The Day The Parasites Overtook The Host

[hellblazer]

Regardless of where you stand, this is very troubling. And it's not lost on me that this began under Bush's reign. But either way, the producing sector has been overtaken by the consuming sector, public has eclipsed private, and the government has become the larger beast.

 

[yevlesh]

As much as I might share your overall sentiment that the government is getting too big, this chart is completely meaningless.


It doesn't include employees in service industries - and they make up the bulk of the US economy.

 

[Magic Hat]

Source?

 

[FTC-Hater]

It says BLS in the bottom right corner. I assume that implies U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

[Koschei]

Original article with comment thread: CHART OF THE DAY: How The Government Payroll Replaced Goods-Producing Jobs

 

[phillian]

It won't be tomorrow, or even next year, but I am hopeful that the rise in transportation costs associated with the perpetually increasing cost of oil will push manufacturing back to N America. It's the silver-lining on the massive cloud of suck that we are running out of oil, fast.

 

[papajohn56]

As much as I might share your overall sentiment that the government is getting too big, this chart is completely meaningless.


It doesn't include employees in service industries - and they make up the bulk of the US economy.

No shit. Service industry workers are not "Goods producers".

 

[writtenstyle]

If we end up with this health care bill, look at all the new millions of new people that will work for the govt.

It is all planned. Right now, our nation is run by people who want to drown out private sector employment and replace it with govt. employment. Bush was also big govt. That is why it started under him.

We really need some strong conservative leaders, and in a hurry.

 

[onlinehustla]

Is the government in the US at useless as it is here in Canada? My friend works for the department of transportation and he gets about 10-15 hours/week of overtime he doesn't work, gets hundreds sometimes thousands of dollars a month in additional pay for meals and hotels because he travels more than 100km from his office quite regularly (he's only actually stayed in a hotel once, and normally just pockets the money since he's only ever a 1.5 hour drive from home), and his boss and co-workers all abuse the system the same way.

 

[popeye]

Is the government in the US at useless as it is here in Canada? My friend works for the department of transportation and he gets about 10-15 hours/week of overtime he doesn't work, gets hundreds sometimes thousands of dollars a month in additional pay for meals and hotels because he travels more than 100km from his office quite regularly (he's only actually stayed in a hotel once, and normally just pockets the money since he's only ever a 1.5 hour drive from home), and his boss and co-workers all abuse the system the same way.

Very much so. Many of our government employees woudn't last a week in the prviate sector without being fired. The waste and bureaucracy present in the government is sickening.

What many people fail to realize is that the bigger and fatter you make the government, the more you add to your voting base. I mean, why would you vote against any admin that gives you great pay, benefits, fringe benefits etc.

Either the government is going to have to employ EVERYONE or be prepaired soon to eat a shit sandwich that the American public is preparing for them.

 

[hellblazer]

As much as I might share your overall sentiment that the government is getting too big, this chart is completely meaningless.


It doesn't include employees in service industries - and they make up the bulk of the US economy.

That's a good point, I'd like to see a chart of private vs. public sector employees.

 

[Roundabout]

"Get dressed Buddy. I'll show you my charts."

 

[Andrew Scherer]

loooooooooooooooool

 

[Dispel]

isn't this because the goods producing moved to Japan and then China etc?

you can see the numbers relative to total population decline as computers began to turn the economy into an information economy.

government employees are rising in absolute numbers, but staying relatively steady as a percentage of the total population.

 

[070707]

When I worked for the Dept. of State, I literally browsed the internet for HOURS a day. We would just sit there with no work. Actually is how I got into AM, so thanks to the US Government!

I have friends in Government positions in Spain, and guess what... after they passed ridiculous tests (4 tests, only one test taken a year, and only 5% pass) they NEVER can get fired. Job-For-Life FTW.

 

[UnripeArbiter]

OK... government employees remained constant as a percentage of population, and that population is growing...

and we have transitioned to a service and knowledge based economy... (instead of goods-producing)

Hellblazer, how many "goods" have you produced? Physical goods?

Unless you create physical goods, you, like everyone else on this forum, are contributing to the "downfall" of goods-producing workers...

Oh shit, you've indicted WF.

This. +rep

 

[justo_tx]

It won't be tomorrow, or even next year, but I am hopeful that the rise in transportation costs associated with the perpetually increasing cost of oil will push manufacturing back to N America. It's the silver-lining on the massive cloud of suck that we are running out of oil, fast.

You do know what plastic is made out of right?

 

[Unarmed Gunman]

You do know what plastic is made out of right?

Recycled plastic?

 

[phillian]

You do know what plastic is made out of right?

Recycled plastic?

lol. ^^

China imports a lot more than plastic. Actually, one of the biggest industries that stands to benefit from an increase in the cost of transportation is Steel and other refined metals (PA has lost thousands upon thousands of these jobs in the last 30 years to China, India, Russia & Japan). These will become cost prohibitive in short order to import with an exponential rise in the cost of oil/ barrel.

Alternatively, we could just have all the commercial vessels in the world run on nuclear reactors like the US Military- but I have a feeling we aren't too keen on supplying that info for consumer use. No matter how pro-capitalism we may pretend to be.

 

[HarveyJ]

You do know what plastic is made out of right?

Also, a lot of 3rd and 4th generation plastics can be produced without oil, thanks to genetically engineering projects. i.e. tampered E.Coli can turn corn starch into Target gift cards (there's a longer story to it, but it's funnier this way)
Polylimonene carbonate (styrofoam replacement) can also be made without oil.