The partial government shutdown’s impact and the teachable moment – Part 5
Continuing with today’s story based on the Q&A entry from Ignacio today...
3. You sound very ignorant even comparing their pay and benefits to the private sector. My pay while with the government and the military was peanuts especially going to the other side of the world (and to) end up being exposed to test vaccines prior to conflicts impairing your health and shaving 20 years off your life. I’m sure you get paid better, way better than an active duty radio/tv MOS member.
I imagine that you’re responding to the facts I’ve previously laid out demonstrating that the average federal government employee earns a salary of approx. $90k – with $128k in total compensation (includes annual benefits). The average private sector employee earns a gross salary of approx. $49k annually. First, to be clear, you’re right that average military salaries are peanuts compared to civilian federal government employees. The average salary in the armed forces across all positions is currently about $46k per year with soldiers earning an average of $34,000 per year. But again, only aprox. 18% of the federal government is essential services. Yes, those working in the other 82% of the federal government bureaucracy earn far more on average than the average military member serving their country.
It’s not ignorance on my part, it’s just the opposite and I’ve had many federal employees argue that it’s not appropriate to compare federal employees to the private sector. I can’t for the life of me figure out how that’s logical. 84% of those working in the United States aren’t in government at any level (federal, state or local). These are the people paying the taxes and thus the salaries and benefits of those in government theoretically working for them. I’ve even had some suggest that because federal employees pay taxes too it doesn’t matter. Well, ok, how many federal government employees do you think we’d have if only 16% of the country paid taxes to support the departments they work in? And how much money do you think they’d be making? The bottom line is that the average person in federal government who’s tasked with working for the average citizen earns well more than double the total compensation of that citizen. And then the average citizen is supposed to feel guilty when a small slice of the federal government employees face adversity for a few weeks. Color me cynical but something about that doesn’t seem right to me.
As for my compensation, I’ve been blessed by amazing listeners and advertisers that have provided me with an opportunity to earn more than I’d thought possible 22 years ago. That being said...like just about anyone with a meaningful degree of career success it certainly didn’t start out that way. I worked through an unpaid internship program and when eventually hired, earned minimum wage $4.75 per hour. The American dream is alive and well.
To continue with the series here's a link to the sixth and final entry: