Writing of the potential fall-out Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper may face for downsizing the public sector to the tune of 20,000 civil servants, Greg Weston writes:
But: Is this really a bad thing?
In the sense that politicians inclined to downsize government may prove reluctant to do so for fear of fallout, it's a bad thing. However, in the sense that the so-called "brown envelopes" kill two birds with one stone (shrinking the size and scope of government while simultaneously cleansing the system of its corrupt hangers-on), it can only be called a good thing.
Either way, I have to admit that I had never even thought of this potential side-effect of shrinking Gub.
History also suggests that thousands of public servants being showered in pink slips risks the government's being buried in a hail of brown envelopes, all those politically embarrassing secrets in bureaucrats' filing cabinets magically transferred to the desks of the national media.I honestly hadn't considered the idea that disgruntled civil servants would blow the whistle on all their bosses just because they got fired. This adds a practical dynamic to the issue of creating smaller governments. Imperfect (corrupt?) politicians may be reluctant to do so for fear of being exposed as the corrupt schmucks that they are.
But: Is this really a bad thing?
In the sense that politicians inclined to downsize government may prove reluctant to do so for fear of fallout, it's a bad thing. However, in the sense that the so-called "brown envelopes" kill two birds with one stone (shrinking the size and scope of government while simultaneously cleansing the system of its corrupt hangers-on), it can only be called a good thing.
Either way, I have to admit that I had never even thought of this potential side-effect of shrinking Gub.
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