A very amusing video…and absolutely savage.
Warning, there are a few dirty words.
The only comment I’ll make is that I’m an old-fashioned romantic, so the concept of community-based, volunteer-staffed fire departments is very appealing. But I reckon that’s not realistic in many cases, so I have no philosophical objection to government-financed fire departments. But why can’t they be “contracted out,” so various private fire-fighting companies can place bids? I think some communities actually do it this way, though maybe my info is out of date.
Or if the local governments want to operate fire departments, why not peg total compensation to the local average of private sector wages and benefits? If there are not enough qualified applicants, that would be an indication that a premium is warranted (that would be no surprise since firefighters periodically put their lives on the line). But don’t have insider contracts between local politicians and government employee union bosses, which result in absurd contracts – with some of the money recycled back to politicians as campaign contributions. That’s a sweet deal for everyone…except the taxpayers.
