Curfew restrictions: Is it legal to leave your house?

urbanhawk17 said:btw, they might as well station snipers on Murter island too.

these guys are a bit sharp.

Grace Ramos said:I'll just keep clearing things out, and if I run into something even bigger...

And if one of those snipers actually takes someone out, will they just write that death off as another COVID case? 🤣

stormybadger8 said:Look, the whole thing regarding those of you working in government service is actually pretty straightforward...
The thing is, most of you don't actually get it—and the people working in the private sector, where I'm stuck myself, understand it even less.

It’s honestly hilarious watching you guys grovel toward the private sector. Most of them are stuck in the exact same mess as you—if not a hell of a lot deeper in it—even without all this extra nonsense.
Look, most of us over in the private sector don't get it. We don't see you individuals as the actual problem. Instead, we just sit here whining about how insanely expensive you are, how everyone's just a bureaucrat, how nobody actually does anything, blah, blah, blah...
Actually, in most cases, it’s the exact opposite. It’s a damn shame, really, but the truth is you guys are mostly underpaid and working way too hard—mostly because you’re constantly fighting fires in total chaos instead of actually following an organized system.

The real problem is your completely irresponsible employer—or honestly, just the entire organization they belong to.

Look, let’s be real—number one is pretty obvious: you guys are working with tiny paychecks. That part is absolutely indisputable.
What are we even talking about? It’s ridiculous. We've got an American Secretary of Commerce making less than some guy driving a skid steer on a construction site in Germany, yet the cost of living here is basically the same.
Honestly, you're just screwing over the entire country when you underpay the judiciary, the schools, healthcare, and all those essential services. It’s ridiculous. You've got people in critical roles wondering if they can actually afford lunch today or if they'll even be able to cover the utility bills. How is that supposed to work?
That’s exactly where the corruption creeps in. When you've got someone drowning in problems like this who also has their hands on public funds—or someone's offering them a kickback—it isn't a matter of "if" they'll take it. It's just a matter of when.
On the other hand, you’ve got this guy running a private gig—he's sitting on a massive payroll with zero actual work coming in. He’s broke, everything is a total mess, and he'll be begging for scraps sooner or later.
Look, let’s be real—the government is the biggest buyer on the block. That's where all the work is, and honestly, that's where the money is. So of course this guy is going to come out there peddling the exact same stuff...
The only real question left is who’s going to blink first—is he going to start making offers, or is he just going to sit there demanding?
Most people are decent enough, but let’s be real—when a golden opportunity for some bullshit presents itself, they jump on it. Then, once they realize they actually got away with it, they play the victim. It's pathetic.
I’m honestly worried we’re about to see an absolute explosion of this nonsense. Once things go totally sideways and everyone starts picking sides, even the people who never would've dreamed of doing this might actually cave in.

Problem number two: there’s this massive paradox where, in most sectors, your salaries are simultaneously way too high and yet somehow still nowhere near high enough!
How is that even possible? How can both things be happening at the exact same time?
Look, the reason those salaries are so bloated is simple: there are just way too many people in the system. We’ve got a massive crowd of employees clogging up everything, most of them working positions that serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. It's pure nonsense.
It's not like they're all just sitting around being useless bureaucrats. A huge chunk of them actually work their asses off, pulling 12-hour shifts and getting stuff done.
The real issue here is that none of this makes any damn sense. There’s zero logic behind what they're doing, and the way they've organized the whole mess is enough to make your head explode.

Just think about how insane it is that we’re dealing with situations like this. Take my town, for example—it's so ridiculously tiny it barely makes sense,
let alone the fact that we went from being one single municipality to becoming a city plus three whole new ones, all while having way fewer residents and businesses than before.
In this town, we used to have one basic public works department responsible for building and maintaining the gas, water, and sewer lines, handling trash, and keeping the streets clean.
Now, suddenly, we’ve been split into six different companies, which means six directors, six secretaries, six accounting departments, six billing offices, six meter readers, and blah blah blah...
It's not like these people aren't working—that's not true—but the damn truth is that their jobs make zero sense. Everyone is essentially doing the exact same thing. Honestly, any one of them could handle the workload for all six of them if they just had a little more time.
For every actual worker, you’ve got five others sitting in cloned positions, and that is a massive problem because someone has to foot the bill.
And then there's the issue of everyone having tiny salaries, mostly because that single pool of money is being sliced six ways.
Imagine how much better this would function if they all had triple the salary and just a slightly heavier workload; the city budget would actually save 50% on payroll...
Because realistically, whether you're processing payroll for ten people or sixty, the job is the same. It’s pure stupidity that now one guy comes to read the gas meter, another reads the water... one carries the gas bill, another carries the water bill, another handles the trash...

That's the core of the problem. It’s the same deal with the local municipalities, which at best have three or four times more staff than before, facing the same or even worse issues at every level.
It’s the same absolute nonsense with the schools. In this former municipality alone, we now have seven schools, which means seven different accounting departments and seven different payroll offices.
And then, of course, they can't even order damn toilet paper or hand soap, because they'll use every cent they have just to cover the payroll, and there's simply no money left for TP.
So we end up with this crazy paradox where teachers have low wages, yet education is insanely expensive because we have a massive surplus of administrative staff and a shortage of actual teachers.
It’s the same, if not way worse, modus operandi in healthcare and so on.

And I haven't even touched on all the other garbage, like agencies designed to oversee other useless agencies...

Look at this total idiocy with the movement restrictions right now...
We’re all going to be losing our minds at the government employees who have to issue these stupid permits for blah blah...
And those poor people are going to lose it under the sheer volume of requests, having no clue if they're allowed to issue them, how to do it, who gets them, or why. On top of that, they'll be stuck facing the pressure, the swearing, and getting yelled at, not to mention the risk of infection.
Police officers will probably catch the virus just checking every car on the road, and the officials issuing the certificates will too...

And all of this for what?
What kind of twisted logic makes it a problem when someone sits in their car driving from point A to point B, but it's perfectly fine to cram a huge crowd of people into a line just to get a permit? 🤦

Honestly, it would be easier, faster, and cheaper right now to just hastily open some shitty LLC for $3.25, issue yourself a permit, and not give a damn.
Then later, just don't pay your taxes and file for bankruptcy—hey, it was the pandemic, right?
But instead, we have to go out and beg for a permit just so we can visit elderly folks and bring them something to eat...

Look, I mostly agree you guys are in a tighter spot, but sorry, I don't start pointing fingers at private companies just because my own job goes down the drain. Even outside of a crisis, people get laid off in the public sector, believe it or not. I’m not the first to say it, but the private sector started this whole trend of blaming the government for cutting pay and handing out pink slips.

I don't entirely buy that you're in a worse position, though. My old man works in the private sector, and he told me for the next three months they’ll be paying minimum wage, but nobody is getting fired. Why? Because he’s smart about it. He builds up inventory month after month, isn't greedy, doesn't try to expand too fast, and doesn't freak out if he has to freeze operations for a bit. Freezing things for a few months isn't the end of a company. It’s fascinating how none of the private sector folks will admit that some of them have to lay people off right now because they made bad calls or took too many risks earlier on...

stormybadger8 said:Look, the whole thing regarding those of you working in government service is actually pretty straightforward...
The thing is, most of you don't actually get it—and the people working in the private sector, where I'm stuck myself, understand it even less.

It’s honestly hilarious watching you guys grovel toward the private sector. Most of them are stuck in the exact same mess as you—if not a hell of a lot deeper in it—even without all this extra nonsense.
Look, most of us over in the private sector don't get it. We don't see you individuals as the actual problem. Instead, we just sit here whining about how insanely expensive you are, how everyone's just a bureaucrat, how nobody actually does anything, blah, blah, blah...
Actually, in most cases, it’s the exact opposite. It’s a damn shame, really, but the truth is you guys are mostly underpaid and working way too hard—mostly because you’re constantly fighting fires in total chaos instead of actually following an organized system.

The real problem is your completely irresponsible employer—or honestly, just the entire organization they belong to.

