Thank you to everyone who supports these projects on Patreon. I wouldn't be able to devote so much time and so many resources to one video otherwise. I'm trying to make the best work I can and the donations really do make it possible. If you'd like to chip in and support me, check out www.patreon.com/rchapman. Video notes below. Notes: I didn't talk about fraud in this video. Here's the scoop: We think we lose around 50-70 billion a year from fraud, most of it healthcare fraud. That's significant. But it's easier to measure losses from fraud than losses from inefficiency or from waste related to lobbying and interest groups. It's also the easiest to understand. If the government has a big pot of money and relatively loose security around that pot, people will take advantage and steal some (by claiming disabilities they don't actually have, for example). Increasing security helps solve the problem. I watched a podcast by The Office Of Inspector General that said - as of 2019 - we have 1600 people working for the OIG to 'root out fraud, waste and abuse' related to healthcare. That seems like a low number to me. I also suspect that if we made reforms that made our government more competent and brought more talented people into government, they'd be more motivated to stop fraud and would find more elegant ways to do it. This video did not go into why governments are more wasteful than private organizations (no profit incentive, not spending their own money). My focus was more specific. I said: given that it is a government (which assumes we're not thinking about privatizing whatever the government is doing), these are aspects of that government, and things that are happening in that society that are causing inefficiency and waste. I considered this a subject that most people do not want to spend long watching (books about budgeting problems, for example, don't exactly fly off the shelves), so I had to made decisions about what to include and what not to include in order to keep the runtime down and reach a broader audience. It's also worth saying that I didn't mean to imply that other governments around the world aren't wasteful, or that the US has the most wasteful government on the planet. When I said things like 'X makes the government uniquely wasteful,' I meant that the government is highly wasteful in a manner that's distinct to the US. Not that the US is more wasteful than anywhere else. I try to make my phrasing as clear as possible and anticipate how I might be misinterpreted, but I'm still learning. Another point that I wish I brought up: politicians are also incentivized to be friendly and accommodating towards lobbyists because they (in the last 50 years or so) tend to seek work in the lobbying field once they're out of office, which is called the 'revolving door.' If politicians, while in office, develop friendly relationships with lobbying firms, one would think that would facilitate finding work there upon retirement. Again, there could be a temptation to pass legislation suggested by the lobbying firms that isn't necessarily a good use of money or in the public interest, if it seems like it will give said politician a path to a lucrative career once they're out of office. It's something that's hard to prove, but is regardless widely seen, even within Washington, as a big issue. One last thing: if you want to do your own research on what I talked about in the second half of this video, I'd suggest looking up 'rent-seeking' and 'the logic of collective action.' - Ryan

@pierren___

2 жыл бұрын

Thats the why the government should institute mandatory corporations and direct the economy

@olsterman937

2 жыл бұрын

I think at around 14:30 you were trying to point to something on-screen you would put in editing but may have forgot to.

@realryanchapman

2 жыл бұрын

@@olsterman937 Trust me I watch these videos enough times over before I upload them that I wouldn't miss something like that. With my gestures I was trying to say 'on one hand this' and 'on one hand that.'

@frmrsgtusmc1789

2 жыл бұрын

Great video. I would also add the appropriations process as another reason the government is so wasteful. Basically, every year federal agencies receive an "appropriation," or funding for that fiscal year. The appropriation is then subdivided into catagories with rules stipulating how that money can legally be spent. If an agency fails to spend the entirety of its appropration, they run a high risk of budget cuts the following year. As such, agencies often make purchases simply to spend all the money in its appropration regardless of actual need. For example, say the Veterans Administration is nearing the fiscal year and still has money left in the "furniture" subcatagory of its appropriation, it will buy new furniture to replace furniture that was just purchased the previous year.

@marleybot9848

2 жыл бұрын

Ryan, the problem is, neo-liberals (that's the Republican and most of the Democrat parties) don't want government jobs. Though those jobs would provide decent pay for more people. They want everything privatized. They want our government to be run like a business. A business framework does not work on people. Because corporate business owns our government, they have been running our country like a business for many many years already and all that has done is deregulate protections for the public and allowed regulations for corporations that allow greed, corruption, monopolization, job going overseas, etc.

As a jet engine mechanic for the military, I see this every day, and it's so frustrating. I accidentally break something while assembling an engine, say I bent the probe of a thermocouple, or scratched the sealing face of a metalic seal. I go to supply to pick up a new part and see that that thermocouple is priced at $1700, or that metal seal is $4000. Also mind you that the engines I'm working on are nearly 50 year old designs, we're not talking about cutting edge stuff. As an amatuer machinist, these are parts that I could replicate for dozens of dollars without the aid of billion dollar factories that military contractors possess. At the same time, the military can't find the funds to replace lead drinking water pipes on base, or tear down barracks and dormitories riddled with black mold. It really makes you think about how much further that $773B budget would go if we paid normal prices for things, or how much of that $773B we could save and spend on things like our education or healthcare, or infrastructure. I'm practically in a state desperation at the thought that our government will never accomplish anything noteworthy with these constraints. It has genuinely made me never want to work for the government again after I get out.

@edthoreum7625

2 жыл бұрын

Read miles parker's comment,,, The more hrs we work the greater the tax and there is nothing we can do.

@richardpritzel1892

2 жыл бұрын

You're perfectly placed to answer this question: my understanding is that people outraged over the cost of a bolt or a screw on a military jet are misunderstanding some of the engineering that can go into said fasteners. For example often they're designed to break or shear in a very specific manner during disintegration. Is there any truth to that which explains some of the cost?

@BenjaminMarshallScienceMan

2 жыл бұрын

@@edthoreum7625 I made my comment with things in mind like cutting tool cost, material cost, pre/post measurement, post-processing requirements (like surface grinding, annealing, or hardening) and CNC programming time. Granted, 'dozens of dollars' might have been an understatement, as it didn't really account for my time or expertise. But as one man I could make a profit by charging something in the range of hundreds of dollars for such a part. Because of economies of scale, any manufacturer making that part by the hundreds or thousands (which is not unreasonable considering many of these parts are sold to our allies who operate similar aircraft) is paying substantially less in manufacturing costs per unit. Even when you factor in the procurement cost of equipment and factories, the price of such a part should almost certainly be dirt cheap after a production run of 50 years when all those assets are paid off. The massive thing I haven't even mentioned is that a lot of these parts are refurbished or recycled from the old ones the military sent back, meaning that the manufacturer eliminates even more of the manufacturing cost. With all this in mind, I can say with absolute certaintly that the military is overcharged, atleast by aerospace manufacturers.

