I don't see many benefits arising out of this action by the White House. However, I do see retribution against the Democrats and an unwavering loyalty to the corporations by the Administration.
The end result of this action I think will be a reduction in services by the government, the Democrats having less money, and the major labor unions on the defensive.
I was thinking of entering the federal government as a clerical worker. I was inticed by the great benefits package and the pension plans. There was also the patriotism in serving my country as a civil servant. Now, I am not so sure. It takes six months on average to get a federal job. What will the civil service be like in six months? Will the benefits be the same, or will they be like my work which is cutting back on benefits and programs for the workers?
I feel we live in uncertain times with an administration that is seemingly against the people both in and out of our country. I would like to keep an open mind on this administration, but every day I grow more worried. This is the first administration in my adult life that I don't trust completely.
Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
Welcome to the wonderful world of privatised services!!
Also; you trusted a government ?!?! You must be crazy...
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Well, it's either that or have the Federal government run like the city of Pittsburgh.
They're about to raise taxes AGAIN to pay for all the services that they could be contracting out for.
Here's an example where privatizing is better... seasonal jobs. You don't need to create a commission and fund it year-round, just to trim trees. (This is something Pittsburgh has actually done, btw.) You contract it out on an as-needed basis.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
There are some areas where things should be privatized and some where it should not.
Things that can be privatized: - Parks Maintenance - Snow Removal - Garbage Collection - Cleaning Services Basically, anything that does not directly affect the operation of a Public service.
(In the last Toronto Strike, the Unions wanted wages comparable to Computer Programmers, plus job-for-life security which only I can dream of. I should have been a Garbageman. Why waste a ton of money on Tuition when you can make the same amount as a Garbageman? These issues went to Arbitration, and I'm not happy to say that the Arbitrator sided with the union)
Things that should NOT be privatized: - Transit (their wages need to be clipped though) - Public Utilities (hydro and water) - Firefighters - Domestic Security (Police, Military, etc).
-------------------- "And slowly, you come to realize, it's all as it should be, you can only do so much. If you're game enough, you could place your trust in me. For the love of life, there's a tradeoff, we could lose it all but we'll go down fighting...." - David Sylvian FreeSpace 2, the greatest space sim of all time, now remastered!
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Quite frankly, I'd rather have on-time garbage removal and snow-free streets than version 1.5.1 of Updater Prime. I can live just fine without new software for months at a time. I think you have an overinflated sense of the importance of your career. I can't see why I should pay programmers anything more than minimum wage to spew out line after line of buggy code when there are armies of brainy schoolkids willing to do the same thing for free.
I hyperbolize, but consider: Without people working very hard to keep my roads free and clear I would get almost no value whatsoever out of my days. At the same time, considering the side effects that Office XP has had on my computer, I'd say its value is actually negative. (And yet my options are more or less limited to it, though this is largely my fault, all things considered.)
Registered: Mar 1999
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
"This is an effort to get the best deal for the taxpayers and the best service for the government, for the citizens,"
And what about the citizens and taxpayers that get laid off when the private corporations take over? I doubt that they'll all get to keep thier jobs...
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
quote: I can't see why I should pay programmers anything more than minimum wage to spew out line after line of buggy code when there are armies of brainy schoolkids willing to do the same thing for free.
You could say the same thing about many, many professions, though I admit trashing programmers is a good choice.
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
I dunno, its my experience that those armies of brainy schoolkids typically want money just as much, if not more than the rest of us. If not to pay for tuition, than for the latest pop culture items or entertainment.
For all the greatness of the open-source software, I really doubt it will ever replace commercial software. While there's a certain "nerdy coolness" in programming Linux derviatives or the latest Mozilla release to fight against "the man." (i.e. Microsoft)... you'll hardly find the same monentary-less motivation for programming bank software or medical software.
Thats the crux of things, isn't it? In most cases you get what you paid for, and programming is hardly different. Business programming is where the money really is, not home users. The last thing you want, is for the bank to go down for a day...or the power management system for the province to crash, because they skimped a few dollars on salary costs.
Your mileage may vary.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
quote:Originally posted by Sol System: Quite frankly, I'd rather have on-time garbage removal and snow-free streets than version 1.5.1 of Updater Prime. I can live just fine without new software for months at a time. I think you have an overinflated sense of the importance of your career. I can't see why I should pay programmers anything more than minimum wage to spew out line after line of buggy code when there are armies of brainy schoolkids willing to do the same thing for free.
Listen to FTCA, Sol. And when you are finished from whatever post-secondary studies, and are starting out with your career, come to Toronto, and see if your wages are equivalent to a Garbageman. And when you are laid off from whatever job you have, look at the Garbageman and his jobs-for-life security. Jealous? Do they deserve such perks while we go from hell and back just to make the same wages?
It's not the overimportance of my career. It's the fact that I do not believe that such a job like a Garbageman should make as much as skilled jobs anywhere else in the city. Like Mucus said, you get what you paid for. And I did not shell out a ton of money to get paid the equivalent of a Garbageman.
-------------------- "And slowly, you come to realize, it's all as it should be, you can only do so much. If you're game enough, you could place your trust in me. For the love of life, there's a tradeoff, we could lose it all but we'll go down fighting...." - David Sylvian FreeSpace 2, the greatest space sim of all time, now remastered!
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Uh, I'm on the cusp of getting a bachelor's in philosophy, with my specific interests being philosophy of mind/philosophy of science. If I play my cards right, I may be able to use the degree as a kind of makeshift cup from which to drink from, assuming it is of a firm enough stock. For this honor I have paid many thousands of dollars.
But I didn't do it for the money.
And I stand by my position that garbage removal is simply more important to people than code. Oh, you might argue that the basic substrate of society is code these days, and I'd probably agree with you. But I doubt most people see it that way, and most people probably shouldn't. A college degree means only that an institution is convinced that you have learned something. Financial value simply doesn't enter into it. If you feel like you got screwed, then I'm deeply sorry. You have as much of a right to a job as anyone else. But wages are determined by the market.
Blue collar jobs should pay well because they are unpleasent, unpopular, back-breaking, and without them civilization would fall to pieces. Surely you should know this? I'm sure that Toronto without programmers looks a heck of a lot nicer than Toronto without garbagemen.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
It is like the difference in pay between police/firefighters/emts and sports figures....
The unbalance is huge, and, if you see some one hurt or driving drunk you don't wish a baseball/basketball/football player were there... Or, mm, normally you wouldn't anyway....
So the gap is closing between computer geeks and what was once a slave-labour job.... GOOD!!!!!
Now, if we could talk Canada in to keeping there own trash, instead of fillinf St. Clair County's landfill I would be even happier....
-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
Registered: Sep 2000
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
quote:Originally posted by Ritten: Now, if we could talk Canada in to keeping there own trash, instead of fillinf St. Clair County's landfill I would be even happier....
Didn't the US want to dump several loads of radioactive waste in northern Canada a few years back?
I remember there were A LOT of people concerned. To be honest, I wasn't exactly thrilled about it either...
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Now, I am not so sure. It takes six months on average to get a federal job. What will the civil service be like in six months? Will the benefits be the same, or will they be like my work which is cutting back on benefits and programs for the workers? 
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