<story><title>Update from Chef</title><url>https://blog.chef.io/2019/09/23/an-important-update-from-chef/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ARandomerDude</author><text>The problem with this is the mob too quickly concludes CBP provides &lt;i&gt;no&lt;/i&gt; valuable service to the nation (i.e., service worth contract support) because of a policy I don&amp;#x27;t like.  That really is unjustified, I think.&lt;p&gt;The same is true of law enforcement generally.  Police get a lot of hate on HN because of some obviously over-the-top policies that need to be corrected.  But we would have major problems without law enforcement, including CBP.&lt;p&gt;We should address the issues without taking them to the extremes.  This applies pretty broadly in politics these days, sadly.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>tfehring</author><text>As is often the case, it&amp;#x27;s important to distinguish &lt;i&gt;absolute&lt;/i&gt; value (the total net positive or negative created by, say, CBP or law enforcement in general) from &lt;i&gt;marginal&lt;/i&gt; value (the additional net positive or negative created when you increase their funding).&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s possible and rational to believe that agencies like CBP are (or would be at some level of funding) a net positive in absolute terms, while also believing that they&amp;#x27;re a net negative at the margin. This is approximately equivalent to the belief that these agencies should exist but should be smaller than they are today.&lt;p&gt;Eliminating service contracts won&amp;#x27;t &amp;quot;bankrupt&amp;quot; CBP and prevent it from getting anything done, but it will reduce the amount that it can do at the margin. For anyone who believes that CBP funding is a net negative at the margin, including those who believe it&amp;#x27;s a net positive in absolute terms, this is a desirable outcome.</text></comment>
<story><title>Update from Chef</title><url>https://blog.chef.io/2019/09/23/an-important-update-from-chef/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ARandomerDude</author><text>The problem with this is the mob too quickly concludes CBP provides &lt;i&gt;no&lt;/i&gt; valuable service to the nation (i.e., service worth contract support) because of a policy I don&amp;#x27;t like.  That really is unjustified, I think.&lt;p&gt;The same is true of law enforcement generally.  Police get a lot of hate on HN because of some obviously over-the-top policies that need to be corrected.  But we would have major problems without law enforcement, including CBP.&lt;p&gt;We should address the issues without taking them to the extremes.  This applies pretty broadly in politics these days, sadly.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>happytoexplain</author><text>&amp;gt;Police get a lot of hate on HN because of some obviously over-the-top policies that need to be corrected. But we would have major problems without law enforcement&lt;p&gt;This seems like a fantastic leap. I think there are zero or borderline zero instances of calls, &lt;i&gt;even implicitly&lt;/i&gt;, for the abolishment of law due to individual horrors.</text></comment>