Progressive waste at the end of the Progressive Era

It’s Infrastructure, So It Must Be Worthwhile

More below.

"The city of Port Angeles, Washington spent $107,516 putting up wind turbines in a new city park. The turbines will power 31 lights in the park. This will save the taxpayers of Port Angeles a whopping $41.58 per month. At that rate, it will take 216 years for it to pay off (at zero interest rate).

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The ridiculous benefit-cost ratio is unimportant, says one city councilor, because the purpose of the turbines wasn’t to generate electricity, it was “to educate folks about wind power.” That’s quite an education they are getting. “I wouldn’t have voted for it knowing it was that little” electricity, the councilor added. Isn’t it her job to ask questions like that?"

This is so absurd it is almost not believable, except that here at the end of the Progressive Era, this is common. The pension crisis, the failure to reform Social Security benefits, the failure to reform Medicare, and Medicaid, the failure at the state level to control costs or rein in public unions, all of these and more are emblematic of the problems with out of control progressivism at the end of the Progressive Era. 

What exactly this dull witted city councilor believes the taxpayers are being educated about with these absurdly overpriced baubles is anyones guess. The reality is they are, or will be, educated on why it is important to elect qualified city council members, and this person is clearly not qualified. No matter how deeply the progressives believe there will always be other peoples money, there will not. It will run out, the other people will become tired of funding this twaddle.

When this breaks, the public sphere will be permanently altered forever. It is very likely that public employment will become a rarity with most if not all functions of the bureaucracy automated. What is so surprising is that Amazon can automate an entire grocery store, while the county tax assessor cannot automate what amounts to a blend of accounting, bookkeeping, and clerical functions. There is absolutely no reason for these functions to need human involvement for the vast majority of work today. 

Regardless, these agencies are far more bloated with do nothing employees than any corporation would be willing to carry. This will continue right up until it does not, then there will be shockingly rapid change, to a fully automated system. The closer the state and local are to running out of money, the sooner this will happen. 

I cannot wait!