What are you on about? Government work is a wonderful career opportunity for the non-HN crowd. These are often people of at best average intelligence and near zero ambition who want a cushy career that you can't be fired from unless you punch a supervisor (and even then it's tough).
There are wonderful people in government, I've worked with them. But there are a ton of people along for the ride and it's absolutely insane to argue the opposite given hundreds of thousands of government employees on cruise control. Plenty of folks would (and do) love a GS-scale gig that requires nearly no work and provides terrific bennies. They were never going to work for FAANG or another high-payer anyway.
And many of the people "in on the grift" are constituents, not donors.
The pay, job per job, is significantly lower across the public sector. You take a massive pay-cut. I don't know what lied to you and told you it's "cushy", but it's definitely not.
Also, you can absolutely be fired for performance. In fact, across the public sector probationary periods are typically longer than in the private sector. Meaning, it's actually easier for you to get fired.
These are the types of things people just sort of... make up... and then other people run with it because they like how it sounds and it reaffirms their ideology.
Interesting past tense. Why did you leave and does it involve getting paid more?
I've worked in government and it's just like the private sector. You have people that are there check in, make money, and go home, and you have people that care about their work. And I don't think there are any significant ratio differences between public and private in regards to that.
So? You're one of millions, and many people are ideologically opposed to the public sector. Obviously, I cannot trust you, so I won't.
What I've said isn't up for debate, it's just true. If you find yourself disagreeing, please feel free to look up salaries and probationary periods. You will see you are incorrect. From there, you can decide whether to change your mind or continue to believe in lies.
> But there are a ton of people along for the ride
For someone who claims to be not in the startup hustle world of Hacker News, you also don't understand that people "along for a stable ride" is how 98% of the world views employment.
There are wonderful people in government, I've worked with them. But there are a ton of people along for the ride and it's absolutely insane to argue the opposite given hundreds of thousands of government employees on cruise control. Plenty of folks would (and do) love a GS-scale gig that requires nearly no work and provides terrific bennies. They were never going to work for FAANG or another high-payer anyway.
And many of the people "in on the grift" are constituents, not donors.