The only place I have ever worked with a much higher than normal level of competence was a hedge fund that made a point of only hiring intelligent people, and fired anyone who they didn't like very fast.

As for motivation, I actually saw a lot more motivated people in government than I have elsewhere. Many really believed in their mission of public service. I don't see most private sector employees burning with the company mission statement.

Maybe the VC tech scene is more like the hedge fund I worked at, but really, most private sector businesses are not like that at all.

And you have what evidence for this? The reality is, is that government departments often achieve much with very little. Case in point the interview with the former dodge engineer on HN earlier today. I think the reason why the myth persists is because everyone wants to have their demands prioritised while at the same time pay the minimum amount of tax, leading to continuous understaffing and everyone being unhappy (I would exclude defense from that assessment, because they suffer much less from cuts than most other spending).

I thought i was doing my usual "oh they already did" thing but it only affects me. Oh well.

In order to get a Kosher stamp you need an "observer" who is some guy you pay to hang around and make sure you do everything right. Sometimes the guy is actually helpful, but usually it's just some nephew of the Rabbi who hands out the kosher certificate.

Their main focus is to keep you purchasing only other products deemed kosher. Not the quality of the food or even cleanliness. If you annoy the wrong people you can lose your certificate and essentially get black listed. You can't open on a Saturday etc.

I used to joke that the easiest way to gauge the quality of the restaurant is in an inverse proportion to the size of its kosher sign. Most restaurants in Tel Aviv (excluding, Humus, Falafel or Shuwarma places) are not kosher.

The idea that government employee = lazy/disorganized/unmotivated while private sector employee = hardworking/organized/motivated is not true. In fact the most hard to work with clients (because they wouldn't be on time, don't do work, do it lazily, etc) I ever had were all private sector and my client list includes literal art students in their twenties who go out partying all week, so that means something.

Then captured by private interests having the deepest pockets