Irony or Ignorance?

It seems odd to me that the popular perception of municipal jobs is that they're overpaid and underworked. Yet whenever I ask someone why they don't pursue a job in their city government they almost always reject the idea because they can make better pay in the private sector.

Union or not, I don't give a shit. I don't care about unions or corporations. I just want to see everyone working. My point here is that the popular view on municipal jobs is one of trying to argue both sides at once.

Which is it?

Well, after reviewing the publicly available salary rates for municipal jobs at some 20 city and state web sites, the answer is painfully clear: the private sector pays better rates by almost 20 percent. Anecdotal of course, but you can do your own validation as well.

And what about benefits? Glad you asked. A check on this yields an interesting trend:

Since 2007, most municipal benefits packages have been trimmed significantly lower than the private sector. Employees hired prior to 2003, in general, have better benefits, but marginally comparable to the private sector, with the exception of pension plans. Those are rare for latter employees. And even so, most packages have scaled back employer contribution rates as well.

The point I'm actually making is that the facts are laying out in plain sight, but few bother to look. The majority seems content to swallow the spoonfed distortions by media goons bent on a political agenda.

This is the same crap I saw with the "Obama-care" health care reform act legislation. I'm not defending that mess, nor am I supporting it. Both "sides" were shoveling distorted crap at a feverish rate. Not one person I met had read the bill, which was available online for anyone who cared. Most said "I don't need to read it. Glenn Beck explained to me." Or "Obama explained it to me" or some similar stupid ass nonsense.

In reality, that bill does little to attack some of the fundamental flaws of the status quo, yet the Left was convinced it fixed everything. The Right is convinced it will destroy health care. The truth is neither. But nobody bothered to read it themselves.

America, and much of the western world actually, have devolved into lazy, complaining conformists, who prefer to turn on a TV and be told (or suggested) what to believe. No care is given to the fact that their sources are paid by big business and come with hidden agendas disguised as "truth". Sadly, when the "truth" is sitting out in plain sight, they prefer to watch the TV to get the easy, lazy, distorted explanation from the well-groomed and well-dressed "expert" in between commercial breaks.

Sad.

Here's a radical idea: Turn off the radio and TV and go read the facts for yourself.