Look, let’s be real—number one is pretty obvious: you guys are working with tiny paychecks. That part is absolutely indisputable.
What are we even talking about? It’s ridiculous. We've got an American Secretary of Commerce making less than some guy driving a skid steer on a construction site in Germany, yet the cost of living here is basically the same.
Honestly, you're just screwing over the entire country when you underpay the judiciary, the schools, healthcare, and all those essential services. It’s ridiculous. You've got people in critical roles wondering if they can actually afford lunch today or if they'll even be able to cover the utility bills. How is that supposed to work?
That’s exactly where the corruption creeps in. When you've got someone drowning in problems like this who also has their hands on public funds—or someone's offering them a kickback—it isn't a matter of "if" they'll take it. It's just a matter of when.
On the other hand, you’ve got this guy running a private gig—he's sitting on a massive payroll with zero actual work coming in. He’s broke, everything is a total mess, and he'll be begging for scraps sooner or later.
Look, let’s be real—the government is the biggest buyer on the block. That's where all the work is, and honestly, that's where the money is. So of course this guy is going to come out there peddling the exact same stuff...
The only real question left is who’s going to blink first—is he going to start making offers, or is he just going to sit there demanding?
Most people are decent enough, but let’s be real—when a golden opportunity for some bullshit presents itself, they jump on it. Then, once they realize they actually got away with it, they play the victim. It's pathetic.
I’m honestly worried we’re about to see an absolute explosion of this nonsense. Once things go totally sideways and everyone starts picking sides, even the people who never would've dreamed of doing this might actually cave in.

Problem number two: there’s this massive paradox where, in most sectors, your salaries are simultaneously way too high and yet somehow still nowhere near high enough!
How is that even possible? How can both things be happening at the exact same time?
Look, the reason those salaries are so bloated is simple: there are just way too many people in the system. We’ve got a massive crowd of employees clogging up everything, most of them working positions that serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. It's pure nonsense.
It's not like they're all just sitting around being useless bureaucrats. A huge chunk of them actually work their asses off, pulling 12-hour shifts and getting stuff done.
The real issue here is that none of this makes any damn sense. There’s zero logic behind what they're doing, and the way they've organized the whole mess is enough to make your head explode.

Just think about how insane it is that we’re dealing with situations like this. Take my town, for example—it's so ridiculously tiny it barely makes sense,
let alone the fact that we went from being one single municipality to becoming a city plus three whole new ones, all while having way fewer residents and businesses than before.
In this town, we used to have one basic public works department responsible for building and maintaining the gas, water, and sewer lines, handling trash, and keeping the streets clean.
Now, suddenly, we’ve been split into six different companies, which means six directors, six secretaries, six accounting departments, six billing offices, six meter readers, and blah blah blah...
It's not like these people aren't working—that's not true—but the damn truth is that their jobs make zero sense. Everyone is essentially doing the exact same thing. Honestly, any one of them could handle the workload for all six of them if they just had a little more time.
For every actual worker, you’ve got five others sitting in cloned positions, and that is a massive problem because someone has to foot the bill.
And then there's the issue of everyone having tiny salaries, mostly because that single pool of money is being sliced six ways.
Imagine how much better this would function if they all had triple the salary and just a slightly heavier workload; the city budget would actually save 50% on payroll...
Because realistically, whether you're processing payroll for ten people or sixty, the job is the same. It’s pure stupidity that now one guy comes to read the gas meter, another reads the water... one carries the gas bill, another carries the water bill, another handles the trash...

That's the core of the problem. It’s the same deal with the local municipalities, which at best have three or four times more staff than before, facing the same or even worse issues at every level.
It’s the same absolute nonsense with the schools. In this former municipality alone, we now have seven schools, which means seven different accounting departments and seven different payroll offices.
And then, of course, they can't even order damn toilet paper or hand soap, because they'll use every cent they have just to cover the payroll, and there's simply no money left for TP.
So we end up with this crazy paradox where teachers have low wages, yet education is insanely expensive because we have a massive surplus of administrative staff and a shortage of actual teachers.
It’s the same, if not way worse, modus operandi in healthcare and so on.

And I haven't even touched on all the other garbage, like agencies designed to oversee other useless agencies...

Look at this total idiocy with the movement restrictions right now...
We’re all going to be losing our minds at the government employees who have to issue these stupid permits for blah blah...
And those poor people are going to lose it under the sheer volume of requests, having no clue if they're allowed to issue them, how to do it, who gets them, or why. On top of that, they'll be stuck facing the pressure, the swearing, and getting yelled at, not to mention the risk of infection.
Police officers will probably catch the virus just checking every car on the road, and the officials issuing the certificates will too...

And all of this for what?
What kind of twisted logic makes it a problem when someone sits in their car driving from point A to point B, but it's perfectly fine to cram a huge crowd of people into a line just to get a permit? 🤦

Honestly, it would be easier, faster, and cheaper right now to just hastily open some shitty LLC for $3.25, issue yourself a permit, and not give a damn.
Then later, just don't pay your taxes and file for bankruptcy—hey, it was the pandemic, right?
But instead, we have to go out and beg for a permit just so we can visit elderly folks and bring them something to eat...

It's obvious that public sector employees are pissed because there are plenty of parasites among us who don't do a damn thing either.

But it's not right for private sector folks to demand pay cuts and layoffs for everyone in the public sector. If that starts happening, the ones who get screwed over first are the ones without political connections or "friends" in high places... and there are way more of us than private sector people realize.

stormybadger8 said:Look, the whole thing regarding those of you working in government service is actually pretty straightforward...
The thing is, most of you don't actually get it—and the people working in the private sector, where I'm stuck myself, understand it even less.

It’s honestly hilarious watching you guys grovel toward the private sector. Most of them are stuck in the exact same mess as you—if not a hell of a lot deeper in it—even without all this extra nonsense.
Look, most of us over in the private sector don't get it. We don't see you individuals as the actual problem. Instead, we just sit here whining about how insanely expensive you are, how everyone's just a bureaucrat, how nobody actually does anything, blah, blah, blah...
Actually, in most cases, it’s the exact opposite. It’s a damn shame, really, but the truth is you guys are mostly underpaid and working way too hard—mostly because you’re constantly fighting fires in total chaos instead of actually following an organized system.

The real problem is your completely irresponsible employer—or honestly, just the entire organization they belong to.

Look, let’s be real—number one is pretty obvious: you guys are working with tiny paychecks. That part is absolutely indisputable.
What are we even talking about? It’s ridiculous. We've got an American Secretary of Commerce making less than some guy driving a skid steer on a construction site in Germany, yet the cost of living here is basically the same.
Honestly, you're just screwing over the entire country when you underpay the judiciary, the schools, healthcare, and all those essential services. It’s ridiculous. You've got people in critical roles wondering if they can actually afford lunch today or if they'll even be able to cover the utility bills. How is that supposed to work?
That’s exactly where the corruption creeps in. When you've got someone drowning in problems like this who also has their hands on public funds—or someone's offering them a kickback—it isn't a matter of "if" they'll take it. It's just a matter of when.
On the other hand, you’ve got this guy running a private gig—he's sitting on a massive payroll with zero actual work coming in. He’s broke, everything is a total mess, and he'll be begging for scraps sooner or later.
Look, let’s be real—the government is the biggest buyer on the block. That's where all the work is, and honestly, that's where the money is. So of course this guy is going to come out there peddling the exact same stuff...
The only real question left is who’s going to blink first—is he going to start making offers, or is he just going to sit there demanding?
Most people are decent enough, but let’s be real—when a golden opportunity for some bullshit presents itself, they jump on it. Then, once they realize they actually got away with it, they play the victim. It's pathetic.
I’m honestly worried we’re about to see an absolute explosion of this nonsense. Once things go totally sideways and everyone starts picking sides, even the people who never would've dreamed of doing this might actually cave in.

Problem number two: there’s this massive paradox where, in most sectors, your salaries are simultaneously way too high and yet somehow still nowhere near high enough!
How is that even possible? How can both things be happening at the exact same time?
Look, the reason those salaries are so bloated is simple: there are just way too many people in the system. We’ve got a massive crowd of employees clogging up everything, most of them working positions that serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. It's pure nonsense.
It's not like they're all just sitting around being useless bureaucrats. A huge chunk of them actually work their asses off, pulling 12-hour shifts and getting stuff done.
The real issue here is that none of this makes any damn sense. There’s zero logic behind what they're doing, and the way they've organized the whole mess is enough to make your head explode.