@BenjaminMarshallScienceMan

2 жыл бұрын

@@richardpritzel1892 My reply to Ed Thoreum is applicable to your question. Certainly there are factors which justify a bolt on a fighter jet being two, three, even ten times more expensive. For example they might have holes machined in the head for safety wire, or come coated in a high-temperature anti-sieze. But as someone who works with them every day, it is absolutely ludicrous to see them go for twenty to one hundred times the normal cost for an equivalent bolt. They seemingly strip, break, melt, and sieze just as easily as any bolt I've ever seen. In fact, I've seen jets that were assembled using non-standard bolts probably from a hardware store that had no problems.

@deriznohappehquite

2 жыл бұрын

Maybe you could replicate them, but could you, and every other mechanic in the military, replicate them consistently enough that planes don’t fall out of the sky? Also, could you originate them? Could you design the plane? Because those costs are factored into all of the parts. R&D, quality control, etc. is always a huge part of the cost of military hardware.

Here is how this worked in practice, when I had a small software company, and we got requests for bids from government agencies: The rules and processes you had to comply with in order to submit your bid and to complete the project once you won the bid were so onerous and cumbersome that we quickly realized that we needed to bid 4-5 times(!) higher prices than we would have done for the same project for a private client. Keep in mind, I am not talking about rules to make the software safer or more useful or equitable, or anything like that. The rules were ONLY designed to allow the agency to prove that they were not overpaying for their software. We had to hire extra people, just to stay on top of the rules process, rather than just write the software. (In reality, this pretty much disqualified all small companies, as large consulting firms like IBM had entire departments on staff, just for these kinds of processes, and since they had no competition, they made it worth their time by hugely overcharging the government clients.) So, the processes that were set up to ensure governments weren't being overcharged (or gave contracts to their buddies) resulted in the exact opposite; namely that they had to pay multiples of what any other client would pay. Distrust is EXTREMELY expensive!

@bobnix3240

2 жыл бұрын

All true, but trust is even worse. Take away those processes and 100% of contracts will go to their friends at the highest possible rate, in exchange for the usual hidden kickbacks and future employment etc. The only reasonable solution is to shrink government to the smallest possible size with the fewest possible responsibilities so that the waste is minimized.

@kennethkho7165

2 жыл бұрын

@@bobnix3240 evidently not in the rest of the industrialized world.

@bobnix3240

2 жыл бұрын

@@kennethkho7165 No, it's everywhere. Have you seen how corrupt the EU is with contracts?

@lilowhitney8614

Жыл бұрын

@@bobnix3240 That's a big false dichotomy you have there friend.

@bobnix3240

Жыл бұрын

@@lilowhitney8614 Not at all, governments can fall anywhere on the spectrum. We're certainly not the fullest extent of possible rules, we just lean harder that way than most. My point was merely that the rules are there for a reason, and there are many examples around the world of what happens when there are fewer rules. Ultimately this is about power and corruption, and the corrosive effects of power, both on individuals, and on the sorts of people who will apply for positions of power. The solution remains the same. If you want less corruption, give the government less power to be corrupt with.

That "American taxpayer's lobbying organization", lobbying for efficient spending that would benefit a broader group, actually sounds like an amazing idea and someone should definitely do it - I'd subscribe

@benjaminhendrickson5435

Жыл бұрын

@@kaiepstein5331 The exact same joke instantly popped into my head when I read penguin's comment. That isn't to say penguin is wrong, It would be a fantastic organization that I would be happy to support as well, but I'm also honest enough to admit that it won't be me who puts in the ungodly amount of time and effort that would be required to get something like that off the ground.

@gustavorodriguez7590

Жыл бұрын

The organization may be a non profit and crowdsourced, also a little share of the taxes could be assigned to it as a starting point

@tristanmoller9498

Жыл бұрын

I moved to Germany and they have an organization that represents taxpayers here "Bund der Steuerzahler" (=taxpayers association). Some nerds are on TV once a year and publish a list of the most absurd government spending/waste. They compare the scope of the problem to previous years and name the government bodies/ministries, who supported those types of deals. It's stuff along the lines of paying 137$ for a screw, that would definitely make it on the list. The press conference is pretty well visited by news corps and it makes national news every year on that evening. Then, for a week, journalists and late night comedy shows spend their time finding the funniest and dumbest expenses and it definitely comes up when talking to friends on a break, like: "Did you hear that [insert town name] spent 300,000€ to cut down 12 trees, so that the church tower was visible from the Autobahn, when driving past the town? And that they replanted the trees for another 100,000€ after they had deemed it a mistake due to environmental reasons". "Yeah man, crazy. In Wuppertal they payed 400,000€ to put five golden benches on a public square...". Whenever that association makes a public statement on any spending that is supposed to pass soon or that has been decided already, that expense gets a lot of media attention and makes the public opinion more visible, which sometimes prevents the spending.

@gunterdapenguin5896

Жыл бұрын

@@tristanmoller9498 I like that

@adriansommer7493

11 ай бұрын

@@tristanmoller9498 I as a german citizen, and i am really disappointed about the „Bund der Steuerzahler“, because it is dominated not by „normal taxpayers“ but mostly by rich persons from the private economy, which hope to benefit by influencing policy by lobbyist activities and a big reach advantage compared to other organisations. Also the Bund der Steuerzahler doesnt make in depth research on wasteful spending like Chapman has described, remember the sugar industry, but focuses on micro stuff like misplaced railway gates. Generally speaking its a lobby group pretending to work in favor for society.

