Government Service

As a retired member of a much-maligned institution, the federal civil service, I was both encouraged and discouraged by Tom Plate’s article, “The Second Best, the Moderately Bright” (Commentary, Nov. 7).

I was encouraged because there was at least recognition that the endless, mindless and often just plain nasty attacks on government and bureaucracy had a serious negative impact on the morale of those presently in government service, and discouraged because that very atmosphere deters promising young people from seeking government careers.

Yes, at every level there are civil servants who are arrogant or lazy or both. But in my experience the people who staff our federal departments and agencies are extremely bright, very well educated, and highly dedicated. Some may have been in government out of a naive idealism, but most of us were there because we felt that working in some field of public policy was important, and could provide an honorable and intellectually rewarding career.

I believe those reasons are still valid, and I would hope that they retain sufficient attraction to continue to draw large numbers of the best and the brightest to government service at all levels. The country needs them.

ALLAN S. NANES

Thousand Oaks

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* There was a time when service to the federal government meant being a postmaster (who actually sorted and delivered mail), a tax collector (who personally collected money), or a circuit judge (who traveled his circuit on horseback). Such people actually served their constituents; they did not, in general, make policy. They had the respect of the people because they were willing to serve at minimal compensation to help make the government work.

Contrast that scenario with the “public policy wonks” Plate describes. Those people are not interested in serving the public but in deciding how the public should behave. And they want to be paid for it! There is no shortage of volunteers in most areas to serve unpaid on city councils and local agency boards. Those are true public servants.

There is also no shortage of folks willing to run for federal office. But they are, in general, hardly altruistic; most expect their private careers to benefit from a few terms in office. They are also well-paid.

I would agree that the U.S. Civil Service is less corrupt than many others around the world. But it is much too large for what it accomplishes and is greatly overpaid.

When someone sacrifices something to help others, he will have my respect. When he wants me to pay him to tell me how to live, he won’t.

DAVE CLOSE

Costa Mesa

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* It is not obvious that this development is bad. We live in a society whose laws were often drafted by young idealists without a whit of real-world understanding. Much of today’s misery derives from well-intended nonsense propounded by these “best and brightest” types.

Ideally, government would come to be deemed a good “last career” for our best and brightest, after they have made their marks on the world in other domains, where high-IQ foolishness is stamped out quicker and with more certainty.

Now, let’s work on our national vision of business. It is deeply misguided these days. But that is another story.

KENNETH A. REGAS

Poway