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Mark Cuban offers to fund former 18F employees

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Re: Mark Cuban offers to fund former 18F employees

#51

Post by blactuary »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #19

Privatization is what a lot of people believe is the answer, thinking that there is so much waste and useless things the Federal government does. These people must have never worked at a large corporation. I have a relative in the federal government and we would share stories because the dysfunctions are basically the same. Any large organization of humans working uses a pyramid organization since like the middle age…

Yes, this exactly. Reflexive "ugh govt" is a result of decades of Reagan-ite propaganda. Govt is just people, and people are flawed and have competing incentives. I've worked in massive companies that have incredibly dumb inefficiencies.

Re: Mark Cuban offers to fund former 18F employees

#52

Post by dcow »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #19

Privatization is what a lot of people believe is the answer, thinking that there is so much waste and useless things the Federal government does. These people must have never worked at a large corporation. I have a relative in the federal government and we would share stories because the dysfunctions are basically the same. Any large organization of humans working uses a pyramid organization since like the middle age…

The way you combat the creep of bureaucratic miasma is by regularly turning a critical eye inward.

At least private organizations perform regular layoffs. At least private organizations are accountable to shareholders.

The government is accountable to citizens and citizens voted for this. Yes, it’s disruptive. That’s the point.

Re: Mark Cuban offers to fund former 18F employees

#53

Post by blactuary »

enlightenedfool wrote: post #42
mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #19

Privatization is what a lot of people believe is the answer, thinking that there is so much waste and useless things the Federal government does. These people must have never worked at a large corporation. I have a relative in the federal government and we would share stories because the dysfunctions are basically the same. Any large organization of humans working uses a pyramid organization since like the middle age…

[flagged]

[flagged]

Re: Mark Cuban offers to fund former 18F employees

#55

Post by ceejayoz »

enlightenedfool wrote: post #42
mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #19

Privatization is what a lot of people believe is the answer, thinking that there is so much waste and useless things the Federal government does. These people must have never worked at a large corporation. I have a relative in the federal government and we would share stories because the dysfunctions are basically the same. Any large organization of humans working uses a pyramid organization since like the middle age…

[flagged]

Attempts at optimizing efficiency can themselves be wasteful.

Re: Mark Cuban offers to fund former 18F employees

#56

Post by blackeyeblitzar »

noobermin wrote: post #34
mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #19

Privatization is what a lot of people believe is the answer, thinking that there is so much waste and useless things the Federal government does. These people must have never worked at a large corporation. I have a relative in the federal government and we would share stories because the dysfunctions are basically the same. Any large organization of humans working uses a pyramid organization since like the middle age…

Having worked at large organisations and governments, they are literally the same. This is so obvious if you've ever had first hand experience of them. I think this is a great example of how a lot of people, even supposed "intellectuals" think with thought-terminating cliches and ideology, because the narrative of gov'ts being inefficient has been a talking point and narrative since Reagan whilst all the time any lar…

> Having worked at large organisations and governments, they are literally the same.

What do you make of all the people arguing that governments and corporations are not the same, and that what works in one won’t work in the other? This feels like the opposite of that argument.

Re: Mark Cuban offers to fund former 18F employees

#57

Post by SpaceL10n »

_fat_santa wrote: post #25

Put Mark Cuban to the side for a bit, I think the general idea of 18f going private is a good one and was my first reaction when I heard they were getting dissolved. EDIT: I think it's a good idea in the context of them getting dissolved. I would much prefer if they continued to exist within the govt, but if the choice is between going private and ceasing to exist, I would prefer they go private and I think it's a go…

Could share why privatization of 18f is good in your eyes? When I heard about the creation of 18f and USDS all those years ago, I remember thinking, finally! It was embarrassing and frankly disheartening to have such crucial public websites and services be so behind the times. Especially when Silicon Valley, the cradle of technical innovation, lied within our borders. Then comes along 18f and all the good work they did too bring a consistent design structure and modernize these crucial public resources with a passion and focus for security and accessibility. Blog articles written by folks who work at 18F work very clearly written by passionate people who care deeply about their work and are more than competent. They had a positive and notable impact on millions of Americans' interactions with digital services.

So why is getting rid of them and going private a good thing?

Re: Mark Cuban offers to fund former 18F employees

#58

Post by lunarboy »

enlightenedfool wrote: post #42
mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #19

Privatization is what a lot of people believe is the answer, thinking that there is so much waste and useless things the Federal government does. These people must have never worked at a large corporation. I have a relative in the federal government and we would share stories because the dysfunctions are basically the same. Any large organization of humans working uses a pyramid organization since like the middle age…

[flagged]

Private orgs fund themselves.. hmm, bailed out corps and subsidies beg to differ

Re: Mark Cuban offers to fund former 18F employees

#59

Post by davepeck »

dcow wrote: post #52
mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #19

Privatization is what a lot of people believe is the answer, thinking that there is so much waste and useless things the Federal government does. These people must have never worked at a large corporation. I have a relative in the federal government and we would share stories because the dysfunctions are basically the same. Any large organization of humans working uses a pyramid organization since like the middle age…

The way you combat the creep of bureaucratic miasma is by regularly turning a critical eye inward. At least private organizations perform regular layoffs. At least private organizations are accountable to shareholders. The government is accountable to citizens and citizens voted for this. Yes, it’s disruptive. That’s the point.

> The way you combat the creep of bureaucratic miasma is by regularly turning a critical eye inward

It certainly can’t hurt. Alas for the current moment, but it seems the eye we’re turning inward is as far from “critical” as can be.

Re: Mark Cuban offers to fund former 18F employees

#60

Post by luckylion »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #19

Privatization is what a lot of people believe is the answer, thinking that there is so much waste and useless things the Federal government does. These people must have never worked at a large corporation. I have a relative in the federal government and we would share stories because the dysfunctions are basically the same. Any large organization of humans working uses a pyramid organization since like the middle age…

My experience as a consultant with both (local) administrations (in Germany) and much larger corporations is that the corporations weren't even close to being as dysfunctional.

I'm certain there are great parts of government, but I've never experienced it, and all I'm hearing from friends who work at the federal level is that it's no different there.

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