My father worked at a dry dock once. The part numbers for all the items they used on the ship had different military designations from their civilian counterparts. Some of them were because the military had special requirements that the civilian ones did not, such as a military bulldozer needing to fit a non-standard size battery used by all military vehicles, thus requiring a modified battery compartment and door, different from its civilian counterparts. But most parts were 1:1 identical, and only had different part numbers because they were painted olive green from the factory, and/or for the sake of keeping everything filed away in the same catalog. A simple fluorescent light-bulb, identical in every way to a civilian light-bulb with the same rating, would cost more than double the price or sometimes more, for no other reason other than it being a military light-bulb.

@john2432

11 ай бұрын

Because these corporations realize they can scalp as much as they want from the government without the government pushing back

It’s a pleasure to watch due to the clarity of articulation in your content. And refreshing topics, that actually matter, that don't get media light. Thank you Ryan!

@SANGPHAM-uk3qg

Жыл бұрын

nice

@gabietrifonov9187

Жыл бұрын

Wait is that actually MrSpherical?

@FlyingV555

Жыл бұрын

@@gabietrifonov9187 I checked. It is

Isn't it a wonderful world when someone can come out of nowhere on KZread and just blow your mind with the clarity and scholarly integrity of their work

@chazzbranigaan9354

7 ай бұрын

Why are people so suprised by this? The scholary info on KZread has already passed that of, television, the world's universities, approaching print. The only place it falls short is hyper specific hyper high resolution info found in scientific journals. As far as teaching the public it is only rivaled by the printing press, which will soon be decimated in scale if it hadn't already.

Great work again Ryan - in such a polarised world it’s refreshing to see and hear complexity rationalised in such a balanced presentation.

@brokenrecord3523

Жыл бұрын

We just need to keep in mind that the polarization is also built into the system.

This might be my favorite video of yours! Thank you. One interesting thing I have heard is a huge waste of money in many government sectors ( primarily military) is how departments will have an allotted budget for a year, and if they perform well without needing to use the whole budget it will get slashed the following year(to be less wasteful). In a tragedy of the commons scenario the department will of course only think about itself and frivolously spend up to the allotted budget just to ensure they get at least the same budget the following year.

@paulgraunke6670

2 жыл бұрын

Spot on, Caleb. The government budgeting process has a built in perverse incentive to not economize.

@justacasualgamer1957

2 жыл бұрын

this exactly is the most common thing. I have seen so many expensive things that are not used but just bought to keep the budgets up

@Descriptor413

Жыл бұрын

Freeman's Mind (which has Ross Scott narrating the thoughts of Gordon Freeman as he goes through the Half Life games) does a great bit on this to explain some of the weird level designs in Half Life 1, basically chalking up the ridiculous areas (like the giant nutcracker room, or the bottomless pit box smashing room) as being attempts to pad out the budget so they get more funding next year.

@pong9000

Жыл бұрын

Better search abroad for monsters to destroy, to justify the budget. Manufacture monsters if necessary.

@jeffc1347

Жыл бұрын

This is true not only for government but also major corporations. Management makes sure to spend every penny they can because if they don't they will lose it.

I grew up near the Argentia US Naval Station in Newfoundland, and when it was decommissioning I remember going with my father for a public liquidation sale of a lot of office furniture. I remember seeing an office chair (which we ended up buying and I used for years) that had a tag on it reading "Not Cost Effective To Repair". There was literally 1 screw loose on one of the arm rests. That always stuck with me.

Good video. The key takeaway for me is that the "checks and balances" portion is creating some inefficiency itself and not reducing it, like it should. One would think that constant oversight by both other agencies and the public would reduce the likelihood that a hotel room costs $3k/night or a submarine costs 5-10x what it should, but it doesn't, specifically because of the rules and regulations imposed on the government itself. For example, the "use it or lose it" rule in budgeting is huge.

@lilowhitney8614

Жыл бұрын

I think you mean the "rules and regulations" portion. Democratic checks and balances are intended to create inefficiency in order to prevent people from consolidating power too easily and creating dictatorships.

@NormanVN

10 ай бұрын

The checks and balances system isn't supposed to increase efficiency. The checks and balances system is not designed for a sprawling government but a lean one. A more autocratic government is more suitable for a sprawling government.

Another banger video thanks for putting out such quality stuff. I feel spoiled to live in a time when this kind of content is so readily available

This is perhaps one of the best channels I’ve come across recently. Not only am I going to binge-watch all your videos, but also I’ll be tuning in to your future content!

Super Brilliant! Thank you for this. Once again, really insightful and interesting.

Wow, that was so helpful to learn. And so well researched, thought out, and broken down. Thank you.

I love how nonpartisan this content is. You’re crushing it sir.

@aghaight

Жыл бұрын

IT IS VERY PARTISAN DON'T BUY IT, homeboys a right wing operative.

@theBear89451

Жыл бұрын

Nonpartisan? Only one party is against waste, while the other party believes waste is beneficial because it pushes wages up.

@gregsalo950

Жыл бұрын

@@theBear89451 Really? Examples please.

@medavis

Жыл бұрын

@@theBear89451 There is no party that is "pro-waste" and advocating that we be more wasteful. The only two positions on government waste are either indifference or anti-wastefulness. No rational actor would ever push for more waste because it pushes up wages. Dunno where you heard this, but it's clearly absurd. You should spend less time listening to what politicians are telling you they are trying to do (Republicans, for example, always saying they're trying to stop wastefulness - it's bullshit, of course, they're just giving the money to different special interests than the other guys), and more time watching what they're actually doing. Both parties let themselves be lobbied by special interests. Both parties sneak ear marks and pork barrel spending into bills. You seem to have missed the entire message of this video, which is that the system and the shape we as a society have forced it into encourages the wrong behavior for the outcomes that we expected. We want government to work for all Americans, but we only incentivize it to work for small, individual interest over our broader social and national interest. It's possible to go too far in the other direction, of course, and to start damaging individual interest and freedom for the sake of the state (Soviet Russia, anyone?). But it's a balancing act that we are not very good at.

@TheDmonet

Жыл бұрын

@@theBear89451 No adult should actually believe this.

