You sound like one of my many former managers when they made the statement that money is not a motivator. That was mostly the only motivator for me, money and benefits. I could have found a crappy job elsewhere that paid more, but the benefits kept me around. Now that they have eliminated most benefits, they have a hard time retaining employees, and they don't understand why.
Back in the day, the government officials used to justify the "overly" generous benefits given to employees as balancing the difference between government and private sector pay. Not long after that, the government employees complained about pay discrepancies and suddenly government workers get the same pay as private workers, but they get 10 times better benefits as well.
Liberal is such a conflicted term now. „Classic“ liberalism is right in my wheel house. At least as encouraged by the enlightenment. Hume, Smith and the lot are my political „homies“. What many refer to here as liberal though I try and call „leftists“
Have you ever worked a salaried job in the private workforce? I just looked up my local school system, a brand-new teacher in year 1 with a bachelors degree pays $47k + benefits. If they get a masters they get a $10k raise plus more money per month. Sorry, but no more than I see from teachers these days, they're not worth it.
Truman and Kennedy were liberals that I could support. Basically the Democrats were a fine party once. The wheels started coming of in 1968. Some good moderates held out for a while, pretty much ending with Clinton. Manchin and Sinema are the only ones I could support now at a national level. I mourn the loss of the party that once was
