DC Group Think Culture Alienates Sane People (Washington: for sale, health insurance)

[coldbliss]

I am an “outsider” living inside The Beltway. I have no faith in the federal government. I have lost all respect for elected officials. An overwhelming number of Congressional representatives and senators are for sale to the highest corporate bidder. There is not much difference between the Republican and Democratic Parties since they both advocate for wars abroad, repression at home with the curtailment of civil liberties and sacrificing working and middle class citizens on the alter for the plutocrats running the nation.

I do not trust the Washington Post to report the truth about abuses of power against the American people. I cringe every time when I read short clips about law firms and public relations shops accepting some of the worst clients known to humanity: the polluters, the swindlers, the labor rights abusers, and developing world dictators.

I can no longer relate to this place. I feel more alone because I don’t share the values that permeate through our city. A Group Think stretches from Capitol Hill through to K Street to Georgetown and pretty much every Ward except for Number 8.

You might be a Group Thinker if you think:

A.) Voting in elections makes a difference.

B.) There are real substantive differences between Republicans and Democrats.

C.) Donating unlimited sums of campaign money is the same as free speech.

D.) Market capitalism builds a prosperous and stable society and there are NO viable alternatives to this system of human activity.

E.) Free trade works great and labor unions have outlived their purpose.

F.) 401K and Wall Street investments should be sufficient for retirement; pensions have outlived their purpose. Social Security and Medicare need to be reigned in.

G.) Developing world nations must be disciplined through the power of the IMF and World Bank if they stray away from the Market fundamentalist path.

H.) Elected officials have the constituents best interests at heart. Ditto for the head directors of each federal government agency.

I.) Offered full-throated support to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Continue to support US military involvement in the Afghanistan quagmire today.

J.) Believe in the Top-Down approach to reform as dictated by the President and Congress. This is an opposition to the mass-movement direction when citizens take action outside of the voting booth–the bottom to top approach.

K.) Think tank research educates society. Does not believe that think tank research is used as a tool in order to advocate certain ideological and elite financial interests.

L.) DC corporate legal and lobbying firms are performing a valuable service to our nation by educating elected officials on the most important political, economic, health & human welfare, criminal justice and national security issues.

And I could go on. But if you think your values match most or all of the items listed above: Congratulations, you belong in this town. But for those of us who do not share those delusional beliefs, you have the following options to escape this insane asylum called The District of Columbia:

1. Pack up the moving truck and get out of Dodge.
2. Go pitch a tent with the Occupy Wall Street people.
3. Stay in Washington, DC and continue collecting paychecks from the most corrupt, criminal institutions on Planet Earth (i.e. Federal Government Agencies, Congress, industry trade associations, law firms, public relations firms, think tanks).
4. Start a revolution.

I am liking Option 4 every day but that would end in either in maximum-security prison or getting shot to pieces by law enforcement. That fear will ease away over time too.

[pcity]

Cool story, bro...

[BoomBoxing]

Yet most people have it very good in this country, relative to history and most of the world. You read like a college sophomore taking a class in Post-Modernism who feels like he's smarter and more special than everyone else. Here's my life advice: if you want to make a difference, do stuff for others. Ranting on the Internet is probably the most pointless way to change anything.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by coldbliss

I am an “outsider” living inside The Beltway. I have no faith in the federal government. I have lost all respect for elected officials. An overwhelming number of Congressional representatives and senators are for sale to the highest corporate bidder. There is not much difference between the Republican and Democratic Parties since they both advocate for wars abroad, repression at home with the curtailment of civil liberties and sacrificing working and middle class citizens on the alter for the plutocrats running the nation.

I do not trust the Washington Post to report the truth about abuses of power against the American people. I cringe every time when I read short clips about law firms and public relations shops accepting some of the worst clients known to humanity: the polluters, the swindlers, the labor rights abusers, and developing world dictators.

I can no longer relate to this place. I feel more alone because I don’t share the values that permeate through our city. A Group Think stretches from Capitol Hill through to K Street to Georgetown and pretty much every Ward except for Number 8.

You might be a Group Thinker if you think:

A.) Voting in elections makes a difference.

