start remembering from whence we came to where we are and by what means our governmental programs were changed by "We the People in our More Perfect Union."
Perhaps we do not need fewer bureaucrats, just fewer well paid ones.
• Dale Whiting is a Chandler resident
Cerulean posted at 1:24 pm on Thu, Sep 8, 2011.
I often think of bureaucrats the way I think of Conservatives and old age (but not necessarily in that order). They tend to settled into an easy chair and that is where they want to stay. It is as difficult to move a bureaucrat from a comfortable position, as it is to lift a fat cat from her resting place; she wants to fold back down into the cushion. Old people are the same. :)
Hierarchical pay scale in bureaucracies does seem to have elevated to mimic those of corporate institutions. The argument was that competent bureaucrats were not to be had unless they were paid a competitive wage. With more collage graduates looking for work, maybe that model can change? Na, too much like a Conservative.
That said, I also agree with Arizona Willie, most especially in that there are many people who fail to understand basic instructions on a form. I also personally know people who lack any amount of patients, which is another absolute requirement in the doctor’s office waiting room and the MVD.
Arizona Willie posted at 10:43 am on Thu, Sep 8, 2011.
You gotta love right wingers --- they always curse gov't employees and claim they don't work for their money.
Now, certainly there are some bureaucrats who should be fired, but they are actually few and far between. Most government programs are actually far more efficient than private enterprise.
Most government workers do a good job and try their best.
Claiming they don't work because they enforce regulations and present obstacles, at times, because you don't have your paper work in order, etc. etc. is misdirection at best.
That is why most people become unhappy with government workers. When they have to interact with the Government they aren't prepared and don't have their facts and / or paper work right; or they are in violation of some regulation or rule and resent having to comply and they blame the worker for the rules that they don't want to comply with.
You can see it in action even down at the local DMV. People curse the DMV and claim they are lazy and it take too long to get their licenses etc. etc. but if you sit and watch, many get turned away because they haven't done things correctly so they have to fill out the forms again or go home and get their title or something. So instead of blaming themselves it the government employee who is wrong in their mind.
Rich posted at 6:50 pm on Wed, Sep 7, 2011.
samkat
"Dale: I suppose you are an authority on all public servants."
Dale may not be. I was raised as the son of an executive at one of the largest defense contractors. I deal with U.S. public employees more than daily. In over forty years I have dealt with hundreds if not thousands. Growing up I met hundreds more And if you actually worked for the government, hard, the are the rarest beast on the face of the Earth. In well over half a century of knowing and dealing with people who worked for the government, I have never met one that did. Though your arrogance is typical.
samkat posted at 6:15 pm on Wed, Sep 7, 2011.
Dale: I suppose you are an authority on all public servants. I can tell you from experience that of the ones I personally interfaced with they did a darn good job for what they were paid. Maybe you should do a better job of researching your subject matter before condemning an entire establishment. It is a disservice to the hard working public servants who are highly skilled professionals. Most of our positions required a degree plus technical certification. I worked for the department of defense and our particular agency we had to sign mobility statements that allowed us to be moved where the agency needed us. Since you are an expert, I suppose you are aware that we were also deployed to hostile pay areas to support our war fighters. Many of my peers are still being deployed.
I don't know what you did for a living during your working years but if the public sector paid so well, why didn't you apply for one of those gravy jobs? I worked many 6 and 7 day weeks because we were so shorthanded that somebody had to ensure our mission was covered. Since we were salaried, there was no overtime pay.
Arizona Willie posted at 3:29 pm on Wed, Sep 7, 2011.
Pretty good attempt Leon. Next time, sober up, maybe hire an interpreter who speaks English as their native language instead of using Google Translate.
Proof reading is also a good thing..
And your caps lock key seems to have a mind of its own. You might want to invest in a new keyboard.
And then, oh don't we all wish, go take a course in writing 101 and learn about paragraphs, periods, semi colons ... you know all those funny marks you see in the paper.
But really, dude, sober up before you try again.