Uncivil Service (First)

I've wanted to try this 'blogging' thing for a little while now. I've never thought my outlook on life to be unique or noteworthy, but I do enjoy sharing my thoughts with people, especially when they are somewhat coherent. Therefore, here I go. Over the next span of time that I decide to keep writing, I'll cover the most random shit that you'll ever want to read, and I thought I'd start off with a topic near and dear to my heart, civil service.

With the politicos in Washington pontificating about the merits of shutting down the Federal Government, I'd like to take a minute to talk about what that really means. The career civil service branch of the Federal Government accounts for approximately 13 percent of the total budget of the US, but in the popular press, government employees are seen as lecherous faceless bureaucrats, similar to the scene from the movie Beetlejuice, where civil servants are depicted as lifeless suicide victims.

The truth is that the average government employee is just like everyone else in this country. I entered Federal service as I graduated veterinary school. I was offered a job with USDA because I had an interest in population medicine and epidemiology, a branch of veterinary medicine suited for either public service or academia, therefore, my path was relatively clear. For others, the choice to become a Federal employee isn't that easy. Federal salaries for professional occupations are on average significantly lower than that of the private sector. The lure of Federal employ revolves around stability. You sacrifice a premium salary when times are good, for the promise of a good retirement, and job security when times are rocky.

What's my point? Well, I get frustrated listening to news reports that assign some type of privilege to the career civil servant. It is nothing more than smoke and mirrors to demonize a population that only accounts for less than 1/5 of the entire budget of the United States.

What benefits do we gain from civil servants? Our water, air, and land is cleaner than it would be if left to our own devices or greed. We are protected from financial predators. We have safe food, safe transportation, and a relatively healthy population. We are allowed to freely express our opinions and given the opportunity to succeed.

At any rate, I've rambled on long enough. I'll be back with an array of dick and fart jokes, talk about gaming, and recaps of our RPG adventures, but I thought I should start things off on a semi-serious note and rant a little, not at the 'man', but at the 'anti-man'.


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