[arcticbull]

I could have phrased it differently so apologies if it rubbed you the wrong way, tone doesn't carry on the internet. My point, though, I don't think is unfair. Disparaging government employees by virtue of being government employees is pretty typical in the US where people expect little of their government, though elsewhere that's not always the case. It's not even fair in the US in all cases as you mention. I was pointing out that you disparaged EU government workers for being government workers while simultaneously putting your faith into similarly situated US government workers.

The fairest comparison of salaries would be, to your point, two-fold: ratio of salaries relative to private-sector workers in the same role in the same countries, and PPP-adjusted salaries between countries.