goverment jobs

Much depends on the job. For example, I would think that a school principal doing a good job has more expectations of continuing in the position than the manager of a toll booth.

There are posts that are not political appointments, others are. My mom has been a teacher for 35 years (she'll retire this year), and she has seen her share of parties come and go. My dad (an accountant) was a public servant for about 14 years: 3 presidents and 2 parties until he decided to leave to start his business.

Obviously these people seeking menial jobs are probably in the lowest end of the educational scale and most cannot wish for something better than a short-term job in the government. That is not the case for a great deal of public servants, doctor e.g.

I think, Harold, when you get a job based on your credentials, rather than your political affiliations, you can expect to keep it.

When you get a job through connections however, you can surely expect to lose it when your connections are no longer wielding the power.

What people think,and the Political Reality in the DR are two different things!

I have worked at a large public hospital in Santo Domingo for about 7 years.First under Balaguer,then Fernandez,and now Hipolito.Big Administrative changes with each election.Your "ability" has nothing to do with your longevity.Always remember:Its not what you KNOW,but who you BLOW!I have never lived in a country where the "Workforce"(An oxymoron in the DR?) was so transiant.Here today,gone tomorrow.People get,and lose jobs at a fast pace.They don't seem to get upset when they lose their job!There is a good article in the archived DR1 news stories yesterday about an "Honest" politician(Oxymoron?) in the DR.He now lives in an Old Folks Home with a pension of about 6 thousand pesos a month.The "Normal" politicos live in mansions and drive "jepetas"!The society here is based on greed and corruption.Those who don't "enganar"(Take Advantage) are looked at as stupid,"Pendejos""Come on down",enjoy,but keep one hand on your wallet,and always "Watch your back!"CRISCO

Just about every government job in the USA pays under US$100K. Have you ever seen how the upper level politicians in the USA live? Nobody cries foul. There are a million ways to use your position to gain wealth, from speaking to endorsing, from writing to attending events. Not all are corrupt and some are quite questionable. I see no real difference except in the level of transparency and critique.

If high level political positions did not come with tremendous perks, be it the ability to influence who gets lucrative contracts or affect policy, or the chance to get "gifts", the posts would never be filled by competent people and certainly not by extraordinary people. On the other hand, do it with compensation packages and it looks bad because policians must appeal to the common folk. Ha ha ha. What a facade. That's why they are called politicians.

Nobody runs for office because out of the goodness of their hearts, or if they do, I question their intellegence. I don't care how virtuous we think it is, people are selfesh and all great things in this world have come from selfish motives. I have know problem with a selfish motive. It's the most reliable kind.

Greedy is good. It is the basis of good business. Have you ever met a "generous" successful business? It's against the nature of business. The vast majority of people don't go into business for popularity or selfless reasons. It's for money. Who's to say when healthy profit becomes greed anyway.

Harold,we had a meeting here at the hospital yesterday.

It was to start at 11 am.I (an American)walked in at 11 sharp. Already there were a German,and a Venezualan.We waited 15 minutes for the first dominican to show up!Others arrived up until 11:30. The memo about the meeting stressed its importance,that it would only last 30 minutes,and to be on time.Everyone was called in the morning to remind them about the meeting!After the meeting the German reminded me that of the five people choosen for the comittee,4 were foreigners,and only one dominican!There is a nucleus of hard working,capable people,who keep the ship afloat! I'll let you guess who they might be! Tom

Jim,Criss

You are pointing to the achilles heel of capitalism.
I think it runns against the grain
of most people on this planet and the more
it gets disseminated the more vulnerable it becomes.
Globalisation could be it's terminal stage on
the way to self distruction.
Look what's going on in South America do you
give capitalism a chance there? How about Africa
or the Moslem Countries?
It still works here in USA and in Euroland but
I sense some grumlings already.
So I say again: lets fix our own problems and let
other peoples (like DR) do the same in their mysterious ways.
X

Criss,

I find myself agreeing with you often. It seems to be the few in every society who control the major assets, and make sure that things keep working (to a certain extent).

Jim,

I do believe that there are several Federal Gov't. employees in the US who make more than 100k. However, it is obvious that
you are correct as to the fact that politicians use their positions
to become wealthy. Although I would argue, not the wealthiest
in society. That is why I agree with amending the Constitution and implementing term limits on Congress.

Btw, I know someone who was displaced from Inespre
after Mejia's administration began. Soon after he was rehired
and sent to work for Inespre at another location. He was not
a member of PRD.

[B]harold[/B] said:

Pib does your mom work at a public school?

Click to expand...

Yes, she did.

I happen to disagree with Chriss on that he suggests that a majority of government employees are "transient" workers. It all depends on the area in which they work. Most professionals in non-administrative (handling money) and non-managerial possitions stay. The big fish are political appointees, the "little people" are dispensable, but the middle-status employees are the backbone of most government offices and they do stay. By the way, I have a cousin who is a civil engineer working in the Ministry of Public Works, 10 years and 3 parties/presidents.

No. School principals do not handle budgets. All the school needs comes from the central offices. I just asked mom. All the school principals that I've known in my life are still working or retired. None lost her/his job because of politics. However, mom told me that she knows of at least two School District Directors that have lost their jobs, seemingly because of politics. She doesn't remember that happening to a teacher or a School Principal.