Bodhisattvacat
2004-09-12 18:21:50 UTC
It has been frequently said over the last two decades that the
government is inefficient, wasteful and controlling, and that the
best way to achieve America's greatness is to cut the government.
Having for the last several years had different kinds of
transactions with the Virginia state government and the Fairfax
County Government, I say that this is not necessarily the case. In
this government operation, I found an organization at least as
efficient, user-friendly and competent as any private sector
organization I've ever seen - that was in no way wasteful, corrupt
or oppressive, and that discharged its obligations at the highest
level of competence.
When I needed something done at the DMV, I entered a big building
with ten to twenty cashiers, was given the number and waited, for
an average span of maybe 20 minutes, to get my turn. When I needed
services, I encountered a very competent and compassionate group
of people who were rigorously selected and had many accomplishments.
The traffic courts were very efficient and fair. The roads were
maintained at the highest quality; the fire and police department
were excellent; and the federal agencies I dealt with, from INS to
IRS, provided excellent quality of services as well.
What the example of Fairfax County government proves, is that the
government does not have to be an inefficient, wasteful behemoth
that robs the taxpayer, but rather is capable of being a user-
friendly, competent operation that puts the private sector to shame.
It is certainly true that in much of the rest of the country the
government is not nearly as well-run as Virginia's, and I found the
services in California much poorer and less efficient. But the fact
of one excellently-run government disproves the myth that government
is invariably inefficient - and says that the best thing to do with
government is not to cut it, but make it run well.
How did the Fairfax County government achieve its level of
excellence? I do not know. But the fact that it did, shows for the
people all over the country and indeed all over the world that the
government can be a competent, well-managed organization. That
"bureaucracy" need not be strangulating, controlling and wasteful,
but can be as effective as any private-sector organization. And that
all government can aspire to this level of competence.
Lest we forget, the private sector is just as capable as the
government of bad practices. America's automobile sector in 1970s
and 1980s was near collapse, and it was only by learning from the
Japanese and by, in case of one major company, a government-
orchestrated bailout and newly imposed leadership, that this sector
regained competence and profitability. Private-sector bureaucracy
can be just as boneheaded as public-sector bureaucracy, and people
in both the government and the private sector are capable of being
the best as well as the worst. And due to the idealistic nature of
government-sector employees - the belief in public service that
motivates many people to take lower paying jobs than in private
sector - it is very well possible to make the case that they
comprise a better part of humanity and, as such, can be managed to
work as well as if not better than their private sector
counterparts.
It is thought that the private sector is made to be responsible due
to being accountable to the consumer, while the public sector lacks
such accountability and can bloat out of control. This is true; but
what is also true is that it is possible to deliberately apply
standards of competence and accountability to the government-sector
organizations, checking the employees for quality of work provided,
checking the agencies for monetary efficiency and user-friendly
service and checking the whole government for competency. Under
Clinton and Gore, the government in America underwent a thorough,
searching review that made it greatly improve its service. And
while some state-level organizations, such as California's, are
lagging, the fact remains that American government now is pretty
near par with private sector in competence and efficiency.
When Malthus and Ricardo, in early 19th century, claimed that free-
market economy was by nature going to result in misery of the bulk
of society, John Stuart Mill said that, whatever natural result of
market mechanisms, it is possible for societies to distribute wealth
in a way that is beneficial to the bulk of people. In response to
the claims that the government is by nature wasteful and
inefficient, I say that the fact of human will makes it possible to
manage the government artificially in such a way as to make it be
its best. That is, it is possible to artificially apply to the
government the kind of standards and accountability that market
applies on private-sector organizations, and in so doing make it
work at its best.
When I was making good money working in software industry, I had no
qualms at all about paying my taxes. I knew that what I was paying
for was worthwhile. I was paying for national security; for police
on the streets; for road construction and maintenance; for teaching
children the skills they need to be productive rather than turn out
as gangsters; for Social Security, so that nobody would have to
worry at age 70 or 80 if there is food on the table; for medical
coverage for those who could not afford it; and for such programs
as garbage pickup and rehabilitation of mentally ill - things that
the private sector would not do. The Republicans in South and
Midwest who rant against the government have no leg to stand on.
They, as farmers and oil men, are recipients of government
subsidies, and due to government subsidies that come out of the
taxes of everyone else they can fancy themselves real men while
they are shielded, by government, from foreign competition.
Meanwhile the "sissie" liberal half of America - its programmers,
manufacturers, financial service providers - operates in a climate
of cutthroat competition with the rest of the world and supports
through their taxes corporate welfare for real Republican men who
say they believe in free markets unfettered by government influence
and fancy themselves the engine of the economy and say they want
government off their backs.
The responsible step, given the experience of Fairfax County
government, is therefore not to cut the government, but rather
apply at all government organizations the same kind of standards
that have been met in Virginia. It is to make the governments work
like private sector organizations, with employees and agencies
made subject artificially to the same kind of accountability
standards that market imposes on the private sector. It is to make
the most of the efforts of the idealistic people who work for the
government and make it possible for their spirit of service and
innovation to thrive and make our government the best possible
government it can be.
