Wyeth and Pike by Motley News
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Ask virtually any private-sector employees how they feel about the perks and rewards that are offered to those who work on the payroll of the government instead of an independent employer, and you're likely to receive similar responses. Few among the commonly blue-collar ranks of privately employed workers are shy about the advantages of taking a job in the public sector instead of working for a private enterprise. Who can blame them, given the obvious differences between the two types of career fields and their systems of financial incentives, especially in terms of their benefits packages and the consequences (or lack thereof) for failing to perform their required job duties? Most government jobs come packaged with health benefits, paid vacation time, generous salaries, and an unspoken guarantee that the position being filled will always continue to exist in the future (unlike offices in the more competitive private market, which are subject to obsolescence if the business itself fails to succeed). Morality aside, why wouldn't anyone want job perks such as those that the government promises its employees? From an employment standpoint, it would be financial insanity not to.
Combing through the news lately in search of subject matter to write about, as I so often do, I must admit that every day I become more and more envious of those who are part of the public-sector workforce. It sounds like quite "the life" to me: working less frequently, with more holidays, and for better pay than most other employers might be able to offer, filling a position that isn't likely to be going out of business in the near future, and which above all else, offers health benefits (something that many of even the best employers aren't able to afford for their workers). If it was possible to remove the immorality of government from the equation altogether, I'd take just about any job offered to me that boasted perks such as these in a heartbeat. For now, however, all I can do is envy those who remain ignorant enough of the ethical implications of government and its methods of conduct to continue serving it. And believe me when I tell you that the media has been providing me with plenty of enviable subject matter lately, several of which are as follows.
The first example of some of the aspects of public employment that most private employers could never even hope to be able to compete with comes about in light of the recent and controversial "government shutdown." When the federal government was temporarily forced to halt many of its operations due to an alleged dispute between congressional democrats and republicans, up to 80,000 of its employees were forced to take a mandatory vacation until a decision could be reached regarding its new budget standards. I use the term "vacation" deliberately here, because essentially, that's all it was: congress has agreed to refund federal employees who were affected by the shutdown for the lost time they incurred as a result of the debacle. While such a refund alone is enough to rival many businesses in terms of their ability to compensate employees for time lost to them during a company hiatus, the paybacks for those who were temporarily put out of work because of the shutdown don't just stop there. Apparently, depending upon which state they live in and its individual laws regarding the matter, government employees who were impacted by the temporary closings are also going to be able to receive the unemployment compensation they would have been entitled to (had they not been brought back following the shutdown) in order to cover the time during which they were forced to spend out of work.
Talk about a dream job, right? Imagine if your boss realized his company was going broke, and closed it down to make some important budget changes, and in the process, you received both a paid vacation and an additional unemployment check for lost time once the company reopened? That would hardly sound like a bad deal to anyone, especially considering the fact that many independent business endeavors never reopen once they have reached the level of financial turmoil that the United States government has managed to get itself into. No business could ever afford that kind of compensation for employees who were put out of work as a result of its own financial mismanagement. Only the government could manage such a feat, due to its means of funding itself, which relies on the forcefulness of involuntary taxation rather than on peaceful and voluntary contributions offered in exchange for the services it provides. Such a business model would make any entrepreneur envious.
The second example involves now-infamous former UC Davis police lieutenant John Pike (pictured at the top of this page), who was catapulted into the public eye back in 2011 when he brutally pepper-sprayed 21 students during a peaceful demonstration that took place as part of the global Occupy movement. This week, Pike was awarded a $38,000 workers' compensation settlement that he pursued due to alleged psychological problems that he claims resulted in the aftermath of the incident. Pike, who also received eight months of paid administrative leave following his shocking display of violence, has since left the force altogether, but not without the kind of hefty compensation that accompanies a position of government employment. Despite the fact that UC Davis has been forced to cover nearly all of the damages (shelling out roughly $30,000 apiece to each of Pike's victims, in addition to his workers' compensation settlement), the fact remains that few other positions could ever possibly afford an individual the kind of cushy leeway that Pike has received, especially after having committed such an unspeakable atrocity.
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