I was in the construction business. There were stories of public housing buildings that were going to be demolished and contractors installing and getting sign off on new boilers so that they could get paid for a HVAC contract they had made years prior. Some of these buildings were demolished the day after the boiler was installed. This only happens in government.
Exactly how budgets work in my UK university. We get handed some money to spend on students and we duly spend it. But no-one knows or cares how effective that spending is or if it could be better spend elsewhere, and certainly no-one will hand back that budget knowing they might then get given less next time.
As a former cog in the machinery of government, you are absolutely correct, and maybe even a bit kind to the managerial class of gov't procurement and spending.
I was lulled into gov't employ at an early age needing income and stability, then I stayed just long enough (~30yrs!) for the future promised stability of a pension.
The job, one of a public safety provider, was good; helping people when they were the victims of circumstance, or just did something plainly stupid (only seen through the 20/20 lenses of hindsight).
But I could not justify the blatant irresponsibility of the underlying organizational disfunction, both financially and morally. The latter third of my career was spent trying to change it from the inside, with some, but not enough, success.
I now try to repent for my (albeit minimalistic) going along to get along survival, by trying to educate and illuminate others to what is going on behind the curtain of "government".
If we are to ever prosper again, today's version of government must be reconfigured.
Excellent article, looking forward to the next installment(s).
I like the “let’s get down to basics” approach, combined with the recognition that the realities of human nature should lead the way. Ideologues of every stripe seem to deal in some version of “everything would be perfect if only humans did not have human traits”. They then set about making rules for these imagined creatures that don’t actually exist.
I especially liked the kid’s allowance example. Clearly the people thinking up these policies have not successfully raised children.
We need a new kind of science based on what science really is: Can your experiment be independently replicated?
We need to think about the systems that govern over science. If we make them transparent and decentralize them, we can fix everything. Put everything on chain so other scientists can build off each other.
Listen to the wise Balaji Srinivasan talking about this on The Knowledge Project podcast:
Kudos to you for having "just" written! Much appreciation. Love the common sense narrative and spotlight on current events. A science teacher tells me that our gov't has our best interest at hand in regards to "climate change and CO2" and it is expected and acceptable that things get worse before they get better. I remind her how many billions of dollars have been spent and lost so far.
I like Martha's idea. I've often thought a daily gripe board might be fun or necessary 🤷♀️.
More fundamentally, the difference between government and private industry is that government seeks to prov diligence, while private industry seeks to achieve it. In government if you've followed the proper steps and protocols, you're safe. In private industry, you're safe if you accomplish the goal (effectiveness) using the fewest resources possible (efficiencvy0.
Best budgeting is zero budgeting. Whatever last year’s budget was whether there was an underspend or overspend, it will be reset to zero, so next year’s spending has to be justified. What is the return on the amount going to be spent - evidence please? And if that return does not match spending, no more cash until you’ve caught up. Oh and you’re fired because clearly you have no fiscal competence. That should reduce Govt by at least 80%. It’s OK to dream I suppose.
‘Remember Cash for Clunkers? In the name of taking old, polluting cars off the road, government basically paid up to $4,500 for these cars and destroyed them. That sounds great — if you ignore the fact that lots of people are looking for cheap cars to get back and forth to work and they’ve been priced out of the market by a government that’s DESTROYING assets.’ So we can all - well on this site anyway - imagine what will happen to the market when ICE cars are banned (2030 in Europe) and either used ones will have only scrap value, or Govt will buy up ICE cars so users can afford EVs. The transition will be hugely expensive to taxpayers and chaotic with many people without cars, vans, trucks, buses.
‘...to shift the natural balance of incentives — taxation and banning being the most obvious. (So-called “sin” taxes on items like cigarettes are very popular — taxes on gasoline not so much.)’ But whilst politicians et al accept that increasing the price of something means less will be bought, they glibly assert increasing the price of labour - minimum wages - will not result in less labour being bought, thus increasing unemployment and in fact reducing income for some who will have their hours/benefits cut as a result.
That was fantastic, thank you. For some reason I burst into laughter when I saw that image of Zelensky.
Speaking of which, the inmates are running the asylum: https://bitchute.com/video/0IZHNH86FeY3
I was in the construction business. There were stories of public housing buildings that were going to be demolished and contractors installing and getting sign off on new boilers so that they could get paid for a HVAC contract they had made years prior. Some of these buildings were demolished the day after the boiler was installed. This only happens in government.
