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this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2025
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BoycottUnitedStates
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Having worked with lots of government departments (in Canada, but the principle is the same), basically all government "inefficiency" is caused by high accountability to the public. Governments have more guardrails on their activity than privately-controlled organizations, much more transparency, and much less discretion to jettison their obligations. Otherwise, government is just as efficient, or inefficient, as any other large institution. There's no magic energy field that makes government somehow worse at everything just because it's the government.
It's also very funny to hear startup people talk about inefficiency as if startups don't have a literal 98% failure rate. We would crucify our governments if they took risks like that, even though that's apparently how you create value.
Regardless, it's always been clear that these people are either too ignorant to understand, or too dishonest to admit, that their definition of inefficiency is just "things I don't like." It would be like if I pointed at the Pentagon budget and said that it represents $800B in government inefficiency. I do believe that money could be spent better elsewhere, but I'm not a child so I understand that it's being spent more or less exactly how the decisionmakers want it spent.
Coupled with the fact that for decades the American federal workforce has been lambasted as lazy, inefficient, and a downright drain on society by the right-wing media, is it any wonder that the christofacists that are currently in charge have an overwhelming disdain for federal employees?
Even most of the general population at least partially feels this way, "Good enough for government work" is a common phrase I hear. Like every large corporation, you are going to have those that are lazy, incompetent, or negligent, that's inescapable. But by and large the government is filled with people who have dedicated their lives in the civilian service of the American people, usually accepting less pay as opposed to their private counterparts.
Cutting fraud, waste, and abuse is a good thing in theory, but the government already has means and methods for this, not the least of which is their own employees, who know that we are using public money, collected from our fellow citizens(and ourselves!), and entrusted to us to make the best use. It is genuinely frustrating and disheartening to see the people we work for day in and day out assume the worst about us, and then vote for the corrupt morons that are now running the government. They complain about fraud, waste, and abuse, AND LOOK AT WHO YOU JUST VOTED INTO OFFICE!!
Sorry, it's just so frustrating to be treated this way, to be looked at as part of the problem, when I go to work, to do stuff to help my neighbors and family so they can have a functioning government.
Hello, fellow government employee. You are seen and you are loved. 🤗
Indeed, inefficiency means everything has checks and balances, which counters corruption.
The most efficient form of government is a dictatorship.