Thursday, March 4, 2010

The Wedge of Wage-Gap

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The goal of working in government is the betterment of the society for which that government is established. Sounds magnanimous, but it seems the goal of working for the state has become money and personal family security.

Western society is organized in a structure based on the human needs structure, or Abraham Maslow's "Need Hierarchy"

5. Peak Experiences
4. Self-Actualization
3. Psychological needs
2. Safety needs
1. Basic survival needs

How these levels of needs are described is debatable, but the key ingredient of these needs is Judgement. People on upper levels of the structure are very judgemental about people on the lower levels of this structure.

The fundamental indicator of the structure is wealth, and humans love to display their position on the need hierarchy by enveloping themselves in symbols, i.e. homes, cars, boats, jewelry, etc.

Humans choose to affiliate only with people of similar status. When they surround themselves with people of similar status, they think less and less about the rest of their society.

Every time you go to a party, don't you see state workers huddled together in the corner discussing their managers, and darting their eyes about looking for their critics from the private sector?

Here is the problem:

The government has become dynastic. Only the rich are capable of winning office, and only people who know someone on the inside can get a state job.

The salaries and wages of state officials and workers is three times outpaced by outsiders to such a degree that the state has become disconnected from its purpose.

The point of government is the betterment of society as a whole for which it was originally established, but the wedge of wage-gap has isolated government into a sub-culture of insiders living in fear of criticism from the private sector.

The people in government have lost their way. They should be motivated to better the lives of society as a whole instead of entering the the gates of the castle and raising the drawbridge, then tossing leftovers to the peasants below.

How is this done? Simply by mandating that salaries in government reflect the average salaries of their society as a whole.

Such a mandate will motivate government to improve itself by improving the lives of it's constituents.

Currently however, government chooses to claim a budget shortfall and cut certain programs so that the overlords can keep their rich salaries.

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