10% to "The Big Guy"
Now that's an incentive! 🤡
Exactly how budgets work in my UK university. We get handed some money to spend on students and we duly spend it. But no-one knows or cares how effective that spending is or if it could be better spend elsewhere, and certainly no-one will hand back that budget knowing they might then get given less next time.
As a former cog in the machinery of government, you are absolutely correct, and maybe even a bit kind to the managerial class of gov't procurement and spending.
I was lulled into gov't employ at an early age needing income and stability, then I stayed just long enough (~30yrs!) for the future promised stability of a pension.
The job, one of a public safety provider, was good; helping people when they were the victims of circumstance, or just did something plainly stupid (only seen through the 20/20 lenses of hindsight).
But I could not justify the blatant irresponsibility of the underlying organizational disfunction, both financially and morally. The latter third of my career was spent trying to change it from the inside, with some, but not enough, success.
I now try to repent for my (albeit minimalistic) going along to get along survival, by trying to educate and illuminate others to what is going on behind the curtain of "government".
If we are to ever prosper again, today's version of government must be reconfigured.
Great post!
Cats don't get to criticize punctuation. They poop in boxes.
Excellent article, looking forward to the next installment(s).
I like the “let’s get down to basics” approach, combined with the recognition that the realities of human nature should lead the way. Ideologues of every stripe seem to deal in some version of “everything would be perfect if only humans did not have human traits”. They then set about making rules for these imagined creatures that don’t actually exist.
I especially liked the kid’s allowance example. Clearly the people thinking up these policies have not successfully raised children.
Did you see that yesterday the Senate passed a 1-week extension of federal government spending?
Peer Reviewed Science is dead.
We need a new kind of science based on what science really is: Can your experiment be independently replicated?
We need to think about the systems that govern over science. If we make them transparent and decentralize them, we can fix everything. Put everything on chain so other scientists can build off each other.
Listen to the wise Balaji Srinivasan talking about this on The Knowledge Project podcast:
Start this at 26:10
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+kowledge+project+balaji&view=detail&mid=35DE2BA7D38A7A3B41C635DE2BA7D38A7A3B41C6&FORM=VIRE
Also please read this:
https://joshketry.substack.com/p/embrace-decentralized-systems-fear
Kudos to you for having "just" written! Much appreciation. Love the common sense narrative and spotlight on current events. A science teacher tells me that our gov't has our best interest at hand in regards to "climate change and CO2" and it is expected and acceptable that things get worse before they get better. I remind her how many billions of dollars have been spent and lost so far.
I like Martha's idea. I've often thought a daily gripe board might be fun or necessary 🤷♀️.
I could get rid of so many government positions that aren't needed. So top heavy and unnecessary!
More fundamentally, the difference between government and private industry is that government seeks to prov diligence, while private industry seeks to achieve it. In government if you've followed the proper steps and protocols, you're safe. In private industry, you're safe if you accomplish the goal (effectiveness) using the fewest resources possible (efficiencvy0.
Best budgeting is zero budgeting. Whatever last year’s budget was whether there was an underspend or overspend, it will be reset to zero, so next year’s spending has to be justified. What is the return on the amount going to be spent - evidence please? And if that return does not match spending, no more cash until you’ve caught up. Oh and you’re fired because clearly you have no fiscal competence. That should reduce Govt by at least 80%. It’s OK to dream I suppose.
‘Remember Cash for Clunkers? In the name of taking old, polluting cars off the road, government basically paid up to $4,500 for these cars and destroyed them. That sounds great — if you ignore the fact that lots of people are looking for cheap cars to get back and forth to work and they’ve been priced out of the market by a government that’s DESTROYING assets.’ So we can all - well on this site anyway - imagine what will happen to the market when ICE cars are banned (2030 in Europe) and either used ones will have only scrap value, or Govt will buy up ICE cars so users can afford EVs. The transition will be hugely expensive to taxpayers and chaotic with many people without cars, vans, trucks, buses.
‘...to shift the natural balance of incentives — taxation and banning being the most obvious. (So-called “sin” taxes on items like cigarettes are very popular — taxes on gasoline not so much.)’ But whilst politicians et al accept that increasing the price of something means less will be bought, they glibly assert increasing the price of labour - minimum wages - will not result in less labour being bought, thus increasing unemployment and in fact reducing income for some who will have their hours/benefits cut as a result.