@k00b shared a post about the new FBI director Trump is putting up for his admin.

He talks a big game. Moving the office in DC to KC. Moving the workforce out of Mordor back into the lands of the people they are supposed to be working for. He talks about saving money and sending the unused budget back to Congress. It reminded me of my time working in IT in government education. I was young and conservative. Naive in many ways. I had a budget to spend on equipment and I recall my boss telling me we need to spend this money before the end of the year. He explained that if we don't use all the money we have they won't give us that much next year. More than that, you can forget about asking for a bigger budget. This really bothered me but at the same time I was in no position to change it. It was no skin off my nose so I found some ways to use the funds.

I learned one of many lessons I would learn working in government education. Now, to be fair conservatives often talk about this kind of thing in government and act like it doesn't exist in private businesses. It does. The larger the organization the more likely it will exist. Heads of departments want to grow their departments. They want more money. The aren't really looking to economize. But, the difference in private businesses is that there is a profit motive. A force pushing back on the Iron Law of Bureaucracy. In a word, incentives.

And here lies the problem Trump or any politician seeking to reform government faces. When you seek to shrink a government program or agency you are pushing against many opposing incentives. Even if you succeed in your reforms the tide is always pushing the opposite way. The only way to keep the state from growing in size and scope is for the population to desire and require it. Then you need politicians and officials that will seek to work against their own incentives and keep government trim. I'm not saying its impossible. It would be possible if you had a nation of Ron Pauls...

The reality is power is the one ring. Those who see government power are either corrupted from the start or will be corrupted by it. I like to think of DC as Mordor in this analogy. The state is the dark lord. Its not Biden or Trump. They just have the ring for a short time. Power is corrupting all those in their orbit. I know, that sounds dark. That's how I view it. But, I'd rather hear people talking about cutting than growing the state. It just all sounds naive to me. I'm reminded of my younger self.

The sad thing is that what is being discussed by Trump is at best a temporary patch job. The real problems all boil down to incentives. These are incentives that are at the foundation of the state. And, its not just in government but in the popular culture and education. There's a reason government grows no matter who is in power. Incentives. If you run for congress and the outcome is your district gets less funding for schools and projects that create jobs? Are you gonna get re-elected? Unlikely. The only way that works is if the population is interested in the workings of government and have conviction about small government. I think we can all agree that this is not the case. There are few that are but they are a small number. Most people are uninterested. They sure aren't interested in boring topics like incentives. Sure, many follow politics but that's just a drama show to garner votes and get slime balls attention. Few are interested in economics, incentive structures, and governance.

I'm ready to watch the show though. Season three of the Trump show should be an interesting if Trump can survive it.

If you want a good laugh and to see some of what I'm talking about in a funny BBC show from the 80s check out "Yes! Minister". It should be required viewing for any conservative thinking they can "fix" government.