I've seen a number of your videos and I wanted to thank you for doing such a great job--specifically, for discussing issues in a factual way without perceivable bias, which is a huge virtue. The very fact that I cannot tell where you yourself stand on issues and what your opinions are, is a very huge (and difficult) accomplishment. Blatant bias is what everyone else is doing, so thank you.

The idea that "special interest" groups have disproportionate effect on policy has a bearing on our debate about individualized free speech. When I speak only for myself, I tend to be less willing to join with others who claim to have grievances -- so it may be harder for legitimate group grievances to get seriously addressed.

@jboushka

Жыл бұрын

I wanted to add the nuance that some of these grievances come from what we call "marginalized groups" that are often recognized legally as "protected classes" (and drive, for example., some of the "hate speech" policies on many tech platforms). So this observation has a much larger meaning on the Left (whose "tribal" political constituencies often were abused or upended in the past -- "critical theory", etc.) than on the Right, whose tribal groupings resist having privileges or assets they had "enjoyed" being taken away from them by political force. So I think this part of the problem complicates Ryan's presentation. Eventually I expect to do a more polished (than usual for me) video on this problem myself.

I worked for a food laboratory that has both US and Canada branch. When I visited our state counterpart, I was shocked on how much they get from government contract. Here in Canada, government gigs don’t really pay well, and they have a lot of audit. In US, they pay nearly double the price without oversight, simply because the lab is “FDA approved”

So basically to oversimplify the whole video: In an attempt to keep our democracy democratic, we created an inefficient government that creates a bunch of waste. There are 2 methods the a organization can use to approach a problem: Method 1: Let the employees use their brains to solve our problems. We may put guidelines in to try to help, but those guidelines are just recommendations. We may also put some rules that the employee can't break, but the employee should still have a lot of control over how they solve this problem. (Ex: Average small and/or midsized restaurant) Method 2: We will put rules on how to do this thing every step of the way. They can't deviate away from the rules, even if it is more efficient to just deviate from it sometimes. (Ex: McDonalds) Sometimes it's more efficient to do method 1, sometimes it's more efficient to do method 2. The majority(AKA the bigger group) doesn't feel like lobbying not despite its large numbers, but due to its large numbers that everyone believes everyone else will go ahead and lobby, and the opposite is true for smaller groups. Due to this the people making the decisions may only be exposed to arguments in favor of the smaller group(Sometimes at the expense of the bigger group), which isn't helped by the fact that the smaller group may already have arguments and counterarguments prepared to support things that favor the smaller group. Our military is a whole other mess to explain in terms of wastefulness in this video due to our military maintaining state-of-the-art tech. To best explain it, it's by a case-to-case basis. In an attempt to reduce wastefulness, we support actions that will help increase wastefulness. Edit: And I just got to the last part of the video, which shows a summary of the video.

@c99kfm

Жыл бұрын

He skimmed the part where the bigger group (the low to middle income earners, the 90%) nowadays have less combined disposable income than the smaller group (the rich and super-rich, the 1%) to spend on lobbying, causing a feedback loop leading to less and less government resources being allocated to further the interest of workers, and more and more to furthering the interests of the super-rich. He also didn't mention how the smaller group not only lobbies government officials, but also lobbies the bigger group itself, as owners of the media, the news media in particular. By the smaller group limiting and directing discourse, the bigger group is convinced not to act in opposition of the smaller group. I recommend "Inventing Reality" by Michael Parenti - significantly less dry than "Manufacturing Consent", which covers some of the same topics.

@rdean150

Жыл бұрын

@@c99kfm All excellent points. And these principles point inexorably to the importance of education. If one hopes to have any chance of transcending the social caste into which they were born, a solid education is a prerequisite. Higher education does not equate to intelligence, but it can teach skills that are critical not only for the straightforward tasks of obtaining careers in lucrative industries, but more importantly it can teach the language of the game being played. The concept of directing discourse to achieve an objective is happening constantly around us, on numerous levels and in ways which we may or may not notice, depending on the level of sophistication and the degree to which we happen to agree with the intended objective. Which is to say, it is not necessarily nefarious and is in fact often for the benefit of the viewer. But the more you understand the language of business, finance, healthcare, technology, etc, the more capable you become of identifying the subtle abuses of such language, the euphemisms that misleadingly wrap things which are detrimental to public interests in appealing sentiment, the obfuscation of unpleasant truths in unnecessary layers of technical complexity, the manipulation of statistics or blatantly fallacious application of statistical inference, or misdirection of attention through the use of fear- or grievance-based arguments centered on topics that are far less relevant or impactful than the topic being downplayed. For every instance of this we notice, there are at least a handful we do not notice. We live in a constant riptide of information, and we are all in an ongoing battle to keep our heads above water. These are strange days.

@jimeagle1952

Жыл бұрын

In and attempt to keep our "democracy democratic we". Who exactly is we, for sure we is not you or me. We have allowed a government, which is no longer ours to control, to lead use to believe that it's a democracy when it's is, according to the constitution, suppose to be a constutional republic. The real battle, in the AI world of today, for control is between the global working class and the global ruling class. Unfortunately for the WC the RC are winning this on going seemingly never ending battle for total control. In many ways they have won! One example of how we know they've won is that the writer of this comment firmly believes that this country is a democracy based on being a democratic system that is fundamentally based on what benefits the many and not the rights of the individual!

@SergyMilitaryRankings

11 ай бұрын

But Russia, China and EU have same military tech yet they don't spend as much, US military spending being so high is due to price gouging and corruption in the military industrial complex, defence contractors and congressman make a lot of money, I wouldn't be surprised if the actual US military budget is around 300-400 billion. 60 minutes did in an exposé on this

As far as the very first question in the video, I worked with an engineer at my job a few years ago who previously worked for NASA on various classified projects. He told me that the reason for the 900 dollar hammers and 5000 dollar toilet seats is essentially because government agencies list those items in place of components used for sensitive projects on spreadsheets. It's basically a legalized form of money laundering.

You’re one of the good standards for educational KZread channels 👍

@cashewnuttel9054

Жыл бұрын

Yes but a lot of people who watches political videos don't want to be educated, they want their ideas reinforced; they want to watch videos that agree with their opinions, their ideas, their ideologies, their beliefs only.