Just think about how insane it is that we’re dealing with situations like this. Take my town, for example—it's so ridiculously tiny it barely makes sense,
let alone the fact that we went from being one single municipality to becoming a city plus three whole new ones, all while having way fewer residents and businesses than before.
In this town, we used to have one basic public works department responsible for building and maintaining the gas, water, and sewer lines, handling trash, and keeping the streets clean.
Now, suddenly, we’ve been split into six different companies, which means six directors, six secretaries, six accounting departments, six billing offices, six meter readers, and blah blah blah...
It's not like these people aren't working—that's not true—but the damn truth is that their jobs make zero sense. Everyone is essentially doing the exact same thing. Honestly, any one of them could handle the workload for all six of them if they just had a little more time.
For every actual worker, you’ve got five others sitting in cloned positions, and that is a massive problem because someone has to foot the bill.
And then there's the issue of everyone having tiny salaries, mostly because that single pool of money is being sliced six ways.
Imagine how much better this would function if they all had triple the salary and just a slightly heavier workload; the city budget would actually save 50% on payroll...
Because realistically, whether you're processing payroll for ten people or sixty, the job is the same. It’s pure stupidity that now one guy comes to read the gas meter, another reads the water... one carries the gas bill, another carries the water bill, another handles the trash...

That's the core of the problem. It’s the same deal with the local municipalities, which at best have three or four times more staff than before, facing the same or even worse issues at every level.
It’s the same absolute nonsense with the schools. In this former municipality alone, we now have seven schools, which means seven different accounting departments and seven different payroll offices.
And then, of course, they can't even order damn toilet paper or hand soap, because they'll use every cent they have just to cover the payroll, and there's simply no money left for TP.
So we end up with this crazy paradox where teachers have low wages, yet education is insanely expensive because we have a massive surplus of administrative staff and a shortage of actual teachers.
It’s the same, if not way worse, modus operandi in healthcare and so on.

And I haven't even touched on all the other garbage, like agencies designed to oversee other useless agencies...

Look at this total idiocy with the movement restrictions right now...
We’re all going to be losing our minds at the government employees who have to issue these stupid permits for blah blah...
And those poor people are going to lose it under the sheer volume of requests, having no clue if they're allowed to issue them, how to do it, who gets them, or why. On top of that, they'll be stuck facing the pressure, the swearing, and getting yelled at, not to mention the risk of infection.
Police officers will probably catch the virus just checking every car on the road, and the officials issuing the certificates will too...

And all of this for what?
What kind of twisted logic makes it a problem when someone sits in their car driving from point A to point B, but it's perfectly fine to cram a huge crowd of people into a line just to get a permit? 🤦

Honestly, it would be easier, faster, and cheaper right now to just hastily open some shitty LLC for $3.25, issue yourself a permit, and not give a damn.
Then later, just don't pay your taxes and file for bankruptcy—hey, it was the pandemic, right?
But instead, we have to go out and beg for a permit just so we can visit elderly folks and bring them something to eat...

The Secretary of Commerce in the Republic of America doesn't deserve a higher paycheck than a guy driving a truck at a construction site in Germany.

stormybadger8 said:Look, the whole thing regarding those of you working in government service is actually pretty straightforward...
The thing is, most of you don't actually get it—and the people working in the private sector, where I'm stuck myself, understand it even less.

It’s honestly hilarious watching you guys grovel toward the private sector. Most of them are stuck in the exact same mess as you—if not a hell of a lot deeper in it—even without all this extra nonsense.
Look, most of us over in the private sector don't get it. We don't see you individuals as the actual problem. Instead, we just sit here whining about how insanely expensive you are, how everyone's just a bureaucrat, how nobody actually does anything, blah, blah, blah...
Actually, in most cases, it’s the exact opposite. It’s a damn shame, really, but the truth is you guys are mostly underpaid and working way too hard—mostly because you’re constantly fighting fires in total chaos instead of actually following an organized system.

The real problem is your completely irresponsible employer—or honestly, just the entire organization they belong to.

Look, let’s be real—number one is pretty obvious: you guys are working with tiny paychecks. That part is absolutely indisputable.
What are we even talking about? It’s ridiculous. We've got an American Secretary of Commerce making less than some guy driving a skid steer on a construction site in Germany, yet the cost of living here is basically the same.
Honestly, you're just screwing over the entire country when you underpay the judiciary, the schools, healthcare, and all those essential services. It’s ridiculous. You've got people in critical roles wondering if they can actually afford lunch today or if they'll even be able to cover the utility bills. How is that supposed to work?
That’s exactly where the corruption creeps in. When you've got someone drowning in problems like this who also has their hands on public funds—or someone's offering them a kickback—it isn't a matter of "if" they'll take it. It's just a matter of when.
On the other hand, you’ve got this guy running a private gig—he's sitting on a massive payroll with zero actual work coming in. He’s broke, everything is a total mess, and he'll be begging for scraps sooner or later.
Look, let’s be real—the government is the biggest buyer on the block. That's where all the work is, and honestly, that's where the money is. So of course this guy is going to come out there peddling the exact same stuff...
The only real question left is who’s going to blink first—is he going to start making offers, or is he just going to sit there demanding?
Most people are decent enough, but let’s be real—when a golden opportunity for some bullshit presents itself, they jump on it. Then, once they realize they actually got away with it, they play the victim. It's pathetic.
I’m honestly worried we’re about to see an absolute explosion of this nonsense. Once things go totally sideways and everyone starts picking sides, even the people who never would've dreamed of doing this might actually cave in.

Problem number two: there’s this massive paradox where, in most sectors, your salaries are simultaneously way too high and yet somehow still nowhere near high enough!
How is that even possible? How can both things be happening at the exact same time?
Look, the reason those salaries are so bloated is simple: there are just way too many people in the system. We’ve got a massive crowd of employees clogging up everything, most of them working positions that serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. It's pure nonsense.
It's not like they're all just sitting around being useless bureaucrats. A huge chunk of them actually work their asses off, pulling 12-hour shifts and getting stuff done.
The real issue here is that none of this makes any damn sense. There’s zero logic behind what they're doing, and the way they've organized the whole mess is enough to make your head explode.

Just think about how insane it is that we’re dealing with situations like this. Take my town, for example—it's so ridiculously tiny it barely makes sense,
let alone the fact that we went from being one single municipality to becoming a city plus three whole new ones, all while having way fewer residents and businesses than before.
In this town, we used to have one basic public works department responsible for building and maintaining the gas, water, and sewer lines, handling trash, and keeping the streets clean.
Now, suddenly, we’ve been split into six different companies, which means six directors, six secretaries, six accounting departments, six billing offices, six meter readers, and blah blah blah...
It's not like these people aren't working—that's not true—but the damn truth is that their jobs make zero sense. Everyone is essentially doing the exact same thing. Honestly, any one of them could handle the workload for all six of them if they just had a little more time.
For every actual worker, you’ve got five others sitting in cloned positions, and that is a massive problem because someone has to foot the bill.
And then there's the issue of everyone having tiny salaries, mostly because that single pool of money is being sliced six ways.
Imagine how much better this would function if they all had triple the salary and just a slightly heavier workload; the city budget would actually save 50% on payroll...
Because realistically, whether you're processing payroll for ten people or sixty, the job is the same. It’s pure stupidity that now one guy comes to read the gas meter, another reads the water... one carries the gas bill, another carries the water bill, another handles the trash...

That's the core of the problem. It’s the same deal with the local municipalities, which at best have three or four times more staff than before, facing the same or even worse issues at every level.
It’s the same absolute nonsense with the schools. In this former municipality alone, we now have seven schools, which means seven different accounting departments and seven different payroll offices.
And then, of course, they can't even order damn toilet paper or hand soap, because they'll use every cent they have just to cover the payroll, and there's simply no money left for TP.
So we end up with this crazy paradox where teachers have low wages, yet education is insanely expensive because we have a massive surplus of administrative staff and a shortage of actual teachers.
It’s the same, if not way worse, modus operandi in healthcare and so on.

And I haven't even touched on all the other garbage, like agencies designed to oversee other useless agencies...

Look at this total idiocy with the movement restrictions right now...
We’re all going to be losing our minds at the government employees who have to issue these stupid permits for blah blah...
And those poor people are going to lose it under the sheer volume of requests, having no clue if they're allowed to issue them, how to do it, who gets them, or why. On top of that, they'll be stuck facing the pressure, the swearing, and getting yelled at, not to mention the risk of infection.
Police officers will probably catch the virus just checking every car on the road, and the officials issuing the certificates will too...

