I’ve heard that professional status jobs tend to pay less in the public sector. This, too, may be a reflection of social norms. Perhaps public opinion wants less distance between the bottom and the top, and even between the bottom and the middle, while the invisible hand (or what we’ve been convinced is the invisible hand?) has a different opinion.

As for who convinced the masses that “less shitty” is not an option, I don’t know, but how they did it is apparent. Mainly it requires relentless repetition (hence truth) of a handful of memes:

* Labor is expensive. “The company (or government agency) has made deep cuts in every area except staffing, and that barely put a dent in our solvency issues.” Or, what this mayorship/governorship/presidency needs is someone with a business background—someone who knows the extreme daunting difficulty of making payroll!

* Economic security is for the weak. “Do we want to be a security society or an opportunity society?” Do we want to be like the fucking French?? Parable of the talents: God hates the risk-averse, and so should you.

* Channeling Orwell, “public sector bad, private sector good!” “Government corruption” is one word. Never, ever using “corruption” without that particular adjective is part of “message discipline,” etc.