Posted by
grad_1986 on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:10:49 PM
Well as you can tell from this title, I am going to offend a certain percentage of people who will read this as those who work for the government will no doubt complain saying "Hey MY job is a REAL job just like yours!". But if they take the time to read the entire blog they will see that I am not putting down WHAT they do, but instead WHAT they contribute to the overall economy.
Let's first start with where they get their money from. As it turns out their employer is the very same entity that they pay back money in the form of taxes. To compare that with the private sector, let's say I work for Apple (I don't) and Apple hires me and agrees to pay me $100,000 per year as a salary. I get my first paycheck and notice that Apple has CONFISCATED 25% of my pay. I inquire as to why they are doing this and they say it's money to be used for running the company and paying other employees salaries. I would complain that I am being ripped-off and that I am not working for $100,000 but $75,000 instead. Yet that is EXACTLY what government workers are doing. So let's say the $100,000/year employee is having 30% of their pay taken back in the form of taxes to pay their NEXT year's salary. Where does the OTHER $70,000 come ? Answer: The private sector. Without the private sector, the government sector would be a ever spiralling-whirlpool of death as each year the government would need to take out larger and larger loans to make up the difference of PAY - TAXES. Government jobs by their very nature NEVER help pay back the debt incured by their existence but instead exist for their own existence.
Second, let's compare purposes. President Obama keeps pushing jobs to build roads, bridges and public buildings. While it is needed to have these infrastructure elements, they in themselves are dead-ends. To compare, let's say a computer chip manufacture needs to build a new FAB to produce new high-tech-chips. Today, FABS cost over a billion dollars to develop. Companies such as Intel, or AMD will get investors or banks to fund the venture and will find many willing to do so because the FAB is not end-in-itself but is a means to making newer/faster chips that will be sold for a profit and allow the company to pay back the loan with interest and also may a nice profit for the investors. Compared to the bridge which might also cost a billion to build, which produces nothing but will begin deteriorating the second it is complete and need constant upkeep and maintenance. The loan (bond) is not paid back by some product of the bridge, but instead is paid back by taxes collected from future generations. You must also consider all of those jobs to be TEMP JOBS. They last for a year or two (or three) until the job is done and then they must move on to the next government job.
This is why I refer to REAL jobs verses GOVERNMENT jobs in the title. REAL jobs pay the bills of the government (workers pay and paying down the debt) whereas GOVERNMENT jobs exist for their own purpose.
So I am sorry to upset those who might work for the government but those are the realities of our society.