And all of this for what?
What kind of twisted logic makes it a problem when someone sits in their car driving from point A to point B, but it's perfectly fine to cram a huge crowd of people into a line just to get a permit? 🤦

Honestly, it would be easier, faster, and cheaper right now to just hastily open some shitty LLC for $3.25, issue yourself a permit, and not give a damn.
Then later, just don't pay your taxes and file for bankruptcy—hey, it was the pandemic, right?
But instead, we have to go out and beg for a permit just so we can visit elderly folks and bring them something to eat...

Some parts of the system are bloated with people, while others—mostly Health, higher ed, and science—are bone dry...

stormybadger8 said:Look, the whole thing regarding those of you working in government service is actually pretty straightforward...
The thing is, most of you don't actually get it—and the people working in the private sector, where I'm stuck myself, understand it even less.

It’s honestly hilarious watching you guys grovel toward the private sector. Most of them are stuck in the exact same mess as you—if not a hell of a lot deeper in it—even without all this extra nonsense.
Look, most of us over in the private sector don't get it. We don't see you individuals as the actual problem. Instead, we just sit here whining about how insanely expensive you are, how everyone's just a bureaucrat, how nobody actually does anything, blah, blah, blah...
Actually, in most cases, it’s the exact opposite. It’s a damn shame, really, but the truth is you guys are mostly underpaid and working way too hard—mostly because you’re constantly fighting fires in total chaos instead of actually following an organized system.

The real problem is your completely irresponsible employer—or honestly, just the entire organization they belong to.

Look, let’s be real—number one is pretty obvious: you guys are working with tiny paychecks. That part is absolutely indisputable.
What are we even talking about? It’s ridiculous. We've got an American Secretary of Commerce making less than some guy driving a skid steer on a construction site in Germany, yet the cost of living here is basically the same.
Honestly, you're just screwing over the entire country when you underpay the judiciary, the schools, healthcare, and all those essential services. It’s ridiculous. You've got people in critical roles wondering if they can actually afford lunch today or if they'll even be able to cover the utility bills. How is that supposed to work?
That’s exactly where the corruption creeps in. When you've got someone drowning in problems like this who also has their hands on public funds—or someone's offering them a kickback—it isn't a matter of "if" they'll take it. It's just a matter of when.
On the other hand, you’ve got this guy running a private gig—he's sitting on a massive payroll with zero actual work coming in. He’s broke, everything is a total mess, and he'll be begging for scraps sooner or later.
Look, let’s be real—the government is the biggest buyer on the block. That's where all the work is, and honestly, that's where the money is. So of course this guy is going to come out there peddling the exact same stuff...
The only real question left is who’s going to blink first—is he going to start making offers, or is he just going to sit there demanding?
Most people are decent enough, but let’s be real—when a golden opportunity for some bullshit presents itself, they jump on it. Then, once they realize they actually got away with it, they play the victim. It's pathetic.
I’m honestly worried we’re about to see an absolute explosion of this nonsense. Once things go totally sideways and everyone starts picking sides, even the people who never would've dreamed of doing this might actually cave in.

Problem number two: there’s this massive paradox where, in most sectors, your salaries are simultaneously way too high and yet somehow still nowhere near high enough!
How is that even possible? How can both things be happening at the exact same time?
Look, the reason those salaries are so bloated is simple: there are just way too many people in the system. We’ve got a massive crowd of employees clogging up everything, most of them working positions that serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. It's pure nonsense.
It's not like they're all just sitting around being useless bureaucrats. A huge chunk of them actually work their asses off, pulling 12-hour shifts and getting stuff done.
The real issue here is that none of this makes any damn sense. There’s zero logic behind what they're doing, and the way they've organized the whole mess is enough to make your head explode.

Just think about how insane it is that we’re dealing with situations like this. Take my town, for example—it's so ridiculously tiny it barely makes sense,
let alone the fact that we went from being one single municipality to becoming a city plus three whole new ones, all while having way fewer residents and businesses than before.
In this town, we used to have one basic public works department responsible for building and maintaining the gas, water, and sewer lines, handling trash, and keeping the streets clean.
Now, suddenly, we’ve been split into six different companies, which means six directors, six secretaries, six accounting departments, six billing offices, six meter readers, and blah blah blah...
It's not like these people aren't working—that's not true—but the damn truth is that their jobs make zero sense. Everyone is essentially doing the exact same thing. Honestly, any one of them could handle the workload for all six of them if they just had a little more time.
For every actual worker, you’ve got five others sitting in cloned positions, and that is a massive problem because someone has to foot the bill.
And then there's the issue of everyone having tiny salaries, mostly because that single pool of money is being sliced six ways.
Imagine how much better this would function if they all had triple the salary and just a slightly heavier workload; the city budget would actually save 50% on payroll...
Because realistically, whether you're processing payroll for ten people or sixty, the job is the same. It’s pure stupidity that now one guy comes to read the gas meter, another reads the water... one carries the gas bill, another carries the water bill, another handles the trash...

That's the core of the problem. It’s the same deal with the local municipalities, which at best have three or four times more staff than before, facing the same or even worse issues at every level.
It’s the same absolute nonsense with the schools. In this former municipality alone, we now have seven schools, which means seven different accounting departments and seven different payroll offices.
And then, of course, they can't even order damn toilet paper or hand soap, because they'll use every cent they have just to cover the payroll, and there's simply no money left for TP.
So we end up with this crazy paradox where teachers have low wages, yet education is insanely expensive because we have a massive surplus of administrative staff and a shortage of actual teachers.
It’s the same, if not way worse, modus operandi in healthcare and so on.

And I haven't even touched on all the other garbage, like agencies designed to oversee other useless agencies...

Look at this total idiocy with the movement restrictions right now...
We’re all going to be losing our minds at the government employees who have to issue these stupid permits for blah blah...
And those poor people are going to lose it under the sheer volume of requests, having no clue if they're allowed to issue them, how to do it, who gets them, or why. On top of that, they'll be stuck facing the pressure, the swearing, and getting yelled at, not to mention the risk of infection.
Police officers will probably catch the virus just checking every car on the road, and the officials issuing the certificates will too...

And all of this for what?
What kind of twisted logic makes it a problem when someone sits in their car driving from point A to point B, but it's perfectly fine to cram a huge crowd of people into a line just to get a permit? 🤦

Honestly, it would be easier, faster, and cheaper right now to just hastily open some shitty LLC for $3.25, issue yourself a permit, and not give a damn.
Then later, just don't pay your taxes and file for bankruptcy—hey, it was the pandemic, right?
But instead, we have to go out and beg for a permit just so we can visit elderly folks and bring them something to eat...

But yeah, they are useless. That’s just public administration, which is only one slice of the public sector. People keep pushing for pay cuts and layoffs across the whole public sector in general...

stormybadger8 said:Look, the whole thing regarding those of you working in government service is actually pretty straightforward...
The thing is, most of you don't actually get it—and the people working in the private sector, where I'm stuck myself, understand it even less.

It’s honestly hilarious watching you guys grovel toward the private sector. Most of them are stuck in the exact same mess as you—if not a hell of a lot deeper in it—even without all this extra nonsense.
Look, most of us over in the private sector don't get it. We don't see you individuals as the actual problem. Instead, we just sit here whining about how insanely expensive you are, how everyone's just a bureaucrat, how nobody actually does anything, blah, blah, blah...
Actually, in most cases, it’s the exact opposite. It’s a damn shame, really, but the truth is you guys are mostly underpaid and working way too hard—mostly because you’re constantly fighting fires in total chaos instead of actually following an organized system.

The real problem is your completely irresponsible employer—or honestly, just the entire organization they belong to.

Look, let’s be real—number one is pretty obvious: you guys are working with tiny paychecks. That part is absolutely indisputable.
What are we even talking about? It’s ridiculous. We've got an American Secretary of Commerce making less than some guy driving a skid steer on a construction site in Germany, yet the cost of living here is basically the same.
Honestly, you're just screwing over the entire country when you underpay the judiciary, the schools, healthcare, and all those essential services. It’s ridiculous. You've got people in critical roles wondering if they can actually afford lunch today or if they'll even be able to cover the utility bills. How is that supposed to work?
That’s exactly where the corruption creeps in. When you've got someone drowning in problems like this who also has their hands on public funds—or someone's offering them a kickback—it isn't a matter of "if" they'll take it. It's just a matter of when.
On the other hand, you’ve got this guy running a private gig—he's sitting on a massive payroll with zero actual work coming in. He’s broke, everything is a total mess, and he'll be begging for scraps sooner or later.
Look, let’s be real—the government is the biggest buyer on the block. That's where all the work is, and honestly, that's where the money is. So of course this guy is going to come out there peddling the exact same stuff...
The only real question left is who’s going to blink first—is he going to start making offers, or is he just going to sit there demanding?
Most people are decent enough, but let’s be real—when a golden opportunity for some bullshit presents itself, they jump on it. Then, once they realize they actually got away with it, they play the victim. It's pathetic.
I’m honestly worried we’re about to see an absolute explosion of this nonsense. Once things go totally sideways and everyone starts picking sides, even the people who never would've dreamed of doing this might actually cave in.

