A ship which exists for the benefit of its crew

Great way of putting it.  Jerry Pournelle is talking about the school systems, and how they used to be charged with the civilizing of youngsters.  No more.

It’s mostly to pay teachers, avoid any being fired for incompetence and few for anything else, and to pay for good benefits and pensions. The students are irrelevant. Yes, of course, there are dedicated teachers who hate all that, but they don’t run the system, and they aren’t paid in “released time” to be union officials. A ship which exists for the benefit of its crew. [emphasis added]

That's liberal governance expressed in one pithy sentence.  It's not just education, it's the way the run the government and the culture.  It's all for their own benefits, YOU don't matter very much.  And YOU vote for this crap.