The past privileges of federal workers

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

I say past, because the Trump Administration is quickly dismantling them. The latest move seems to be Kristi Noem’s random polygraph tests.

One protestation I have read on this talks about information that the employees of the Department of Homeland Security share which is “not classified.”  

The attitude of the author of this piece acts as if this is an affront to the “employees' rights.”

Well, I have worked most of my career in private industry with a smattering of military service along the way. I have never worked in an organization that tolerated leaking anything to the media, including even, for example, the brand of toilet paper stocked in the restrooms. In private business, leaking is not tolerated and is subject to immediate firing.

Then there is the whining of the employees being let go as a reduction in force exercise. Again, in private business, this is a regular occurrence.

There was a huge research organization that was nearly completely wiped out. It discovered many things that became standard in modern life and which you have in your phone today, for instance. This organization still exists in a very tiny form. Its name? Bell Labs. For a century, it was the leader in telephony and computer discoveries.  

When the federal government broke up AT&T in 1984, Bell Labs was a victim. What is left of it now is called Nokia Bell Labs. Nobody cried over its demise.

I don’t recall any headlines about the demise of Bell Labs. I do recall when I was in school in Marshall, we used to get movies from Bell Labs every few months that touted discoveries that were being made. These were professionally done, insightful and stimulating.

Being held to account by the sale of products and services that the public wants, permeates an organization. Being supported by tax dollars does not.

We even felt this back that that little old soap company I worked for in Cincinnati a half century ago. Despite our size, we were constantly aware of what products were selling well and which were in trouble. We knew the only source of our salaries was the consumer making the split-second decision in the grocery store to choose products we made versus those made by our competitors. It drove us to do the very best we could.

Federal workers have been supported by tax dollars for many years, and the size of hammock full of these soft federal workers has continued to grow at a rapid rate. It is time to bring accountability to all jobs. All jobs should feel the hot breath of accountability.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.