Problem number two: there’s this massive paradox where, in most sectors, your salaries are simultaneously way too high and yet somehow still nowhere near high enough!
How is that even possible? How can both things be happening at the exact same time?
Look, the reason those salaries are so bloated is simple: there are just way too many people in the system. We’ve got a massive crowd of employees clogging up everything, most of them working positions that serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. It's pure nonsense.
It's not like they're all just sitting around being useless bureaucrats. A huge chunk of them actually work their asses off, pulling 12-hour shifts and getting stuff done.
The real issue here is that none of this makes any damn sense. There’s zero logic behind what they're doing, and the way they've organized the whole mess is enough to make your head explode.

Just think about how insane it is that we’re dealing with situations like this. Take my town, for example—it's so ridiculously tiny it barely makes sense,
let alone the fact that we went from being one single municipality to becoming a city plus three whole new ones, all while having way fewer residents and businesses than before.
In this town, we used to have one basic public works department responsible for building and maintaining the gas, water, and sewer lines, handling trash, and keeping the streets clean.
Now, suddenly, we’ve been split into six different companies, which means six directors, six secretaries, six accounting departments, six billing offices, six meter readers, and blah blah blah...
It's not like these people aren't working—that's not true—but the damn truth is that their jobs make zero sense. Everyone is essentially doing the exact same thing. Honestly, any one of them could handle the workload for all six of them if they just had a little more time.
For every actual worker, you’ve got five others sitting in cloned positions, and that is a massive problem because someone has to foot the bill.
And then there's the issue of everyone having tiny salaries, mostly because that single pool of money is being sliced six ways.
Imagine how much better this would function if they all had triple the salary and just a slightly heavier workload; the city budget would actually save 50% on payroll...
Because realistically, whether you're processing payroll for ten people or sixty, the job is the same. It’s pure stupidity that now one guy comes to read the gas meter, another reads the water... one carries the gas bill, another carries the water bill, another handles the trash...

That's the core of the problem. It’s the same deal with the local municipalities, which at best have three or four times more staff than before, facing the same or even worse issues at every level.
It’s the same absolute nonsense with the schools. In this former municipality alone, we now have seven schools, which means seven different accounting departments and seven different payroll offices.
And then, of course, they can't even order damn toilet paper or hand soap, because they'll use every cent they have just to cover the payroll, and there's simply no money left for TP.
So we end up with this crazy paradox where teachers have low wages, yet education is insanely expensive because we have a massive surplus of administrative staff and a shortage of actual teachers.
It’s the same, if not way worse, modus operandi in healthcare and so on.

And I haven't even touched on all the other garbage, like agencies designed to oversee other useless agencies...

Look at this total idiocy with the movement restrictions right now...
We’re all going to be losing our minds at the government employees who have to issue these stupid permits for blah blah...
And those poor people are going to lose it under the sheer volume of requests, having no clue if they're allowed to issue them, how to do it, who gets them, or why. On top of that, they'll be stuck facing the pressure, the swearing, and getting yelled at, not to mention the risk of infection.
Police officers will probably catch the virus just checking every car on the road, and the officials issuing the certificates will too...

And all of this for what?
What kind of twisted logic makes it a problem when someone sits in their car driving from point A to point B, but it's perfectly fine to cram a huge crowd of people into a line just to get a permit? 🤦

Honestly, it would be easier, faster, and cheaper right now to just hastily open some shitty LLC for $3.25, issue yourself a permit, and not give a damn.
Then later, just don't pay your taxes and file for bankruptcy—hey, it was the pandemic, right?
But instead, we have to go out and beg for a permit just so we can visit elderly folks and bring them something to eat...

It's a type of public service that is completely redundant and should have been scrapped ages ago. I know a guy at one of those agencies who spent ten years trying to finish his degree, isn't exactly a genius, and landed a job there immediately after graduation just to spend his days shuffling papers and talking nonsense...

The bottom line is that private companies shouldn't just demand blanket pay cuts and layoffs. They can go after the Government and the bloated public administration that acts as a breeding ground for cronies, but leave the rest of the public sector alone. There are plenty of people in there who have nothing to do with nepotism or laziness.

And what kind of logic is it that thinking it's safer to have people swarming around cities and small towns—basically making it easier for everyone to catch something—is actually a good idea?

dustymarlin10 said:Do you honestly think this is going to happen without your own salaries taking a hit?
Seriously?
I'm assuming you're highly educated; I just can't wrap my head around how someone with all those degrees could have such zero grasp of how practical economics actually works.
No worries though, when the money runs out, you wonderful public servants will just flock to the Botanical Garden and pick enough cash off the trees to cover the deficit.
Because obviously, money grows on trees.

Or maybe not. Even better.
You'll probably just invent some new "emergency crisis tax."
Because who cares about 200,000 people losing their livelihoods? As long as you guys stay taken care of, right?

Yeah, totally. I can't believe you can even say that after claiming you'd just pack up and head to the stock exchange once there's a surplus in the account. Not happening. Even if I were crazy, I wouldn't touch that...

If we're talking about why pay cuts probably won't actually happen—based on the budget situation over the last two years, those EU funds, and the fact that public debt is set to tick up again through some short-term borrowing—it looks likely. A bunch of economists and international financial groups are already backing this, promising decent loans with low interest rates...

Now, if we're talking theoretically? They won't cut pay because the government is terrified of losing the next election. It's a slimy way to look at it, and I'll never vote based on that logic, but it's the realistic explanation for why they won't touch people's salaries...

@Jose Scott3:
How do you even deal with... it's like you feel like you have to justify yourself to everyone. I saw you struggling with this yesterday, and here you are again today. Why bother? You’d be way better off spending your time on literally anything else.

It’s always been this way and always will be: whether it's government work or the private sector, there are always people who do absolutely nothing. And they still get paid. Often big bucks, too. I'm saying this as someone who’s been in both worlds (not at the same time, obviously). So yeah, I’m actually qualified to talk about this, unlike most of the folks on this thread.
Same thing goes for those working in the private sector—or business owners themselves—who think government employees are just dead weight living off their hard-earned cash. By that logic, since I don't have kids, I could claim I basically paid for other women's maternity leave. Or all those sick days people take for "family reasons," especially when nothing is actually wrong with the kids. And if someone else is paying my salary—well, then in my opinion, they aren't paying me enough 🤣. Besides, I spent years in the private sector, so you could look at it as me finally getting paid out for what I earned back then. All in all—I think I worked harder then and I work even harder now, and the skills I bring are worth way more. I’m definitely not your average Joe, in any sense. But still, I don't spend my whole day trashing my colleagues like, "oh poor me, everyone's a thief, I'm such a martyr, blah blah blah..." Until/unless I find something better, I'm right where I am. And even if they cut pay—it won't kill me. I don't live beyond my means, I don't depend on this job to survive, and I won't end up in a financial hole if that happens.

And the biggest thing—man, (almost) everyone wants a cushy government or public service job! Of course they're bitter when they can't "get in." So then they turn around and lash out at everyone else. Everyone else is the problem. Some of them spend their entire lives acting this way on forums and in real life (except when they show up at a government office because they need something—then they're suddenly as quiet as mice, total cowards). That's how they make it to retirement, too. Before that, they pass that bitterness down to their kids. They teach them that you can only get a job through connections, that everyone takes bribes, and all that nonsense... and honestly, I won't even start on what I see in my line of work regarding what private contractors pull (shady business deals, faking paperwork, and stuff like that), which is often done by the workers themselves. Especially those older types who spent their whole lives coasting in big corporations that eventually went bust, and then they find themselves about 10 years from retirement having to actually *do* something. Like, seriously. They have to maintain the illusion that they're "well-off"... to others, and to themselves. Most of them end up in a coma because they spent decades learning how to get paid for doing nothing—they're just plain lazy, let's be real.