This is really great content! Thank you for putting so much work into it.

When I worked for the USN I saw some serious money wasting. One example was seeing an aircraft flying around doing touch an goes. I asked a guy next to me if someone needed to get some training or seat time in. No he said, they are burning off fuel so their fuel allotment would not get cut next month. Let's not forget the added wear and tear on the engines and airframe which has major costs as well. Another was when a coworker was telling me about an avionics upgrade that the Navy brass and operators did not even want, but was told by congress to do it anyway. We're talking about several million per aircraft. I'm sure the equipment supplier contributes to their congressman, heavily. Then there is how my spouse had stint in the University of California system and how a project that might take 6 weeks in the private sector would take 6 months at US. Not because of any particular process requirement, but that there was no particular urgency to actually get anything done, and zero consequence for not doing so. In fact there were staff that seemed intent on slowing the process down. Maybe you would like to hear that there are multiple IT departments running incompatible software. Or simply that there were people who seemed to have no function other than occasionally go to meetings which resulted in nothing (see above) other than to fill up the day so they could collect a paycheck. In conclusion, we surmised it was nothing more than a welfare system for UC graduates (90+%) who probably would be making lattes for a living at nowhere near their government salary.

Underrated video. It-s not often a youtube channel would provide you with an insight that was never obvious to you, even though it's rather simple and clear in its reasoning. Yet you seem to be able to do it with almost every video. It would be interesting to compare some "efficient" governments to the US. Singapore is probably the best example.

Really appreciate your videos Ryan, keep going!

This is fantastic. Thank you for existing.

Ryan, I originally came across your video about fascism and I am so happy I clicked on it! Over the last week I have now consumed almost all of your content. I truly love these dives into our past and clarification of these political and economic and social terms. I feel like I just took a collage course, with a high degree of value. I truly thank you for your work and look forward to following what else you cover.

I wanted to add something I was told over 20 years ago by a faculty member at the university I went to (FYI it was focused on engineering so many of the instructors and professors had worked in industry) I was at a cantina shop on campus one night and started talking with another student and a faulty member (different department from my degree). The other student and I both made negative comments about the government paying hundreds of dollars for a hammer (that at a store would have been a few bucks). The faculty member stopped us and asked "do you know why it is that way?" We just blamed corruption, wastefulness, etc. He told us it was badly written contracts. In the contracts, it is highly detailed out, where, how, with what, etc, a part is to be made, assembled with others, the entire production process. The issue is sometimes things like tool kits (for maintenance) or small incidental items are listed as needed to be supplied with, but the contractor/manufacturer can not sub out said item. So now, the aircraft builder has to figure out how to make hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, etc and buying the tools and dies for making such. (Another side note: my degree and work experience is mechanical engineering/manufacturing) this learning to make something is very costly (especially for limited production runs) and yes, they could hire/buy/liscense knowledge from a tool maker company, but why would they want to educate a potential rival??? So, because of restrictions in the contract, the supplier has to do something they are not set up to do and then do it on a small scale (ie more costly because of failed attempts) the final cost becomes ridiculously stupid.

Thanks Ryan Chapman, I really appreciate videos like this that take an extremely critical look into politics and pulls back the alluring veil of partisanship to reveal the complex reality of how the world works. If more people understood how and why government spending can become so wasteful, I wonder if the political discussions and issues would be different? I don’t know about most folks but I think one of the biggest issues that we actually face as a nation is whether or not we should abolish lobbying.

So glad you are still making these videos!

Great summary/essay. You showed your source material; that's awesome. Thank you for putting the work in on this video!

I work for the government and I see the inefficiencies, as well as the long process of bickering between different departments and agencies. As well the long procedures and paperwork we have to follow just to get something done or receive money to do it. The US government is basically a constant ongoing negotiating struggle just like a bar fight that only ends once people either tireds out and gives up or we just forget about what our original goal was and hope it resolves itself. Usually doesn't. Lol.

Great video Ryan, I think what's most upsetting about this entire situation is the fact that republics seem to inevitably devolve into cronyism. It really harkens back to the idea that there aren't any real solutions, only trade-offs.

Your videos are amazingly well made. I really appreciate how fact and research based your contents are. Keep it up, and thank you Ryan!

Thank you for the great video. I love the position of articulating arguments based on research and facts rather than emotional sensibilities.

I mean, $137 isnt too incredibly unreasonable for a screw if it's made of Ti and machined to incredibly tight tolerances.

@vultureTX001

2 жыл бұрын

and it's for a old plane that you no longer keep parts around for. and the Air Force ran out of parts for decades ago. =True Story.

@OtherWorldExplorers

2 жыл бұрын

Also the tools that work on the assumed Ti screw must be Cadmium free. Cadmium can scratch Ti and start a stress fracture. So that is where you get the $700 wrench due to adhering to milspec.

@deriznohappehquite

2 жыл бұрын

Plus the military likes to place orders for things that haven’t been made in 20 years, which makes their contractors, subcontractors, and sub-subcontractors have to reinvent the wheel.

This is a great, albeit depressing, video. I'm forced to wonder if there is any way we can make the government work a little more smoothly and efficiently without overly compromising our democratic values and process.

@x--.

2 жыл бұрын

Sure! The first step, I think, is to acknowledge it will never be perfect. We will have mistakes, we will have errors in judgment. We want to minimize but accept we won't end waste. The second, I think, is having strong advocates for accountability. Is it a taxpayer advocacy group (As he alluded to in the video)? Is it more government inspectors general who have strong power to investigate fraud, waste and abuse? Is it more subsidies to local news organizations that aren't part of big entertainment conglomerates so we can shine a bright light on waste when it happens? Any of those would help and I bet there are even better ideas out there.

@JB-du3qv

Жыл бұрын

Have you ever questioned democracy? Rule of the masses. They're idiots!

@SmallBobby

Жыл бұрын

One way would be to step down from being the world's police,, but that may incite a host of other problems.