B.) There are real substantive differences between Republicans and Democrats.

C.) Donating unlimited sums of campaign money is the same as free speech.

D.) Market capitalism builds a prosperous and stable society and there are NO viable alternatives to this system of human activity.

E.) Free trade works great and labor unions have outlived their purpose.

F.) 401K and Wall Street investments should be sufficient for retirement; pensions have outlived their purpose. Social Security and Medicare need to be reigned in.

G.) Developing world nations must be disciplined through the power of the IMF and World Bank if they stray away from the Market fundamentalist path.

H.) Elected officials have the constituents best interests at heart. Ditto for the head directors of each federal government agency.

I.) Offered full-throated support to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Continue to support US military involvement in the Afghanistan quagmire today.

J.) Believe in the Top-Down approach to reform as dictated by the President and Congress. This is an opposition to the mass-movement direction when citizens take action outside of the voting booth–the bottom to top approach.

K.) Think tank research educates society. Does not believe that think tank research is used as a tool in order to advocate certain ideological and elite financial interests.

L.) DC corporate legal and lobbying firms are performing a valuable service to our nation by educating elected officials on the most important political, economic, health & human welfare, criminal justice and national security issues.

And I could go on. But if you think your values match most or all of the items listed above: Congratulations, you belong in this town. But for those of us who do not share those delusional beliefs, you have the following options to escape this insane asylum called The District of Columbia:

1. Pack up the moving truck and get out of Dodge.
2. Go pitch a tent with the Occupy Wall Street people.
3. Stay in Washington, DC and continue collecting paychecks from the most corrupt, criminal institutions on Planet Earth (i.e. Federal Government Agencies, Congress, industry trade associations, law firms, public relations firms, think tanks).
4. Start a revolution.

I am liking Option 4 every day but that would end in either in maximum-security prison or getting shot to pieces by law enforcement. That fear will ease away over time too.

You know, it is a big world out there. Even if you don't decide to get out of Dodge, maybe you should take a breather and try living in another part of the country or world for a while where you think you might make more of a difference or people are more likely to share at least parts of your philosophy. Alienation can be overrated.

I'd suggest Door #2, but I think your timing may be slightly off.

[movinghere]

You know DC is actually a pretty liberal place relative to many parts of the country, and the majority of people who live here are not politicians. There are a lot of people doing stuff like labor unions, non-profits, human rights (and by human rights no I don't mean starting the next World Bank project). Additionally there are a lot of people who are just trying to make a living, support their family, etc here just like people in the rest of the country.

[Bluefly]

Do you have statistics or polling showing how many people in the DC region ascribe to your list of "group think" principles? The DC region overwhelmingly voted for Obama in 2008, which indicates a majority agree with you on a number of those items such as the Iraq war and limitations of market capitalism. I certainly don't know many - if any - people here so naive as to believe elected officials act on behalf of their constiuents over special interests.

I agree with the other poster that you seem to still be emerging from under the veil of a corporate career in which perhaps you were surrounded by and exposed to a very singular subculture, and only now at this later stage in life awakening to the inequities and troubles of the world.

I actually find people here to be more open to different perspectives than a lot of parts of the country where more radical ideals in either direction have been adopted as the status quo.

[HurricaneDC]

Originally Posted by movinghere

You know DC is actually a pretty liberal place relative to many parts of the country, and the majority of people who live here are not politicians. There are a lot of people doing stuff like labor unions, non-profits, human rights (and by human rights no I don't mean starting the next World Bank project). Additionally there are a lot of people who are just trying to make a living, support their family, etc here just like people in the rest of the country.

I agree. There are all types around here. Stop hanging out with douchebags and you'll probably enjoy yourself a lot more.

[chicagotodc]

One thing on unions; I appreciate that in certain sectors or areas they may still have some value, but unions have by and large become parodies of themselves. I used to work as a union negotiator; all of the unions I worked with had nothing but the short term in mind, even when those very interests hurt their fellow co-workers, or even themselves. The union leaders are concerned with re-election, not with actually helping their base. The reality of it is that a union job has become, for many, a ridiculously cushy and well paying life that bears little or no resemblance to reality for the rest of the world. This would be OK if the unions were at least willing to recognize this fact and negotiate in good faith, but there are very few that do; and those who allow cooler heads to prevail are often chastised by fellow unions. The examples I could come up with are too numerous to even list...

