Today’s government workers receive not only better medical benefits and retirement packages than private employees, but significantly higher base salaries, too — as well as easier working conditions and greater job security.
I’ve talked a lot about how this has contributed to the current out-of-control spending at federal, state, and even local government levels.
But one thing I haven’t done is mention how old hat this is. Karl Marx would have raised an eyebrow in recognition of this trend, and then stifled himself. For this kind of thing was predicted by the thinkers he got his exploitation and class theories from.
Only those thinkers did not identify “capitalists” as the exploiters. They saw unlimited government as the exploiter — with net tax consumers as the class (or classes) that government exploitation sets up.
The ideas of the French Industrialist School are not well known, today. They should be. Kids should learn in school about the ideas of historian Augustin Thierry and economists Charles Comte, Charles Dunoyer, and other followers of the great J.B. Say and Thomas Jefferson’s friend and favorite economist, Destutt de Tracy.
Real class tension, today, exists not so much between “rich” and “poor” (that’s socialist diversion) but between government employees — who make up a quickly growing sector of today’s otherwise moribund labor force — and the taxpayers who fund their salaries and benefits.
We need another revolutionary shift — but not of a Marxist variety. We can do better. Less violent, more sensible. Can’t we?
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
10 replies on “Today’s Class Conflict”
Kind of a Catch-22, though, don’t you think? Our kids today go to “free” government school. Guess they won’t be teaching too much that isn’t Marxism any time soon. It’s really up to the parents to ensure the quality education of their children. That’s actually as it should be.
I am seeing that shift that you mentioned happening already.
Unfortunately it’s going in two different directions.
As the ever increasing government regulations allow government to micro manage private businesses, these businesses become less private and more like another arm of government.
Cash businesses are more able to resist and are less and less likely to expand into other areas where big government will micro manage.
I suspect that’s why we see so many immigrants to our country in “Cash Only” businesses. Taxi Cabs, Chinese resturants, Carryouts, etc. They’ve already experienced Marxism.
There’s also the consideration that if you expand your small business enough to need employees you’ll have to be micro managed. Your small business will have to deal with minimum wage laws, workers compensation laws, child support enforcement, drug enforcement laws, OSHA laws, etc., etc., etc. So, more small businesses are going back to owner operator.
Eventually there are more people riding in the cart than pushing and the cart comes to a stop (Former Soviet Union).
People have to eat, so, the economy moves underground.
In the artic, due to an occasionally favorable environment and a lack of predators, the number of mosquitos per caribou vastly increases to the point where the number of parasites all trying to get blood out of each individual animal is no longer an annoyance and becomes instead a maddening, life-threatening menace.
When this occurs, the thusly attacked caribou will either run to exhaustion and death, or if able to find a shelter of mud or water, instead submerge himself to the point where his only exposure is just enough to get enough air to keep himself alive while drowning and suffocating the attached leeches.
That is also the current relationship between the Washington politicians and the half of the country that still pays taxes.
It would be nice if we could have the battle between taxpayers and tax users in a non violent way as you suggest. However, many decades of history show unions always result to violence if they don’t get their way, just as they are doing in Wisconsin now.
Dave
Let’s cut to the chase ….…
Private sector employers typically contribute 3%-8% of an employee’s cash pay towards retirement, yet the total cost (expressed as a level annual % of cash pay throughout one’s career) of Public Sector Defined Benefit pensions (for a 30-year employee retiring at age 55) ranges from 29% to 58% depending on the richness of the benefit formula (with safety workers generally at the highest end).
More specifically, for the noted formulas, the level annual %s of cash pay are as follows:
2% per year of service w/o COLA – 29%
2% per year of service with COLA – 39%
3% per year of service w/o COLA – 44%
3% per year of service with COLA – 58%
Even after deducting the typical employee contribution of about 5% of pay, that still leaves the employer (meaning TAXPAYERS) contributing 24% to 53% of pay. The middle of these %s is 38.5% vs 5.5% (the middle of the range of what Private Sector employers contribute) or SEVEN (yes SEVEN) times greater.
This is completely absurd, and the very modest “tweaking” at the edges by practically begging employees for a few more percent of pay contributions will NOT even begin solve the HUGE financial problem.
TOTAL COMPENSATION (Cash Pay plus Pensions plus Benefits) should be comparable in the Public and Private Sectors for similar jobs, and with Cash Pay in the Public Sector now AT LEAST equal to (if not greater) than that in the Private Sector, there is ZERO justification for greater Public Sector Pensions and Benefits .
Not for PAST service, but for FUTURE service, Public Sector pension accruals must immediately be brought FULLY down to the level of their Private Sector counterparts. Due to the huge reduction needed, the ONLY way to do this is to freeze the current defined benefit plans for CURRENT (yes CURRENT) workers, and switch everyone into a 401K-style Defined Contribution Plan with an employer contribution in the same 3%-8% range granted Private Sector workers.
Additionally, since Private Sector retirees rarely get any retiree healthcare subsidy before eligibility for Medicare at age 65, similar restrictions should apply to Public Sector retirees.
It’s TAXPAYERS’ money and Civil Servants are NOT more worthy of bigger pensions and better benefits.
Tough Love is making up stats again. I wouldn’t even buy a used car from this guy.
No boprn, Nothing made up … all accurate. As usual, YOU as a Civil Servant are doing your best to spread misinformation and distract from the ROOT CAUSE of our ills .… your excessive pensions and benefits.
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Jacob is right — it’s government takers vs. productive free market makers in conflict.
Our founders created a government intended to protect our liberties, from criminals, foreign enemies, and especially the government. Unfortunately, the government has exempted itself from prosecution of stealing from its citizens, and now is the greatest threat to our liberty.
How will it be resolved? I expect state governments to go bankrupt, and we’ll have to see what the Feds do (hopefully nothing — the worst thing would be to bail out a state). For the federal government, I expect them to inflate away their obligations and watch the dollar become worth less than the paper it’s printed on.
Why do I bother calilng up people when I can just read this!