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Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

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Re: Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

#31

I find the reaction to DOGE quite fascinating and it's really exposed just how different some work cultures are. In tech we face layoffs constantly, so much so that's not a huge shock when a FAANG lays off hundreds or even thousands. We might get a couple of stories if the layoff is particularly large but the general consensus is "this is the way of the world, go find another job". Contrast that with the stories we a…

There will always be dumb shit in every kind of spending. Heck, my family and kids spend on dumb shit. I bet half of the Amazon orders going to people's places is dumb shit. Can there be cuts in spending and expenses of the government, the answer will always be yes but treating the federal government like a startup is the next level of dumb shit. Its specially being done by people who have no knowledge of government systems work. A lot of people and systems depend on smooth functioning of federal government. I guess fuck around and find out.

Re: Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

#32

My Facebook feed is full of unhinged content from random pages I never followed or interacted with. I'd be fine with some edgy content, but there's limits to what I'd consider acceptable. Most recently I see these "memes" where it's literally just an image of Elon with a hand pointing a gun at him, and a caption saying suggesting he should be murdered. The most worrying part is that I don't know if this sentiment is…

I loathe the AI and suggested content. I only want to see the content posted by people I have explicitly followed, I do not want to see what some random group or person posted. The inability to turn this off is the reason I stopped using Facebook. If I want to seek out groups and people I will do so on my own, I do not want a fire hose flooding my personal feed.

Re: Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

#33

I find the reaction to DOGE quite fascinating and it's really exposed just how different some work cultures are. In tech we face layoffs constantly, so much so that's not a huge shock when a FAANG lays off hundreds or even thousands. We might get a couple of stories if the layoff is particularly large but the general consensus is "this is the way of the world, go find another job". Contrast that with the stories we a…

I think it’s very different in tech where we are compensated quite well and losing a job doesn’t mean falling off the face of capitalism. Most of us are able to have modest savings but most Americans are barely hanging on.

Good luck going past 40 in tech.

Re: Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

#34

It's never a good thing when the people who take on jobs in the public sector have to fear their own government. Especially when that government wilfully installs under-qualified and downright untrustworthy leadership.

Is it? Qin did conquer the 7 states. After the French revolution, France resisted the combined might of the rest of Europe by being unafraid to murder it's generals when they underperformed. The Soviet union is said to have reached it's apogee under Stalin.

If anything, history shows that ruling government officials by means of fear is very good sign for the nation, but tends to be harmful to the rulers.

Re: Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

#35
post #31

I find the reaction to DOGE quite fascinating and it's really exposed just how different some work cultures are. In tech we face layoffs constantly, so much so that's not a huge shock when a FAANG lays off hundreds or even thousands. We might get a couple of stories if the layoff is particularly large but the general consensus is "this is the way of the world, go find another job". Contrast that with the stories we a…

There will always be dumb shit in every kind of spending. Heck, my family and kids spend on dumb shit. I bet half of the Amazon orders going to people's places is dumb shit. Can there be cuts in spending and expenses of the government, the answer will always be yes but treating the federal government like a startup is the next level of dumb shit. Its specially being done by people who have no knowledge of government…

Or rather, fuck around and others will find out. I'm not denying some of USAID spending may have been "dumb shit", but some of it was also very important. But you don't have to take my word for it, how about the words of a former UK prime minister: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/07/donald...

And, while the billions of dollars the US has spent per year on foreign aid until now sound impressive, if you compare the per capita amount with other rich countries, it's actually not that impressive (and these numbers include all foreign aid, not just USAID): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_foreign_aid#/med...

Re: Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

#36
This whole situation is absolutely stunning to watch.

Sleazy government officials illegally order sleazy Facebook employees to censor people. Predictably, the government was caught because large groups of people conspiring to do something nefarious for extended periods of time ("conspiracies") are difficult to hide. When the government is caught illegally and unconstitutionally censoring its own people, the people get mad. And after all that, the sleazy media reports this as "poor, pitiful government workers just can't trust Facebook as a paragon of virtue anymore."

Re: Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

#37

I find the reaction to DOGE quite fascinating and it's really exposed just how different some work cultures are. In tech we face layoffs constantly, so much so that's not a huge shock when a FAANG lays off hundreds or even thousands. We might get a couple of stories if the layoff is particularly large but the general consensus is "this is the way of the world, go find another job". Contrast that with the stories we a…

FAANG employees & Fed employees took a very different trade though.

FAANG - You can have sky high compensation with moderate job security and roll-your-own (401K+savings) retirement. Note you mention 40-50% taxes which would imply you are in the sky high compensation bucket. You can also job shop and switch to any of a dozen competitors doing similar stuff.

Fed - You can have moderate compensation with sky high job security and good retirement benefits. Some of these jobs cap out at what FANG pays new grads in cash comp. You can't go work for a competing government like China or Russia, legally.

Re: Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

#38

I find the reaction to DOGE quite fascinating and it's really exposed just how different some work cultures are. In tech we face layoffs constantly, so much so that's not a huge shock when a FAANG lays off hundreds or even thousands. We might get a couple of stories if the layoff is particularly large but the general consensus is "this is the way of the world, go find another job". Contrast that with the stories we a…

The contrast is that there are these things called “laws” and the “constitution” where Congress passed laws and budgets and the President is supposed to execute those laws. No one expected a President to behave in an unconstitutional manner nor did they expect an unelected official to get access to their accounts.

Also do you realize that only 1% of the federal budget is for government workers?

And there is no way that 50% of your income goes to the Federal government. Even if you did make over $609K, only the money you made over that would be taxed at the 37% rate and Social security would have stopped way before that at $165K (?).

Also, when I got my Amazoned, I was relatively sure that they could keep their promise of paying my 3.5 months severance + paid out PTO that gave me 4 months pay.

Musk can’t even promise the people who sign that they will get paid past March.

Re: Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

#39

This whole situation is absolutely stunning to watch. Sleazy government officials illegally order sleazy Facebook employees to censor people. Predictably, the government was caught because large groups of people conspiring to do something nefarious for extended periods of time ("conspiracies") are difficult to hide. When the government is caught illegally and unconstitutionally censoring its own people, the people ge…

Which conspiracy?
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