A certain union had a rule that allows retirees to set pension based on the last year's income. Result? Cops work tons of overtime in the last year and retire with pensions o$f $150K, 200K a year - for life, all because they gamed the system. Try to change that rule? They'll never ever ever agree to it, despite the fact that its obviously absurd.

Another union allowed people to accrue up to 1500 hours of sick time - but what happened was that individuals who accrued that much started calling in "Sick" on Friday and Monday exactly 93 weeks before hitting retirement. Every Friday. Every Monday. Thats not the purpose of sick time, but again, good luck trying to get the union to allow you to take disciplinary action against someone who does this.

Or, there's the case of the union who negotiated $1 a month family health insurance coverage in the 1970s. Costs have since skyrocketed to the moon, but the union refuses to allow any changes to this cost structure. Combine this with six to eight weeks vacation, $100K a year in income and you've got a pretty darn good life for doing work that is unskilled in nature.

Another instance, some union members intentionally trashed (and destroyed) the property of several customers, but rather than being able to do anything - like fire those responsible - the firm couldn't act because "destruction of property" wasn't specifically listed as a fireable offense in the union work rules.

Or, as is perhaps most well known, the cases of teachers who have been accused of misconduct (at times pretty egregious stuff) who simply collect a paycheck day in day out for years on end for doing no work at all.

Or, one union I recall wanted "free massages" for working a full shift, another wanted the company to pay, in full, for "holistic medicine including but not limited to, aromatherapy, mud baths and other herbal remedies".

Or there's the instances in which you literally show the unions the books and prove to them, through their own independent analyses that the company can't afford 20% raises across the board, and the unions will still steadfastly refuse to accept that reality (they usually chant "raise prices then!", to which you attempt to explain that if you raise prices, people wont buy the product)... I've even sat in a room and said "You do this, the firm WILL file for bankruptcy. You've seen the numbers. The books are open... your own analysis agrees." and they will turn and say "I don't care" (followed by, as predicted, bankruptcy, and unions never fare well in bankruptcy, a fact that somehow is lost on their leaders)... its a new level of cognitive dissonance.

Or the case of the cafeteria workers who, due to some clause agreed to in the 60s, couldn't be fired *AND* couldn't be reassigned. Meaning, if your job is to cook eggs, you can't get moved to a job that requires you to say, clean dishes or mop the floor or something. So, when the company closed that particular office they were required to offer the workers huge severance packages: *FIVE* years salary, *TEN* years health insurance, first right to recall if the office opened up (and more)....

It just goes on and on and on...

If this seems absurd its because it is; if these market forces were allowed to perform openly you'd have a completely different structure and no one in their right mind would pay someone $80,000 a year with 6 weeks vacation and "cant be fired without 5 year severance" packages, for say, an eight hour shift cooking scrambled eggs. Unions know this, so they fight tooth and nail to protect seniority; disallow new members (or create B-scale pay grades for everyone but themselves) and will go to the death over anything even remotely resembling a pay for performance culture. Sadly, this is entrenched -- and when you remove any incentive to do good work you begin to engender a belief that "I've earned this!" in your union; and then its a slippery slope of entitlement and arguing.

Not all unions are like this - but many are - and the idea that they protect workers from the ills that would otherwise be imposed on them has truly become a ridiculous claim.

[mdiggs1]

As for the options, I think I'll choose #3. Collecting paychecks seems to be the easiest activity.

And word of advice, watch it with the internet threats against Uncle Sam. You know the government can easily pinpoint an IP address and find your location. You may have some agents in your midst, and they're not easy to spot like on The Matrix.

[Bluefly]

Coldbliss - You always post these screeds, but when others refute them or ask for factual evidence, you disappear, only to reappear with a new screed weeks later as if you learned nothing from us wise sages.

Please respond this time.