From lower productivity to higher productivity

One can see Elon Musk in every word.

The email, sent from President Trump’s Office of Personnel Management to employees across the sprawling federal government, arrived just before 8:30 p.m. Thursday — almost exactly 24 hours after an air crash in Washington that killed 67 people. The message reiterated an offer earlier this week from the administration encouraging federal employees to seek new jobs in the private sector — and did so in terms that appeared to denigrate their contributions, if not cast them as lazy.

“The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector,” stated the email, which was reviewed by The New York Times.

Like that. “Productivity” isn’t always the relevant criterion, to put it mildly. Human needs and making a profit don’t always seamlessly mesh. Making widgets isn’t all there is.

“There are so many public servants working in government because they want to serve the public — that is what motivates them,” said Max Stier, the president of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group that promotes best practices in government. “This series of hammer blows that federal employees have experienced has created fear and disorientation and distraction, and shows the administration has not read the room at all.”

Well you see serving the public isn’t “productive” enough.

Mr. Trump’s repeated degradations of federal workers also may not have the intended effect. Some workers said on Friday that they were increasingly motivated to keep their jobs to ensure government services would be delivered to citizens.

Uh oh – citizens? That’s subversive. It’s consumers you’re supposed to be delivering to.

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