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Comment by kemiller2002 | Hacker News Reader

kemiller2002

Public service used to be thought of as a sacrifice for the good of all people. For many people it is. Teachers, social workers, public defenders, armed service people. All of these people make a pittance compared to what they could in the private sector.

Saying a congressperson or a judge should be allowed to trade stocks simply because it affects their well being is an argument that appears rather frail. I would be surprised if there is anyone in those positions of power either elected or appointed who would be considered to be even slightly financially disadvantaged. If they want to be wealthy, let them go back to work as attorneys or whatever profession they came from.

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> Teachers, social workers, public defenders, armed service people.

I don't agree with that in all cases. I have a friend who is a teacher and admits teaching is a great job for him (2nd grade) and he doesn't know what he would do otherwise. Probably some type of physical work. He is a great guy, but just isn't that sharp. He is punctual and dependable, but not real good at thinking on his feet. He makes about $82k teaching (20+ years experience in a reasonably affordable area) and I can't think of another job that would pay him that well, give him the summer off, great healthcare and a pension.

I know a few more teachers and perhaps it is the group of people I hang out with, but they all are closer to him than to some person making a sacrifice for the good of society.

There are something like 3.5 or 4 million teachers in the US, so for sure they are not all self-sacrificing saints and there will be a broad mix of motivations.

But FWIW my experience is not like yours. I am a college professor and have seen many students over the years go into teaching, either at the secondary or elementary level (specifically, math teaching). When I meet with them to discuss what they want to do, almost all express that when they think about careers, their interest in teaching is because it is a reasonable career with reasonable pay, yes, but just as important to them is the sense of doing good, of directly helping people. (I have less experience with people in the services but what experience I do have is in the same direction.)

“He is punctual and dependable, but not real good at thinking on his feet.”

Doesn’t this describe most people that do well in large organizations?

Yep. I can think of a few people that meet this description (myself included?) that worked at a ycombinator-backed unicorn startup making wayyy more than 85k.

If anything, you would want elected officials to be invested in their country as a whole, so indexed funds and stuff like that. Yes they are lower risk, but they also reflect how a larger group of companies are doing vs the ones they have first hand information about.

That’s not being invested in the country, that’s being invested in companies and the latter’s interest are not always in in favor of the former’s citizen.

In America that is true which is one of the reasons US public service sucks. Places like France public servants are well paid, desirable and prestigious jobs.

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