This switch to “green” is going to be devastating for those in the middle class and lower. They will get hurt the most. But by god, the wealthy will feel so good about being “green.”
Administrative growth (bloat) at WSU
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Bring on the tenements and the 100 hour workweeks! Get those kids back in the mines!
The mining will all be outsourced to foreign countries. The USA can feel good about its commitment to child labor laws.
Solar is a marginal idea too, and energy storage for buildings is easier to manage than at a utility/commercial scale. Problem is that mandating it at the building level is also inefficient - it duplicates technology in multiple places and just takes up more space. It has to be done centrally to be more efficient. A storage facility co-located with a substation and serving a grid is the way to do it...but battery tech isn't there yet.
Well...our commitment to labor laws for American children. Those other kids don't matter as much.
The dirty little secret to the "green" revolution is the tremendous environmental devastation to the poor countries in the global south. It will be ugly.
But hey, since the wealthy won't have to see it, then who cares, right?
Similarly, and fortunately, coal only generates carbon, and tons of plastic trash just thrown in the ocean only generate microplastics and other polution, in the U.S. and off its shores. Doesn't count in Asia.
You mean the rich men north of Richmond?
I hate to treat the opening post with respect and sort of push the discussion back on topic, but here goes.
One of those increases in admin is in what I loosely term "regulatory". FWIW, I include added HR functions in there, along with the added reporting & compliance related stuff required by every level of government. I'm a large mechanical contractor, at a private firm. We try hard to be efficient. Yet, with only an inflation-adjusted annual growth in the low single digits over the past 30 years, we've had to add about 7 compliance/regulatory positions...3 positions in our accounting/clerical/HR side of the house, as well as something like 4 full time equivalents in our project management group. We are now at 77 people (up from about half of that 30 years ago), and roughly 7 of those bodies were due to the steadily increasing reporting/safety/ compliance/regulation/HR/payroll burdens...I could go on...requirements to run a business. WSU is a public university...almost by definition they do not operate in a fully responsible financial manner. But if about 20% of my company's employee growth has been for the reasons discussed above, what would you guess it is at a not-for-profit government entity? 30-40%? Especially since I'd assume their compliance, regulatory & HR stuff has probably increased more than mine has?
I'm not arguing about efficiency at public universities. It is poor and always has been, driven more by available budget than need. But don't overlook the changes required to run any business...public or private...over the past 20-30 years. They are significant, and collectively they account for a lot of positions that simply did not exist back in the day. And in the public university sector, many if not most of those probably fall loosely under the admin umbrella.
One of those increases in admin is in what I loosely term "regulatory". FWIW, I include added HR functions in there, along with the added reporting & compliance related stuff required by every level of government. I'm a large mechanical contractor, at a private firm. We try hard to be efficient. Yet, with only an inflation-adjusted annual growth in the low single digits over the past 30 years, we've had to add about 7 compliance/regulatory positions...3 positions in our accounting/clerical/HR side of the house, as well as something like 4 full time equivalents in our project management group. We are now at 77 people (up from about half of that 30 years ago), and roughly 7 of those bodies were due to the steadily increasing reporting/safety/ compliance/regulation/HR/payroll burdens...I could go on...requirements to run a business. WSU is a public university...almost by definition they do not operate in a fully responsible financial manner. But if about 20% of my company's employee growth has been for the reasons discussed above, what would you guess it is at a not-for-profit government entity? 30-40%? Especially since I'd assume their compliance, regulatory & HR stuff has probably increased more than mine has?
I'm not arguing about efficiency at public universities. It is poor and always has been, driven more by available budget than need. But don't overlook the changes required to run any business...public or private...over the past 20-30 years. They are significant, and collectively they account for a lot of positions that simply did not exist back in the day. And in the public university sector, many if not most of those probably fall loosely under the admin umbrella.
It’s a reasonable thought, but I can tell you with a very high degree of confidence it’s not the case at WSU.
Very interesting. My most recent disdain for government is the addition of the worthless DIE administrators and departments. DIE VPs getting $300-$400k per year to track demographic percentages and do some target marketing? What a scam. They are worthless. Worse though, they are destructive to society. Thank you “progressives.”
Sure. The federal system is not designed that way, as you know. That system would be preferable to our state system now. Too much power to King County.
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