>>>>>Except that effort is meaningless without opportunity.
>>>>>
>>>>>And opportunity is wasted without effort and ability.
>>>>
>>>>Right. Success requires all three. What I suspect you and Dmitry may be focused on is that effort is the only one of the three under your own control.
>>>>
>>>>Tamar
>>>
>>>Here is a big problem I see in the way the government works in this country (presently, at least). The nice salaries and very lucrative pension benefits, and health-care benefits make working for government a cushioned job. And people are striving to get these jobs. And the politicians, instead of filling the government jobs based on merit, give these jobs to friends, family, and political connections. With no responsibility and/or accountability. People rarely if ever get fired from government jobs. Unless they commit a crime and even then often can still continue collecting. Here in Mass I read almost weekly in the Globe (local newspaper) of corruption in the government. Relatives who have no qualifications get no-show jobs with big pay. And great pension benefits. Many cases like that. I am sure that Federal Government jobs work the same way.
>>>
>>>All this – jobs based on connections – remind me very much of the Soviet Union system. Over there you could not get a good job without a connection either. Funny thing is that both Russian and English use the same word “connection” for this type of employment.
>>
>>Of course, the civil service doesn't work that way. It's only the folks at the top of agencies who get appointed, and thus give politicians the opportunity to bestow favors. Most government jobs today do not work that way.
>>
>
>I disagree. Widipedia is not how government works at all. I wish I would save the articles about people getting a fairly low positions in the local government just because they have connections. One case I remember well is where the state auditor gave a job to his uncle (who was a musician) to be an auditor (low level position). He only had to show up for work for few hours a weeks, doing nothing, and getting nice pay (more than a musician makes <g>).
>
>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_civil_service
>>
>>>But the bottom line is that the quality of what we get from the government is very bad. We probably get 10 cents on the dollar for what we pay into the government.
>>
>>I think you're wrong about how much we get, but as voters, we get a say. If we don't like what we're getting, we can vote to change the leadership.
>>
>>Tamar
>
>I can't wait for November <g> (not that my vote really counts since I live in a predominantly democrat-voting state).

Me, too. Only 48 more states to go! ;-)

Actually there is a close election in my Congressional district. The incumbent is Joe Walsh, who is a Tea Party guy. Lake County is pretty conservative and generally votes Republican. Walsh's opponent is a woman named Tammy Duckworth. She is a vet who had her legs blown off in the Iraq war. With the redrawn Congressional districts she is being given a good chance to win.