4 ms·

It's funny how pathetic America deals with any sort of public service. It's all about me me me.

• Nasrudith 8y ago
  Well isn't the whole point of public service to serve them in the first place? They are literally entitled to it.
• solidsnack9000 8y ago
  The US had a very different path to modernization than most other developed countries, because it never underwent absolutism. The typical effect of absolutism was to introduce an efficient and effective civil service, as part of the general centralization of authority. Absolutist states were monarchial, militaristic states; the combination of taxation and destruction was hard to endure and eventually they had to transition to something else as a result of revolution or defeat. After either event, though, the civil service stuck around and with it a norm of publicly provided services. The US got off the train at just about the time that absolutism was getting going in Europe -- indeed, because it was getting going in Europe -- and thus retains a decentralized -- not necessarily selfish -- structure and outlook more characteristic of medieval Europe. These "Tudor Institutions" are discussed by Huntington in Political Modernization: America vs. Europe: http://pscourses.ucsd.edu/ps200b/Huntington%20Political%20Modernization%20--America%20vs%20Europe.pdf http://pscourses.ucsd.edu/ps200b/Huntington%20Political%20Mo...