Ilya Shambat
http://www.geocities.com/drr0cket
http://www.geocities.com/ilya_shambat2000/poems.htm
government is inefficient, wasteful and controlling, and that the
best way to achieve America's greatness is to cut the government.
Having for the last several years had different kinds of
transactions with the Virginia state government and the Fairfax
County Government, I say that this is not necessarily the case. In
this government operation, I found an organization at least as
efficient, user-friendly and competent as any private sector
organization I've ever seen - that was in no way wasteful, corrupt
or oppressive, and that discharged its obligations at the highest
level of competence.
When I needed something done at the DMV, I entered a big building
with ten to twenty cashiers, was given the number and waited, for
an average span of maybe 20 minutes, to get my turn. When I needed
services, I encountered a very competent and compassionate group
of people who were rigorously selected and had many accomplishments.
The traffic courts were very efficient and fair. The roads were
maintained at the highest quality; the fire and police department
were excellent; and the federal agencies I dealt with, from INS to
IRS, provided excellent quality of services as well.
What the example of Fairfax County government proves, is that the
government does not have to be an inefficient, wasteful behemoth
that robs the taxpayer, but rather is capable of being a user-
friendly, competent operation that puts the private sector to shame.
It is certainly true that in much of the rest of the country the
government is not nearly as well-run as Virginia's, and I found the
services in California much poorer and less efficient. But the fact
of one excellently-run government disproves the myth that government
is invariably inefficient - and says that the best thing to do with
government is not to cut it, but make it run well.
How did the Fairfax County government achieve its level of
excellence? I do not know. But the fact that it did, shows for the
people all over the country and indeed all over the world that the
government can be a competent, well-managed organization. That
"bureaucracy" need not be strangulating, controlling and wasteful,
but can be as effective as any private-sector organization. And that
all government can aspire to this level of competence.
Lest we forget, the private sector is just as capable as the
government of bad practices. America's automobile sector in 1970s
and 1980s was near collapse, and it was only by learning from the
Japanese and by, in case of one major company, a government-
orchestrated bailout and newly imposed leadership, that this sector
regained competence and profitability. Private-sector bureaucracy
can be just as boneheaded as public-sector bureaucracy, and people
in both the government and the private sector are capable of being
the best as well as the worst. And due to the idealistic nature of
government-sector employees - the belief in public service that
motivates many people to take lower paying jobs than in private
sector - it is very well possible to make the case that they
comprise a better part of humanity and, as such, can be managed to
work as well as if not better than their private sector
counterparts.
It is thought that the private sector is made to be responsible due
to being accountable to the consumer, while the public sector lacks
such accountability and can bloat out of control. This is true; but
what is also true is that it is possible to deliberately apply
standards of competence and accountability to the government-sector
organizations, checking the employees for quality of work provided,
checking the agencies for monetary efficiency and user-friendly
service and checking the whole government for competency. Under
Clinton and Gore, the government in America underwent a thorough,
searching review that made it greatly improve its service. And
while some state-level organizations, such as California's, are
lagging, the fact remains that American government now is pretty
near par with private sector in competence and efficiency.
When Malthus and Ricardo, in early 19th century, claimed that free-
market economy was by nature going to result in misery of the bulk
of society, John Stuart Mill said that, whatever natural result of
market mechanisms, it is possible for societies to distribute wealth
in a way that is beneficial to the bulk of people. In response to
the claims that the government is by nature wasteful and
inefficient, I say that the fact of human will makes it possible to
manage the government artificially in such a way as to make it be
its best. That is, it is possible to artificially apply to the
government the kind of standards and accountability that market
applies on private-sector organizations, and in so doing make it
work at its best.
When I was making good money working in software industry, I had no
qualms at all about paying my taxes. I knew that what I was paying
for was worthwhile. I was paying for national security; for police
on the streets; for road construction and maintenance; for teaching
children the skills they need to be productive rather than turn out
as gangsters; for Social Security, so that nobody would have to
worry at age 70 or 80 if there is food on the table; for medical
coverage for those who could not afford it; and for such programs
as garbage pickup and rehabilitation of mentally ill - things that
the private sector would not do. The Republicans in South and
Midwest who rant against the government have no leg to stand on.
They, as farmers and oil men, are recipients of government
subsidies, and due to government subsidies that come out of the
taxes of everyone else they can fancy themselves real men while
they are shielded, by government, from foreign competition.
Meanwhile the "sissie" liberal half of America - its programmers,
manufacturers, financial service providers - operates in a climate
of cutthroat competition with the rest of the world and supports
through their taxes corporate welfare for real Republican men who
say they believe in free markets unfettered by government influence
and fancy themselves the engine of the economy and say they want
government off their backs.
The responsible step, given the experience of Fairfax County
government, is therefore not to cut the government, but rather
apply at all government organizations the same kind of standards
that have been met in Virginia. It is to make the governments work
like private sector organizations, with employees and agencies
made subject artificially to the same kind of accountability
standards that market imposes on the private sector. It is to make
the most of the efforts of the idealistic people who work for the
government and make it possible for their spirit of service and
innovation to thrive and make our government the best possible
government it can be.
Ilya Shambat
http://www.geocities.com/drr0cket
http://www.geocities.com/ilya_shambat2000/poems.htm