Before
the Civil War, people obtained federal jobs by actively supporting or raising money
for candidates who won. The “spoils system” was overtly corrupt, but the
bureaucracy was small, had little power, and was uprooted by elections every
few years.
The
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 created a permanent, merit-based bureaucracy.
It now numbers 2.85 million individuals, with salaries and benefits greatly exceeding
those of people with equivalent private-sector jobs.
Not
having profits to measure their self-esteem, bureaucrat managers rate
themselves by the size of their budgets, the number of people working for them,
and how much power they wield. Bureaucrats have numerous ways of securing policies
that benefit themselves. The corruption is indirect, but it’s massive.
Government
is the only segment of society authorized to exercise force. The government uses force to
excess. The intended purposes are benign, and potential problems are unseen. But
in the long run, governmental force nearly always causes more harm than good.
The
welter of laws and regulations make voters unable to link the damage with the policies
that caused it. More laws are then passed to redress the harm, and more problems result.
The gargantuan government raises frustration and costs and lowers morale.
Today’s
bureaucracy is far more damaging than that of the spoils system. Time to trash
the Civil Service System and drain the swamp.
