I've just graduated from university and am looking for a job. Now given the current economic climate this isn't going to be as easy at it could. The question is is right to work directly for the state? I am very uneasy about doing so. However since the state has control over so many areas and to a great degree when does it become legitimate to work in an organisation? So would it be right to work for a university which is essentially funded by the state but is officially an independent foundation? I ask this as an anarchist not wishing to break his principles and not get turfed out for not paying rent. Also would it be more moral to recieve benefits while trying to find a job in the private sector in which the state has little (sic less) control?
The atoms tell the atoms so, for I never was or will but atoms forevermore be.
Yours sincerely,
Physiocrat
It is tough. Some people will say you shouldn't, some people say you should.
We (libertarians) need to do a better job of providing private sector jobs to our people.
One of the other users here wrote something very profound...something like:
"even if a slave accepts a meal from his master, he does not accept his slavery"
The state removes many of the opportunities you would have in a free society. I don't think you are doing anything 'wrong' by persuing the career you want to. If you're a gifted academic, try and search out any free market opportunities, like the LvMI, perhaps, but otherwise, stick to what you're good at.
Irish Liberty Forum
I've worked for the state before and you hear stuff like about how it is impossible to get fired and you never do any real work or anything but that was not my experience. That is one reason why I do not recommend working for the state.
You see, I worked in computers and I was the guy they hired to do all the work for the people who were appointed to their positions (why I took the job was a simple reason...I was out of money and needed a job and took the first one in my field that was offered). I ran the networks and computers that ran the software that Gerrymandered voteing districts so the incumbants always won. This meant that it was one field where the politicians were serious about results and I worked my butt off. Technically I did the work of five people for the pay of one since the appointed people showed up and read the paper. I was constantly at risk of being fired since one of my bosses got the job because she married a republican bigwig and felt that being a good boss meant that you yelled constantly.
I was once suspended without pay for discovering an intrusion on our networks. She panicked and assumed that data related to the gerrymandering was compromised and there would be hell to pay once the legislators and senators found out. Before that I was warned that my job was in jeopardy for asking NY Post columnist Cindy Adams to get her dog away from the server room so he would not mark his territory on a disk array (I still never found out what Cindy Adams was doing in my computer room with her dog).
I had another boss who was mellow and somewhat likable but he never bathed. He smelled like someone had defacated in a coffee cup.
Was it wrong for me to work there? Yes, on many levels.
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That is way too much information.
Twirlcan:Was it wrong for me to work there? Yes, on many levels.
In your case, you were paid to do something evil.
There's nothing wrong with getting paid to teach math, on the other hand. My advice is to just follow your conscience.
Your actions are your own. The state's actions are its own. Your association with the state does not create a moral quandary.
I wouldn't even turn someone away from becoming a politician, so long as they act with integrity.
The fallacies of intellectual communism, a compilation - On the nature of power
Do state employees pay tax?
"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"
Bob Dylan
My advice is to first go with what pays your bills....you can always look for a better job.
Sometimes "majority" simply means that all the fools are on the same side
GilesStratton: Do state employees pay tax?
No private individual pays taxes. Businesses that hire them and sell stuff pay taxes.
The state, for obvious accounting reasons, does not pay taxes. It pays with taxes.
State employees paying tax is more of a formaility than anything.
If I earned $40k a year as a state employee and payed $3k in taxes to the state that employed me it is really like the state pays me $37K a year.
Stranger: In your case, you were paid to do something evil.
What I did was I ran the computers and the networks that ran the application for evil. Sort of like being a plumber at Auschwitz but without the mass murder.
A really dull evil.
Physiocrat: I've just graduated from university and am looking for a job. Now given the current economic climate this isn't going to be as easy at it could. The question is is right to work directly for the state? I am very uneasy about doing so. However since the state has control over so many areas and to a great degree when does it become legitimate to work in an organisation? So would it be right to work for a university which is essentially funded by the state but is officially an independent foundation? I ask this as an anarchist not wishing to break his principles and not get turfed out for not paying rent. Also would it be more moral to recieve benefits while trying to find a job in the private sector in which the state has little (sic less) control?
I have OFTEN thought about this myself. I am a librarian by profession and, unfortunately, a majority of the jobs are provided by some government entity or other. I am lucky in this respect. At the moment I am working for a private medical college. But on more than one occasion I have been tempted to work for the government. It is interesting looking at the federal jobs list sometimes - a LARGE number of positions are to be found with the military, the CIA, the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies. Now, one could argue "But all you would be doing is organizing and proving information. What's wrong with that?"
I am an eklektarchist not an anarchist.
Educational Pamphlet Mises Group