Dumb-Dumb Quote of the Day

I came across this thread a few minutes ago http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7594997 and ... my god, people are dumb.


Poster says: "Some douche from 'The Free Enterprise Nation' is whining that gov't workers are paid too much. Total average compensation for government workers is over $100k and for private workers it's $57k. So what? Did they factor for things like education, training, and length of time on the job? Conservatives just shouldn't be allowed near numbers. Period."


Um, ok. My first question is: did this poster factor for these things? Meaning, did she (presumably a she, because of her avatar) do any math? I'd be interested to see the findings from that, and see how she arrived at her conclusions. If not (and it seems like not) why the hell is she even talking? How does she know "the douche" didn't do his math? (Admittedly, it sounds likely to be skewed. Averages are stunningly misleading. But still.)


While I have no personal opinion at this time (having done no math myself) about whether government workers are paid too much, I hate to see logic destroyed. Hate it. The fact is that the government, like any big organization, wastes a lot of money. The difference is that, whereas large corporations are run by just a few people at the top, the government is run by .. who? Everyone. At least in theory, "we the people" have the power.


So whoever the "douche" is, he's taking an excellent first step by pointing out an area where he thinks money is being wasted. Somebody, apparently not our charming poster, could take an excellent next step by doing a little math to see if he's right. I think a careful approach could yield a fairly good, unbiased answer.


Bottom line: I really, really hate to see logic abused. I also hate to see all conservatives lumped together and given the same label. That is very uncool.