When useless gov't workers are laid off en masse, in the short term it will be painful, but in the long term, it will be a good thing, because now they will tend to get jobs that are productive.

Gov't bureaucrat jobs are "make work" programs. The gov't may as well tax us or print money (creating inflation which is a stealth tax), and hire workers to dig holes and fill them back in, all year long.

In contrast to gov't, private businesses only survive if they create value - and the way they know they create value is that customers are willing to voluntarily pay for their products or services.

If I were laid off tomorrow, which is likely, I have money to live on for a while. I can also walk into any place with a hiring sign and make ~$12/hour. I can also go bartend again and make about $800/week. I won't make as much as I'm making now, but I will survive and do it without bankruptcy, foreclosure, car surrender, or government money. I could also most likely continue with skilled labor in some area like insurance, general project management, or account management. There are a few things I can do and I'm ready to do them when this great job goes away.

BTW, local government contracts for labor, not FEMA.

the guns are in mexico, not here.

2/hr was hyperbole.

The "gun in the room" is a metaphor for gov't. Gov't has a legal monopoly on the use of force to get its way. Laws are enforced by the barrel of a gun. When said laws are written, those with the most political pull and money influence those laws. In the absence of laws that directly influence economic transactions, those transactions are purely voluntary on both sides. In such a case, the proper purpose of gov't is merely to protect individual and property rights, and enforce contracts (e.g. prosecute fraud).

And how would you imagine the other two examples playing out?


Edit: And are you just gonna sit there and let Jason call you a "useless gov't worker?" :D

well said considering our current market

though i must say if our government didn't hand out bullshit subsidies with my hard earned paycheck to other crops like geneticly modified corn than your statement would not fit whatsoever

i dont even eat most of the bs pesticide packed unhealthy food that our government forces me to assist others with. this is wealth re-distribution

a free market would work much better and competition would be much more fair if people like me weren't forced to pay for food we do not eat

it is our grocery dollar that shapes the produce market
when you spend that dollar at the market you are essentially voting on what you want the farmers to produce.
people like me sir do not have a fair vote when the government forces me to pay for crap i do not eat