Paying Teachers, Police, Fire Fighters, and Soldiers

Posted: Thursday, February 26th, 2015

           As governments face cutting their budgets, the cry among the supporters of certain government employees is of the immeasurable benefits that such workers give to society.  A teacher opens up the mind of a child, and the success of that educated child cannot be measured.  When a police officer stops a killer, or a fire fighter rescues someone trapped in a fire, to measure the financial value of that saved life seems wrong.  The same can be said for a soldier who places his life between us and our enemies. Such actions deserve large amounts of gratitude, but should this impact how much they are paid? The answer should be no.

   The value of someone's service (how much they should be compensated) is rarely - if ever - based on the future results of the action.  The builder of a commercial building does not receive dividends if the building facilitates wonderful success for the business that uses it.  The store owner doesn't send a bill if the tool he sold a builder results in thousands of dollars of profit. 

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