@justcommenting4981

Жыл бұрын

@@x--. a tax payer advocacy group. Jesus Christ. You mean like...people you vote for???? He really beat around the fundamental problem so it's not surprising to see this. The problem is bribery of elected officials through campaign donations or later lobbying jobs. Any new entity group you create will be crushed under the billions of dollars of wasted money you went looking for as those interest groups oppose you with bribes. That will never reduce government inefficiency because the money doesn't disappear, it's collected by corporations that directly benefit from and actively push for it. The inefficiency literally comes from government attempting to provide public services while also serving The Market.

@magnem1043

Жыл бұрын

creating a master AI to calculate for free according to the amendements instead of corrupt lawyers 😂

This video is brilliant. Insightful and superbly presented. Great stuff.

THANKS FOR UR VERY WISE N INSIGHTFUL ANALYSIS.

One thing to consider with small items is the cost to the supplier to provide the paperwork required to conform to all the regulations. It might cost few hundred dollars to respond to a request for tender. If a company wins one in ten it then needs to recoup a few thousand dollars on the winning bid. If the request is for 10 hammers youre now looking at 100s of dollars per hammer. If someone had just walked into the store to purchase then they could obtain a much cheaper price.

LET'S GO!!!

@philflip1963

Жыл бұрын

I disagree, nothing just, 'can't be'!

Fantastic video, as always.

Very interesting take on this! I have forwarded, thanks!

Hey Ryan, I was just curious why you removed your video on when life began. I thought it was given in a clear and objective, and as you suggested can move the debate on abortion forward. Big fan of your work.

The whole point of socialism was to democratize the economy. Basically, ignore market forces and replace them with a political process that controls the economy instead. It didn't work for the exact same reasons as you describe here. Democratization is not always a benefit and it might be overvalued in the west today.

Delighted to see this channel getting bigger, great unbiased (at least, as unbiased as possible) overview of things. Would love to see you on The Jolly Heretic sometime.

Excellent video Ryan. Great insights!

The videos of yours I've watched so far have all been very good. I prefer to avoid politics because compared to science and philosophy it's so complicated and people are so emotional. You have a very similar temperament to my own it seems. Neither glass half empty, nor glass half full, but rather the glass is at 50% capacity.

I live in Denmark, where we have what people might call 'big government' (welfare, somewhat more state interferrence). But often, when I or someone I know interact with the US government, we are surprised by just how much bureaucracy is involved, even compared to the Danish government. Somehow, the US has managed to create a large 'small government'...

@frankdayton731

Жыл бұрын

People scream about "small government" in America, PRECISELY because the federal government is so big. And has the potential (and many would say an interest) in growing even bigger. It's not that *everyone* wants small government here (evidently they don't), it's just that your notion as a foreigner of what it means to be American is about demanding small government.

@peterthegreat996

8 ай бұрын

The animosity towards government began with organized labor and civil rights movements in the US :

I love your videos. Highly informative and I love the style of using books and showing pages with highlights. Keep up the amazing work.

Great content Ryan

I don’t think that separation of powers is a waste We don’t see the cost if it would not exist

It's been discussed in other comments here, but I want add to it to drive the point a little further home. With regards to the military spending obscene amounts of money for screws (and other hardware and tools), it's possible that there's actually a good reason. Military and aerospace applications are very specific. A bolt for an airplane could easily cost $10,000 depending on the material it's made of, the cutting tools used to make it, the type of hardening or annealing needed, the setup and measuring that takes place before and after machining, the software used to make the CNC program, the machine used for fabrication, the time and talent of the machinist, and more. Modern manufacturing is neither simple, nor cheap. That's because it's very demanding. If what the military is buying for these projects are simple things you can find at a hardware store, then yes, we have a case of both price gouging and reckless spending. I'd be willing to bet though that most, if not all, the hardware needed for military weapons' primary functions and such are custom made to meet tight tolerances and specifications, as well as work in extreme circumstances. If we want to cut down on costs regarding manufactured parts, then one could argue for less strict regulations and standards, but for things like weapon systems and vehicles, that could be disastrous. And, just in case it comes up, I am a machinist. This is what I do for a living. For full disclosure, I don't work with aerospace or military projects, but the considerations, planning, and processes are the same. The only difference is the standard of quality required by the industry and customer (in this case, the military). There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that people don't know about.

@edthoreum7625

2 жыл бұрын

Read Benjamin marshall's comment,,,

Thank you for doing this.

Now I have a huge reading list. Thank you!

Not the subs! (I love submarines! SUBSAFE baby!) but agree, posting this before I watch the rest, you are 100% correct and some of this stuff is waaaaayyyy too pricy.

@KatieLHall-fy1hw

2 жыл бұрын

Finished, GREAT video

Hey Ryan, I was wondering if you factored R&D to the cost of healthcare in the United States. Great video!!!

@jacobslone1717

Жыл бұрын

@@thebestasmr2403 Thanks for the response. I was curious as to the effect of R&D but if advertising is on aggregate a greater cost, the cost of R&D would not be able to explain the discrepancy. If you have a source where you got these figures I would be curious to see a cost breakdown but no worries if not, thank you again.

Love your videos & your calm & objective dissection of topics. Keep it up!

Love your work Ryan.

Where is there efficient government?

@tenetgg

2 жыл бұрын

In private startups before they transfer ownership to a corporate board.

There's one critical component to the dysfunction of our system that this video fails to mention. The Polarization of our society. When the people of a country hate each other so much- they tend to elect politicians who won't cooperate with the other side under any circumstances even on Issues that everybody agrees on... what this means is that one party needs to control all 3 branches of the government if it wants to get anything done, and since that's usually not the case- things usually don't get done.

Great video. It was clear, concise and informative.

Great stuff, keep it coming.

If we *REALLY* distrusted government, we wouldn't demand it do so many things in the first place. The problem is that there is a big enough portion of the population that *does* trust the government (at least when their preferred candidates are in in the majority), they are the ones who constantly push for government to do more things, even though the rest of us don't want that. But the people who don't trust government aren't nearly as motivated to demand it be rolled back as are those who want to see it expanded. So it only ever grows, even if in fits and starts.

@JosephRussellStapleton

2 жыл бұрын

Pretty accurate assessment.

