Fair warning. The following is personal pertaining to the loss of jobs and reduced pay:
Feel free to ignore the following personal rant if so inclined: I would like comment on another profession, one that is more personal to me, a profession some in our society would like to gut as the solution to our society's ills. I was a Wisconsin state worker for 36 years. I retired last December. Over the final five years of my employment I noticed there seemed to have been a lot of political rhetoric being stirred up focusing on a carefully contrived belief that state and federal workers are nothing more than leeches on the system. This is a silly notion considering all the goods and services being performed that few privately owned companies could afford stay in business, DBA. Are state & federally run "business" perfect? No, of course they aren't. Waste occurs. However, such imperfections aren't any more egregious than running any number of private corporations. Nevertheless, the notion of a state or federal worker's worthlessness seems to have become a form of religious fact to many people with strong conservative leanings. Having worked for the state of Wisconsin for 36 years, having watched and personally experienced Scott Walker become installed back in 2009, having watched our unions get gutted (an action Mr. Walker NEVER EVER advertised he would do doing his campaign... why would he keep such potentially devastating action secret? Who did he rightfully fear might come out and steal his thunder?), watching my net take home pay get reduced by over $450 dollars per month in order to pay for increased retirement and health insurance premiums, I can attest to how powerless any employee might feel no matter who their employer might be. Nevertheless, I was lucky. I know that. I already had over 36 years in the system. I managed to get out relatively unscathed with a reasonable retirement annuity intact. Now I can afford to focus 100% on personal projects that hopefully will make useful contributions to society, all due to the fact that I was lucky enough to have accumulated a decent retirement annuity that now allows me to work independently of what any employer might demand I do for him in order to get paid. I cannot say the same for new state employees now coming into the system. New state employees will have a much harder time saving for retirement, let alone save for anything. These days I would not recommend going into state service as a sound career move. While it is riskier, IMO, you are far more likely to generate significantly higher gross salaries and wages out in the private sector. However, and this is the real kicker, after you add in health insurance premiums and 401K plans that increasing numbers of employers are now refusing to contribute to, it's anyone's guess as to whether one's actual net take home pay would be any better. But hey! It will at least look like you're making a ton of money... before you add in the deductions. And isn't that what the illusion is all about? Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson svjart.orionworks.com zazzle.com/orionworks