It makes me sad seeing how some of these forum users live their lives. Don't waste your energy on them or try to defend yourself... they've got their own massive problems to deal with. It's easier to just spit venom on a forum than to actually live with yourself, which is hard. Pathetic.

Anyway, that's enough. This topic doesn't deserve another minute of my time. (Though I've got plenty of time since my long vacation got extended because we're split into groups... plus I still get paid for it 🤣.)

P.S. There won't be any pay cuts for government or public employees for a while, if ever. Because you can't just split people into "those who should get less" and "those who shouldn't." In the same agency, some people are doing way more and some are doing way less... it's hard to explain to people who don't know how the system works, but it's not going to happen. Even if they do cut pay, it'll be temporary.
I think the only thing that'll actually happen is that we won't see those year-end bonuses or holiday checks.

Any young guy who’s absolutely desperate to land a job in the government or some public service role is just a complete fraud... honestly, that whole "everyone wants a government job" mindset says way too much about them. You can try to lie to yourselves, but please, don't try it with us. ☕ This time around, you guys are really going to be picking up the pieces left behind on the floor, unlike back in 2008...

Managed to cruise all the way from Washington, D.C. to Zabok without hitting a single police checkpoint.
They were set up over at Semi's place in Veliko Trgovišće, intercepting cars coming in from the direction of Zeinac.

Zachary Smith44 said:@Jose Scott3:
How do you even deal with... it's like you feel like you have to justify yourself to everyone. I saw you struggling with this yesterday, and here you are again today. Why bother? You’d be way better off spending your time on literally anything else.

It’s always been this way and always will be: whether it's government work or the private sector, there are always people who do absolutely nothing. And they still get paid. Often big bucks, too. I'm saying this as someone who’s been in both worlds (not at the same time, obviously). So yeah, I’m actually qualified to talk about this, unlike most of the folks on this thread.
Same thing goes for those working in the private sector—or business owners themselves—who think government employees are just dead weight living off their hard-earned cash. By that logic, since I don't have kids, I could claim I basically paid for other women's maternity leave. Or all those sick days people take for "family reasons," especially when nothing is actually wrong with the kids. And if someone else is paying my salary—well, then in my opinion, they aren't paying me enough 🤣. Besides, I spent years in the private sector, so you could look at it as me finally getting paid out for what I earned back then. All in all—I think I worked harder then and I work even harder now, and the skills I bring are worth way more. I’m definitely not your average Joe, in any sense. But still, I don't spend my whole day trashing my colleagues like, "oh poor me, everyone's a thief, I'm such a martyr, blah blah blah..." Until/unless I find something better, I'm right where I am. And even if they cut pay—it won't kill me. I don't live beyond my means, I don't depend on this job to survive, and I won't end up in a financial hole if that happens.

And the biggest thing—man, (almost) everyone wants a cushy government or public service job! Of course they're bitter when they can't "get in." So then they turn around and lash out at everyone else. Everyone else is the problem. Some of them spend their entire lives acting this way on forums and in real life (except when they show up at a government office because they need something—then they're suddenly as quiet as mice, total cowards). That's how they make it to retirement, too. Before that, they pass that bitterness down to their kids. They teach them that you can only get a job through connections, that everyone takes bribes, and all that nonsense... and honestly, I won't even start on what I see in my line of work regarding what private contractors pull (shady business deals, faking paperwork, and stuff like that), which is often done by the workers themselves. Especially those older types who spent their whole lives coasting in big corporations that eventually went bust, and then they find themselves about 10 years from retirement having to actually *do* something. Like, seriously. They have to maintain the illusion that they're "well-off"... to others, and to themselves. Most of them end up in a coma because they spent decades learning how to get paid for doing nothing—they're just plain lazy, let's be real.

It makes me sad seeing how some of these forum users live their lives. Don't waste your energy on them or try to defend yourself... they've got their own massive problems to deal with. It's easier to just spit venom on a forum than to actually live with yourself, which is hard. Pathetic.

Anyway, that's enough. This topic doesn't deserve another minute of my time. (Though I've got plenty of time since my long vacation got extended because we're split into groups... plus I still get paid for it 🤣.)

P.S. There won't be any pay cuts for government or public employees for a while, if ever. Because you can't just split people into "those who should get less" and "those who shouldn't." In the same agency, some people are doing way more and some are doing way less... it's hard to explain to people who don't know how the system works, but it's not going to happen. Even if they do cut pay, it'll be temporary.
I think the only thing that'll actually happen is that we won't see those year-end bonuses or holiday checks.

Could the private sector actually push the government to start slashing public sector wages and cutting jobs during a crisis? Or is that just wishful thinking...
Is it even possible for the private sector to... It draws a line between different parts of the public sector...?

Working in the public sector, I get it—you’ve got your fair share of parasites and people just coasting to keep their cushy jobs, but you also have folks who actually put in the work...
Same goes for private business owners... you get some real legends, and then you get the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel losers...

Look, I'm sorry, but people in the private sector don't get to claim that everyone working in the public sector is just lazy...

Zachary Smith44 said:@Jose Scott3:
How do you even deal with... it's like you feel like you have to justify yourself to everyone. I saw you struggling with this yesterday, and here you are again today. Why bother? You’d be way better off spending your time on literally anything else.

It’s always been this way and always will be: whether it's government work or the private sector, there are always people who do absolutely nothing. And they still get paid. Often big bucks, too. I'm saying this as someone who’s been in both worlds (not at the same time, obviously). So yeah, I’m actually qualified to talk about this, unlike most of the folks on this thread.
Same thing goes for those working in the private sector—or business owners themselves—who think government employees are just dead weight living off their hard-earned cash. By that logic, since I don't have kids, I could claim I basically paid for other women's maternity leave. Or all those sick days people take for "family reasons," especially when nothing is actually wrong with the kids. And if someone else is paying my salary—well, then in my opinion, they aren't paying me enough 🤣. Besides, I spent years in the private sector, so you could look at it as me finally getting paid out for what I earned back then. All in all—I think I worked harder then and I work even harder now, and the skills I bring are worth way more. I’m definitely not your average Joe, in any sense. But still, I don't spend my whole day trashing my colleagues like, "oh poor me, everyone's a thief, I'm such a martyr, blah blah blah..." Until/unless I find something better, I'm right where I am. And even if they cut pay—it won't kill me. I don't live beyond my means, I don't depend on this job to survive, and I won't end up in a financial hole if that happens.

And the biggest thing—man, (almost) everyone wants a cushy government or public service job! Of course they're bitter when they can't "get in." So then they turn around and lash out at everyone else. Everyone else is the problem. Some of them spend their entire lives acting this way on forums and in real life (except when they show up at a government office because they need something—then they're suddenly as quiet as mice, total cowards). That's how they make it to retirement, too. Before that, they pass that bitterness down to their kids. They teach them that you can only get a job through connections, that everyone takes bribes, and all that nonsense... and honestly, I won't even start on what I see in my line of work regarding what private contractors pull (shady business deals, faking paperwork, and stuff like that), which is often done by the workers themselves. Especially those older types who spent their whole lives coasting in big corporations that eventually went bust, and then they find themselves about 10 years from retirement having to actually *do* something. Like, seriously. They have to maintain the illusion that they're "well-off"... to others, and to themselves. Most of them end up in a coma because they spent decades learning how to get paid for doing nothing—they're just plain lazy, let's be real.

It makes me sad seeing how some of these forum users live their lives. Don't waste your energy on them or try to defend yourself... they've got their own massive problems to deal with. It's easier to just spit venom on a forum than to actually live with yourself, which is hard. Pathetic.

Anyway, that's enough. This topic doesn't deserve another minute of my time. (Though I've got plenty of time since my long vacation got extended because we're split into groups... plus I still get paid for it 🤣.)

P.S. There won't be any pay cuts for government or public employees for a while, if ever. Because you can't just split people into "those who should get less" and "those who shouldn't." In the same agency, some people are doing way more and some are doing way less... it's hard to explain to people who don't know how the system works, but it's not going to happen. Even if they do cut pay, it'll be temporary.
I think the only thing that'll actually happen is that we won't see those year-end bonuses or holiday checks.

In my case, it’s actually the exact opposite. I spent an entire year after graduation hunting for work strictly in the private sector, but man, it just wasn't happening... Now, I'd basically be trading a government job in my field just to land something in private industry...