@tomdip2094

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, the logic of 'We don't trust our Government enough, if we did, then it wouldn't be so wasteful!' is honestly hilarious as to how naïve it is. The checks and balances slow down things, and do add to costs, but the alternative of just letting the government run itself without any oversight at all, which just leads to absolute corruption, which is far more wasteful.

@Argonhubert

Жыл бұрын

Nobody is Really motivated at all to roll it back. That is why the debt is the way it is

I have to say there is some misconception regarding the military expenditures being wasteful. I'll use the seawolf since you brought it up. The need for a modern navy, to include submarines, did not go away when the cold war ended. The focus shifted to other threats, and new threats are always popping up. Overkill is the entire point. You don't look at what the other side is doing, see that they don't have XYZ capability, and then decide not to have that military capability because of it. If I have that capability and they don't, that is the entire point. And one top of that, friendly states could be enemies tomorrow, and a nation that lacks an ability might gain it, etc. Furthermore, seawolf was not the bank breaker it was claimed to be. The navy later came up with a new design, the Virginia, which was basically the same but appeared to be cheaper. Perception is the key. The Virginia is more or less just as expensive but because it was not perceived as such, the program got off without a hitch. The problem with military expenditures is that the public does not understand them. The F35 program isn't proportionally more expensive than previous aircraft programs, but due to the fact that the public neither understands the history procurement, how it works, or what the real tactical and strategic needs of the military are...it looks bad to many people.

@joystickjedi368

2 жыл бұрын

@Apsoy Pike generally because someone wants to reduce funding for misinformed reasons.

@realryanchapman

2 жыл бұрын

It seems like you don't have room in your philosophy for scaling down military costs as times change. Only maintaining and escalating. Unless I'm misunderstanding. So that's a fundamental disagreement there. If you do acknowledge that we should sometimes scale down spending, then I'd argue that the end of the Cold War was the time to do it, if there ever was a time. But that didn't happen (at least as dramatically as many thought it would). This video at least partially explained why. I've never heard that the Virginia subs cost roughly the same as the Seawolf, and just looked around more and still don't see that. Where are you getting that from? The same with the F35's.

@joystickjedi368

2 жыл бұрын

@@realryanchapman I do have room. We scaled down after WW2. But you never scale down generally. You always maintain a ready to go military at all times. So long as humans exist, the potential threat always exists. It's like a police department. You scale up during a time of crisis, but when you scale down there are limits to how far down you scale. I'll go into more detail about the 35 because I have more of it at the top of my head. The 35 looks expensive because it is replacing all legacy fighters and it's the first time cost has been calculated over the lifespan of the jet. Previous programs did not do this. In the past, you had cost calculated just for RnD plus the number of planes. F35 costs are RnD plus the planes, plus the operating costs through like 2050 or something. On top of this, we are buying 1700 or so. That's because they need to replace all the navy jets, and 3 types of air force jet. Comparisons to previous programs don't take this into account. The program also gets run through the mud because many of the program challenges are looked at in a vaccum and not compared to previous programs where the same problems or worse was happening. Furthermore, I'd the number of planes gets cut, the cost goes up. We're down to about 70 million per plane now. If the order gets cut, that price will skyrocket, and the maintenance and operations costs will go up because if you have too few planes it's hard to operate efficiently.

@joystickjedi368

2 жыл бұрын

@Apsoy Pike no that's wrong. It gets made in several states excuse the person's involve know that programs that expensive are targets for cuts, no matter how much they are needed. Very few people specialize in military affairs, but everyone thinks they do. And everyone also thinks they know when a program is a waste. Anything with a price tag that large is going to be a target for anyone who wants to claim they are cleaning the monetary swamp or is just anti military in general. The reform movement of the 70s-90s is a good example of this, because it United anti military doves with hawks who had ulterior motives.

@joystickjedi368

2 жыл бұрын

@Apsoy Pike but the inducement is caused by knowing that people will make irrational or uninformed cuts. Not because the military is just make arbitrary rubbish so it can make jobs and waste money.

Great video brother man

Thanks! I very much appreciate your factual, neutral, explanation of complex subjects.

There was an interesting video done by economics explained that talked about how they are finding that large generations like the boomers they have the power to make laws that benefit themselves and the boomers when they came into power were far larger than the former population and also came at the richest time. This is something that will affect us far after they are gone. That's just a single example and something that I think would be helpful to look further into. I do like it that people are starting to talk about the flaws in the structure. The USA is the oldest of this type of government and one of our problems is that we think it is something special and don't update our system. Another thing is that we are far more like the EU than a single country. The 13 colonies were all separate cultures with different needs. We are also a melting pot and different cultures have different needs. We have also reached the point where we can get so much done that we can create long term problems.

@Argonhubert

Жыл бұрын

I think if states were able to govern themselves more rather than the federal government that would help efficiency as well.

This is not at all unique to the US, but applies to basically every liberal democracy. America is perhaps the worst offender, especially w.r.t lobbying (though it does exist in other countries as well) but that is more due to it's size than culture. The US government has such a collosal budget, with so many legislators prone to lobbying, that it is doomed to be wasteful.

@user-DongJ

2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely. Fortunately/Unfortunately for those who took the effort to understand war, money & nature from works like Sun Wu's Art of War, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations & Carl Sagan's Vision of Humanity, s/he/they will realise there exist many who will seek profits/opportunities from this crisis. This may explain why many elites/experts from states like US, China, EU, India, UK, Russia, AU, Brazil, etc. groups like IMF, WHO, UNP, RSF, ICC, WFP, TSB, POG, etc. & firms like Apple, Tencent, Samsung, Nestle, Loreal, Tata, Sony, Siemens, etc. are already making their moves in the cyber/shadow space.

@ten_tego_teges

2 жыл бұрын

I think the US also has a unique combination of centralisation and de-centralisation features baked into it's system that exacerbate it.

Your video blew me away. Corruption/fraud is the variable about how well centralized power works.

