Should it be any surprise that the latter is bigger than the former?
Overall, federal workers earned an average salary of $67,691 in 2008 for occupations that exist both in government and the private sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The average pay for the same mix of jobs in the private sector was $60,046 in 2008,
Angry yet? Consider the (uncounted in the prior number) amount of money federal employees get from "health, pension, and other benefits:"
$40,785 per federal employee in 2008 vs. $9,882 per private worker, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Unapologetic hatred of the state aside, I don't begrudge run-of-the-mill public sector employees, provided they are not aggressing against the innocent in their jobs.* But it is quite ironic that the public sector allocates itself far more money than the supposedly "greed-driven" private workers earn.
*I don't believe taking money from the state constitutes aggression, because the state has no legitimate claim to any money. However, some professions -- such as a public janitor -- are clearly legitimate, while others -- such as a drug-busting cop -- are not.
I was hoping to read an article about how people who are generally unproductive still pull in a paycheck. This can be a sensitive topic for a lot of libertarian groups. For example, I think pretty much every libertarian policy group and lobbying firm are not productive. They are actually products of the government themselves. I'm not saying that they aren't good or necessary, but on their own they produce nothing of significant value.
What I'm getting at here is the propensity for libertarians to retreat from actual market operations and to become talking heads for liberty. Too many of the big-name libertarians limit themselves to political thought and book writing. More need to get out there and MAKE THINGS. Most of the college aged libertarians are pursuing degrees in economics, or philosophy, or underwater basket weaving. We need more doctors, engineers, plumbers, and electricians.
Glorifying those who do not produce is as much of the problem as anything. Be it the poor and unemployed, or the "great thinkers" of our time, their common ground falls in the path of zero utility. They exist in such numbers as today only because of government. In a free society, most of these would be in for a world of hurt, economically speaking.
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