Casey Flores said:Any young guy who’s absolutely desperate to land a job in the government or some public service role is just a complete fraud... honestly, that whole "everyone wants a government job" mindset says way too much about them. You can try to lie to yourselves, but please, don't try it with us. ☕ This time around, you guys are really going to be picking up the pieces left behind on the floor, unlike back in 2008...

So, what are we supposed to do about the fact that certain jobs only exist in public service and don't exist in the private sector, at least here in America?...
Not saying this about myself, just so we're clear...

Frank Flores63 said:👍

That is precisely where the issue lies. This measure has made life incredibly, incredibly complicated for everyone living out in the rural areas.
They really need to just shut down the cities, the islands, and the entire counties. They need to find some actual logical checkpoints because right now, this is an absolute disaster.

Maybe it would make sense in a perfect world, but here, every little village has its own Municipality regardless of how many people actually live there. Now, I can't even step an inch outside my yard without breaking rules, and my uncle is stuck wondering how he's supposed to get into the city for his pension appointments.🕺
Am I allowed to drive into town for groceries? That local Walmart is basically built out of Lego bricks—they barely have enough bread to go around, and when they do, the prices are 70% higher. It’s just ridiculous.🤦

How long do you think this stay-at-home order might last? I have someone dear to me in a neighboring city and now we can't see each other at all. This whole measure feels totally misguided—being forced away from a loved one is just too much.

flexo said:I’m actually wondering if there’s any data out there tracking cancer diagnoses by month. It would be useful to compare how many people were diagnosed monthly before these restrictions kicked in versus right now. Since all the initial screenings are being pushed back, I suspect we’re going to see a massive wave of late-stage diagnoses once this whole thing blows over... honestly, it might end up being more lethal than the virus itself.

In 2018, a total of 13,933 people died from invasive cancer in the Republic of America—that breaks down to 8,104 men and 5,829 women.
That’s roughly 39 deaths a day, with an average age around 45-50.
Circulatory system diseases, heart attacks, etc., accounted for 23,048 deaths, including 9,955 men and 13,093 women.

Respiratory diseases (J00-J99) caused 2,356 deaths: 1,345 men and 1,011 women.
This is what COVID-19 is attacking, so let’s see if the numbers change in 2022.

Right now, diagnostics are either non-existent or minimal, so next year we’ll likely see at least 500 extra deaths for every single month of this corona madness.
I’m telling you again, people don't realize the damage they've done. A surgery goes perfectly, but then the patient dies anyway.

I’ve saved the bulletin to a disc, but if you want, you can grab it from the original page here:

PS.
If these 2020 figures take a turn for the worse, I am personally filing a Criminal complaint against every politician, minister, the Civil Defense, and the epidemiologists who triggered this insanity. I already have the backing of about ten lawyers, and that number will grow. We won't just be looking at one lawsuit; there will be hundreds.
Personally, I’m all for self-isolation, or even organized isolation for the infected and strict quarantine for high-risk groups.
Anyone violating their isolation and causing someone else to get sick should face the law—1 to 5 years in prison, naturally after they've recovered.
For those ordered to isolate, the Police Department should just issue them GPS ankle monitors for house arrest.

Charles Carter4 said:And if one of those snipers actually takes someone out, will they just write that death off as another COVID case? 🤣

Sure thing.
Just trying to boost those numbers, I guess.
Honestly, we’re sliding pretty smoothly into a police state, aren't we?
Looks like those idiots finally figured things out.

Jose Scott3 said:Yeah, totally. I can't believe you can even say that after claiming you'd just pack up and head to the stock exchange once there's a surplus in the account. Not happening. Even if I were crazy, I wouldn't touch that...

If we're talking about why pay cuts probably won't actually happen—based on the budget situation over the last two years, those EU funds, and the fact that public debt is set to tick up again through some short-term borrowing—it looks likely. A bunch of economists and international financial groups are already backing this, promising decent loans with low interest rates...

Now, if we're talking theoretically? They won't cut pay because the government is terrified of losing the next election. It's a slimy way to look at it, and I'll never vote based on that logic, but it's the realistic explanation for why they won't touch people's salaries...

Of course.
I never doubted for a second that you think salary money grows on trees.
Happy harvesting.
Just know I won't be contributing much to your paycheck down the road.
And there are plenty of us like that.

Btw, you've got the North and their crowd up there, so let them handle the payroll.

Casey Flores said:Any young guy who’s absolutely desperate to land a job in the government or some public service role is just a complete fraud... honestly, that whole "everyone wants a government job" mindset says way too much about them. You can try to lie to yourselves, but please, don't try it with us. ☕ This time around, you guys are really going to be picking up the pieces left behind on the floor, unlike back in 2008...

You're not wrong.

Frank Flores63 said:I honestly believe there are more people in my exact shoes right now—trying to get a permit and then just sitting around waiting (to be specific, I’ve been waiting since yesterday morning; they promised it would be sorted out sometime yesterday, but still nothing) just so we can grab some groceries and head to the doctor. My doctor is in a different city from where I actually live. Between the bank and the grocery store, it's all a massive headache.

And yet, everyone was laughing at me when I said we were sliding backward and that this situation was unsustainable...

Jose Scott3 said:Look, I mostly agree you guys are in a tighter spot, but sorry, I don't start pointing fingers at private companies just because my own job goes down the drain. Even outside of a crisis, people get laid off in the public sector, believe it or not. I’m not the first to say it, but the private sector started this whole trend of blaming the government for cutting pay and handing out pink slips.

I don't entirely buy that you're in a worse position, though. My old man works in the private sector, and he told me for the next three months they’ll be paying minimum wage, but nobody is getting fired. Why? Because he’s smart about it. He builds up inventory month after month, isn't greedy, doesn't try to expand too fast, and doesn't freak out if he has to freeze operations for a bit. Freezing things for a few months isn't the end of a company. It’s fascinating how none of the private sector folks will admit that some of them have to lay people off right now because they made bad calls or took too many risks earlier on...

It's obvious that public sector employees are pissed because there are plenty of parasites among us who don't do a damn thing either.

But it's not right for private sector folks to demand pay cuts and layoffs for everyone in the public sector. If that starts happening, the ones who get screwed over first are the ones without political connections or "friends" in high places... and there are way more of us than private sector people realize.

The Secretary of Commerce in the Republic of America doesn't deserve a higher paycheck than a guy driving a truck at a construction site in Germany.

Some parts of the system are bloated with people, while others—mostly Health, higher ed, and science—are bone dry...

But yeah, they are useless. That’s just public administration, which is only one slice of the public sector. People keep pushing for pay cuts and layoffs across the whole public sector in general...

It's a type of public service that is completely redundant and should have been scrapped ages ago. I know a guy at one of those agencies who spent ten years trying to finish his degree, isn't exactly a genius, and landed a job there immediately after graduation just to spend his days shuffling papers and talking nonsense...

The bottom line is that private companies shouldn't just demand blanket pay cuts and layoffs. They can go after the Government and the bloated public administration that acts as a breeding ground for cronies, but leave the rest of the public sector alone. There are plenty of people in there who have nothing to do with nepotism or laziness.

Look, I’m basically like your old man here. I don't have any issues when it comes to myself or my family, because right now I've got enough supplies stashed away—assuming the dollar doesn't go completely to hell—to sit around and do absolutely nothing for a few years without breaking a sweat.

Dammit, I'm clearly better at hanging out than I am at running a business.
Why is it that even when I pay everything on time, stay out of trouble, and don't act like some massive social burden, I still get nothing?
Well, that’s because I’m not out here hiring a massive crowd, even if I actually could. In fact, lately, I haven't hired anyone except myself...
I'm not out here looking for more work, even though I probably could handle it... if anything, I actually scaled back before all this madness started because my life is finally sorted. Honestly, at my age, I just don't need that kind of stress or all that extra crap in my life.

I’ve never even bothered chasing those massive career moves. I just never had the appetite for that kind of investment. Honestly, what I have right now is more than enough for me. In fact, I actually turned down some huge opportunities while everyone else was looking at me like I was some clueless kid.
Personally, it worked out great for me. But for everyone else and the local community? It’s a total bust. There's zero progress, no new jobs being created, and honestly, in today's economy, it's just straight-up garbage.

It’s pretty obvious, and honestly, it makes anyone in the public sector furious—there’s a massive crowd of parasites among us who don't do a single lick of work.

Private sector folks shouldn't be out here preaching about pay cuts and mass layoffs for everyone in the public sector. If they actually pull that off, the first people getting screwed over will be those of us without political connections or any kind of leverage. And trust me, there are way more of us than the private sector realizes.