I think I just found new favourite channel, I'm gonna binge watch all your stuff when I have more time 😀

Ironically, as someone from Europe i find the US very *unregulated.* Lots of rules that limit the individual, almost none that protect and secure their rights and services. I perceive Americans as opposed to rules, even if they benefit from the guaranteed assurances. not lobbyists but regular people seem almost allergic to the word "regulation"

In defense of the screw, its likely that the alloy, proprietary nature, and stringent testing requirements for it drove the actual manufacturing price up to near the purchase price. Retooling a shop to make a small batch of specialty screws out of unobtanium, only to send half of them to be destroyed in a lab in every conceivable way to make sure that they can withstand the specific frequencies and forces of a jet engine and flight can easily result in an absurd end price. A modified off the shelf screw from Home Depot made out of pot metal would probably work in most cases, but nobody wants that kind of liability, which itself would probably be the issue.

@stevenscott2136

2 жыл бұрын

My uncle did electrical-engineering consulting for the Navy, and he said much the same thing about projects he worked on. Of course, there's still plenty of room for waste and graft -- my own experience in shipbuilding showed me that military contractors are just as inefficient as the government itself, simply because the government is so inefficient and corrupt that it can't possibly police the inefficiency and corruption of its contractors.

@KatieLHall-fy1hw

2 жыл бұрын

I’m sure all of this is true. But companies still increase the price more than they need to. Comes down to profits I think

@vultureTX001

2 жыл бұрын

@@KatieLHall-fy1hw supply and demand. Fact is the USAF could make most of these parts using CNC / 3d printing , they don't bother. Whereas US army SOCOM types literally have multiple shipping containers (brought in by helo) of portable parts makers (3d printers /CNC again) to repair any weapon they carry in the field

@quincekreb6798

2 жыл бұрын

As retired Army Aviation maintenance and flight crew on UH 60 Black Hawk helicopters, you would be shocked that the $123.00 screw is peanuts compared to the cost of the part, sub-assembly, or larger item it is a part of on the helicopter. What the other person said- the metal or alloy that the screw was made from, along with the research and development, testing and then quality control testing of so many screws of each Lot number all lead to the cost of and individual screw.

@milesdp1990

2 жыл бұрын

This is assuming the screws aren't all machined. Hardware isn't always just cast in a mold or made in obscenely fast rates by the specialty machines you see in KZread manufacturing videos. Aerospace parts and the like are held to high standards and often need to be machined in order to meet them. I work in a tool and die shop, but we also do custom machining work for other businesses' needs. We've done hardware, and even if the material is cheap (it usually isn't) the time it takes to set the machines up, take measurements, and make program cost money. On top of that, the tooling it uses (carbide cutters are NOT cheap) has to be factored in as well. Stainless steel is a mother to cut. Despite being hard, it's also kinda gummy. You need tough tooling to machine it. Not to mention the fact that other parts are usually made out of hardened steels, which means it's cut down to close to the final size (we're talking thousandths of an inch) heat treated, then ground down to the finished dimensions. Grinding takes a LOT of time, as does hard turning and machining. I don't blame people for balking at the price or these parts. Modern fabrication is something we don't talk about a lot, so it's unfair to expect other people to know this stuff. But I feel it's important I add this bit of info to the conversation being had right now. Things aren't as cut and dry when it comes to manufacturing.

Great video dude!!!

My oh my. So much nuance, so much detail. I love it

Liberalism + capitalism + corporatism is the worst combination you could implement in a nation.

I see what you're saying in this video but it is flawed in that it is centered around America's uniqueness but America doesn't have a uniquely bad government. Governments worldwide are far more oppressive, incompetent, and wasteful. And those countries have less individual rights or can have more or less trust. As broken as we like to say it is, the American political system has still led to-and continues to maintain-the wealthiest, strongest, and one of the most prosperous and free nations in human history.

@KatieLHall-fy1hw

2 жыл бұрын

He makes some good points though, on what America values. But you are right. America is pretty unique and is still an experiment in many ways!

@bleffew99

2 жыл бұрын

I think the argument is that the US does have a uniquely wasteful government, visible in terms of healthcare, infrastructure, etc costs, compared to other democracies

Ryan coming through with another banger. You need more views on these.

I think you did a great job of providing a balanced and non-partisan analysis as well as showing how the structure of the government has both plusses and minuses. It's so rare for such level-headed commentary and I wish we could have more of it.

I truly enjoy the details you use to educate as you move along. It really puts everything into context to help the viewer fully understand everything to discern the information you are sharing. This is my second video watch and I’m definitely subscribing. Honestly, keep up the good work. You should be really proud of your work and effort.

Another amazing video!

interesting and well-researched video. Good job!

your videos are very good and are filling a much-needed niche on political youtube. there's a noticeable lack of the "in-group signaling" many political youtubers use, which makes your videos come across as much less biased. great stuff. 👌

Good job Ryan! Yet more books for my "to be read" pile. Mancur Olson is a favorite of mine.

Exceptional content!

You’re the best, man. Keep it up

Just found this channel. Subbed. Great video

Thank you for doing work that I used to do for myself during a time that I've lost the will.

Another great video, Ryan. Discovered you yesterday, and now I’m bingeing while the grass doesn’t get mowed. I watched Eisenhower’s farewell address to the nation live, as a kid, on a tiny black and white TV. He warned Americans about the military industrial complex. I never forgot that. Here was the outgoing President, a retired war time general, warning us about something big. I thought, “this cannot be good. I’ll see how this pans out.” Spoiler alert: it has not panned out well at all.

Thank you so much.

great one

I just discovered your channel and have voraciously consumed your content! I love your videos so much. I have two video requests I would love to see. The first would be on the different general feminist theories or specifically Judith Butler’s philosophies. The second video request would be a bit different from what you have done in the past, but I would love to see a video on how best to learn about political and social theories. I always want to research more into topics after watching a video, but when there is much information and complex jargon it can be difficult to figure out where to start without being overwhelmed. Keep up the great work

Thank you for making the video ❤

Excellent… thank you very much

Best channel on youtube! Keep it up, and stay honest/impartial. Please don’t start to drift once YOUR incentives push one way or the other 🥰

Thanks!

Amazing insight.

Amazing work. You will do very well on YT in the future I think... Which will be good for our future as a country.

Your channel is growing!!