That's on you, and honestly, it's your own fault.
Because you guys are part of that whole system and just stay quiet about it. You know damn well who’s just there for a paycheck and who’s actually useless, yet you all just keep your mouths shut...

When that massive corporate hack Sever starts whining about tangerine prices at the market or grumbling about salaries, you guys should just get out there on the street and tell him, "Screw you, Sever. You make more than the Prime Minister. You've been talking trash for 30 years and haven't done a single damn thing for us public sector workers—everything you do is just for yourself and lazy freeloaders like you."
Not you folks who actually put in the work and deserve a raise, parading around in a group just to beg for a measly 2, 3, or 5% bump. If it were up to me, wouldn't you be walking away with a solid hundred?$67And let’s be real—you all know he’s going to walk away with a few thousand bucks, and in the end, we're the ones footing the bill for the whole damn thing. People like him aren't exactly rare, unfortunately.

The Secretary of Commerce doesn't deserve a bigger paycheck than some guy driving pavers at a construction site in Germany.

Spot on, just like all the other ministers...
There's the catch. There's the catch right there. 😉

Because we’re clearly expecting top-tier experts to work for the salary of some guy driving a dotting machine...
Oh yeah, absolutely. I’m sure we’ll get top-tier experts for that kind of money. 🙂
You have to wonder—it’s exactly because they pull those kinds of salaries that we end up with "experts" like this. We've got guys who are so economically illiterate that not even a small business owner would trust them to manage a warehouse or run a cash register for minimum wage, let alone handle anything more important than that.

Some parts of the system are insanely overcrowded, while others—mostly where you actually need people, like Healthcare, higher ed, and science—are completely bone-dry.

Partially right...
The truth is, they're facing a massive shortage of actual experts over there, yet somehow they've still got a huge surplus of people because the whole system is chronically disorganized.

Even in those systems, you’ve got a sick amount of people—way too many people in all the wrong places.
And at the same time, you’ve got a massive shortage of people exactly where they actually need to be... damn it.
And that’s especially true in those systems you mentioned.

Well, there you have it... Washington, D.C. is just being itself.
So, there are like 20 hospitals currently operating out of old, run-down barns. Does that mean we also have 20 directors, 20 secretaries, 20 accounting departments, and all that other blah blah blah?
Instead of building one actual, decent hospital a long time ago and hiring a single director, we basically just threw all that money into a bottomless pit and spent it fixing up some old barns. If we had done things right, maybe we’d actually have 20 directors by now.
Do some math and figure out how many redundant employees are actually in that system. Then calculate how many more doctors or nurses we could hire with the money being wasted on all those completely useless people.
How much did it even cost just to maintain and patch up those potholes in the first place? And now, how much is it going to run to fix everything after the earthquake? Even if they patch it up, it’s still going to be that same old crumbling eyesore. Every single one of those hospitals is just an old wreck, no matter how much they try to mask it with drywall or whatever else they use to hide the damage.

It's the exact same story when it comes to the school system...

Of course they’re useless. But hey, that’s public administration for you—just one part of the massive public sector machine. Now everyone’s out here pushing for pay cuts and layoffs across the entire public sector. Typical.

They aren't any more or less useless than those other directors and whatever else...
At the end of the day, they're both being hired using the exact same playbook—and let's be real, half those job positions are probably just made up anyway.
I mean, wouldn't there just be room for some party buddies, good friends, cousins looking for a handout, and blah blah blah...
Same kid, same tools, provided by the same people.

It's basically a public service that’s completely useless and should have been scrapped ages ago. I know a guy at one of these agencies who barely scraped through college after ten years of studying—guy's as dim as they come—and he landed a job there immediately after graduation just to spend his days producing nothing but pure nonsense.

Those guys don't even have a clue why they're there.
Honestly, it would’ve been cheaper just to pay them to stay home and do absolutely nothing instead of having them show up to work at all.
If we weren't wasting electricity, water, and gas while paying for space and doing useless busywork along the way, it would be a massive saving.

Even though everyone would probably lose their minds over it, realistically, that would still be better than having 🤦

The bottom line is it would be great if private companies didn't just go on indiscriminate firing sprees. Go ahead and call out the incompetent government and bloated public administration—that's a nest of cronies—but don't blame the entire public sector. There are plenty of people in there who have nothing to do with the slackers or the political hires.

True, but it’s pretty stupid to expect private businesses to be the ones cleaning up your sector or pointing out exactly what’s broken within it.
YOU are the ones who should be the first to scream about what’s working and what isn't in the public sector. YOU are the ones who need to shout about where the cuts should happen...instead of burying your heads in the sand and hoping everything stays exactly the same.
Because YOU are the ones who actually know these people, YOU are the ones who understand how that sector works, and YOU are the ones who need to speak up.😉

Think about it: I know exactly where I can cut costs in my own business because I damn well know what I'm spending, where it's going, and why.
YOU have no clue about that, so you shouldn't be philosophizing about it either. Sure, you might know (like the IRS) what my income and expenses are, but you have no idea if those expenses are actually rational.
It's the same for us; we don't know which specific costs in your system are too high or why, but we damn well know they are, and that's exactly why we yell at the whole sector.
We don't know it well enough to point a finger at one specific spot and say, "Cut there, right there..."
...whereas YOU know exactly where that spot is, yet you stay quiet as a mouse.😳

It's the exact same thing for us, let's be real.
We know damn well who the black sheep are in our own ranks, but we stay quiet instead of shouting it from the rooftops.
We know exactly who's cutting corners and how they're doing it, but if we start calling people out, we'll be the ones getting screwed, not them.
The guy cutting corners has a hundred connections, and in the end, he'll be the one stepping on us, leaving us to take the fall.
So, it's easier to just suck it up and keep our mouths shut...

I guess that's just the problem with all of us Americans—we were raised to keep our heads down and not make waves.
And then we just mutter under our breath that it's someone else's fault because, hey, they're staying quiet too.😁

When someone in the public sector claims they "pay taxes," it’s honestly a bit ridiculous—you don't actually pay taxes. You receive a salary that has already been taxed via the private sector's contributions. In accounting terms, you're just a transitional line item. Essentially, the public sector shouldn't be paying taxes on its own payroll; there's zero logic in moving the same pool of money around just to watch it circulate.

Look, once the private sector stops contributing (which is exactly what’s happening right now), how long do you think those public sector salaries can actually be sustained? How are you going to pay taxes when there won't even be salaries left to tax?

You’ll be the very last ones to face layoffs in the public sector—the politicians? Not a chance.

So, here's the deal: public sector employees should be the loudest voices fighting to protect the private sector. As the Americans say... "I pay taxes for public services, so you work for me." But around here, it’s an absolute absurdity where the public sector thinks it’s doing the private sector a favor by providing jobs. It’s a holdover from the old regime that the current party just carried over—they let the private guys do all the actual work.🤔

dustymarlin10 said:Sure thing.
Just trying to boost those numbers, I guess.
Honestly, we’re sliding pretty smoothly into a police state, aren't we?
Looks like those idiots finally figured things out.

The worst part is that the people calling for a total ban don't even realize what they're actually asking for.

They’ll wake up to reality pretty damn soon.
But honestly, by then, it’ll be too late for them and us alike.

I mean, seriously, they basically stripped away our right to move around, work, and even just put food on the table.

dustymarlin10 said:Sure thing.
Just trying to boost those numbers, I guess.
Honestly, we’re sliding pretty smoothly into a police state, aren't we?
Looks like those idiots finally figured things out.

Realistically, it is entirely possible that I’ll end up walking through a police line only to be slapped with a fine because I don't have a permit—and the reason I don't have one is that the folks over at the Town Hall work at a snail's pace, even though I need to travel to the next town for reasons that have been a fundamental part of my life for years now.

Go ahead and try explaining that to Anemic and his buddy.

Here’s how some poet put it a long time ago—he went a little crazy later on, but he was good 😁.
Just swap out the Mercedes for an Audi.

Oh Lord, grant me a black Audi
with small plates on the back
so I can finally consider myself
an official fool.
Oh Lord, grant me a black Audi
with at least six doors
so I can peacefully shake my pride
into a golden ashtray.
Outside, there are boys and flags
and a people crushed by grief
but from the backseat, I see nothing
except for waving my hand.
Oh Lord, grant me a black Audi
for it is a wonder above wonders,
it's lovely to drive unpunished
over flowers and people.