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I've been in the US for 4 years and it seems like the government is just like a computer that you cannot talk to or get issues fixed somehow. It's like, if some

I've been in the US for 4 years and it seems like the government is just like a computer that you cannot talk to or get issues fixed somehow. It's like, if something goes wrong you're fucked. If USPS loses your documents or even your car's title, or your immigration approval notice, you're fucked, you might need to wait 2 months, or 6, or 8, and nobody cares, nobody will help you. There's no one that can help you. At least that's how I feel here.

mindslight 4y ago
In general, the solution to your problem is to hire an attorney. They're expensive and overkill for most things, but they know how to "talk" to the government. And just as you'd expect from Vogons, it's painful to watch. Otherwise you're effectively left as your own lawyer, having to know tricks of how to communicate/escalate and doing online research to find out. In general if you can get a government agency on the phone they can be quite helpful (their customer service hasn't been optimized away like private companies), but you still need to know what to ask for and how to work with their bureaucratic minds. For example, for something like a car's title, you could probably apply for a duplicate title from the DMV and get another one sent. But for immigration problems I've got no idea.
- jaimehrubiks 4y ago
  With immigration, attorneys are not a solution either. If USCIS asks them to wait 3 months before asking for re-sending a document, they shall do that. It doesn't matter if you are 2 months away from getting deported. And the papers can get lost again. For the title, I've known a person that had the issue. It was the duplicate that was lost again, not sure why they couldn't request another one, not sure if a lawyer would have helped. But the result was a wait time of 6 months (instead of the supposed 3-5 weeks)
- akimball 4y ago
  The immigration system is apparently designed to do as much damage as possible. It certainly is destroying a huge portion of the global economy and polity.
- jamal-kumar 4y ago
  Similarly why it's often a great idea to get an accountant to do your taxes, as this is also an interface with the government you can just hire someone to do
PawBer 4y ago
It's no wonder that people vote for less government influence in the US. They just never had a good experience with it so they want to get rid of it as a band-aid solution.
- gamblor956 4y ago
  And ironically, that is the entire problem in a nutshell. People keep voting for less government (meaning workers) but not less government (meaning scope of responsibility), so the remaining workers must handle larger workloads. That's never worked out well in any industry, and it's bizarre people think it would work any better in government.
- avgcorrection 4y ago
  Government Can Do Nothing Right has been the propaganda line of the right-wing of the American business community since the end of WWII. A lot of the business community resented the social democratic reforms of that time (those ’50s white picket fence times) and so they sought to first argue that government was useless, and then later prove it through their government-sucks politicians.
  - cle 4y ago
    This goes back way before the 1950's. The sentiment that government is a "necessary evil" is effectively what many, but certainly not all, Founders espoused.
  - danuker 4y ago
    Compare OP's story to, say, creating a Facebook account. Why is the government's solution so much crappier? Why can a private company streamline a web experience much better?
    - mint2 4y ago
      Many Government orgs are underfunded and pay worse than private sector. FB engineers make bank compared to being a federal employee. It’s not surprising creating Fb accounts are easy. Why do we as a society value accounts on an advertisement marketplace more than essential services?
joelhaasnoot 4y ago
That sounds like Google!
Aeolun 4y ago
This is kind of my experience with government (or any actor with too much power for their own good) anywhere.
agentdrtran 4y ago
This has been my experience with basically any large company in the country.
- jokethrowaway 4y ago
  The larger and prevalent a company is the more it tends to approximate a nation state in terms of bureaucracy and customer service.
diordiderot 4y ago
Try canceling a gym membership, getting your deposit back, rearranging a flight, changing utility provider or cable. The only difference is there are less opportunities for the bourgeois who are willing and able to pay to be on the other side of the velvet ropes
brewdad 4y ago
Ok, but if USPS loses your important document, what do you expect them to do about it? They have no idea where it is and, unless someone paid for special tracking, no way to locate it aside from dumb luck. Whatever agency was sending you your important document has to be the one to re-issue it and resend it. USPS has no role until it comes time to deliver it again.

mindslight 4y ago

In general, the solution to your problem is to hire an attorney. They're expensive and overkill for most things, but they know how to "talk" to the government. And just as you'd expect from Vogons, it's painful to watch. Otherwise you're effectively left as your own lawyer, having to know tricks of how to communicate/escalate and doing online research to find out. In general if you can get a government agency on the phone they can be quite helpful (their customer service hasn't been optimized away like private companies), but you still need to know what to ask for and how to work with their bureaucratic minds. For example, for something like a car's title, you could probably apply for a duplicate title from the DMV and get another one sent. But for immigration problems I've got no idea.

jaimehrubiks 4y ago
With immigration, attorneys are not a solution either. If USCIS asks them to wait 3 months before asking for re-sending a document, they shall do that. It doesn't matter if you are 2 months away from getting deported. And the papers can get lost again. For the title, I've known a person that had the issue. It was the duplicate that was lost again, not sure why they couldn't request another one, not sure if a lawyer would have helped. But the result was a wait time of 6 months (instead of the supposed 3-5 weeks)
akimball 4y ago
The immigration system is apparently designed to do as much damage as possible. It certainly is destroying a huge portion of the global economy and polity.
jamal-kumar 4y ago
Similarly why it's often a great idea to get an accountant to do your taxes, as this is also an interface with the government you can just hire someone to do

PawBer 4y ago

It's no wonder that people vote for less government influence in the US. They just never had a good experience with it so they want to get rid of it as a band-aid solution.

gamblor956 4y ago
And ironically, that is the entire problem in a nutshell. People keep voting for less government (meaning workers) but not less government (meaning scope of responsibility), so the remaining workers must handle larger workloads. That's never worked out well in any industry, and it's bizarre people think it would work any better in government.
avgcorrection 4y ago
Government Can Do Nothing Right has been the propaganda line of the right-wing of the American business community since the end of WWII. A lot of the business community resented the social democratic reforms of that time (those ’50s white picket fence times) and so they sought to first argue that government was useless, and then later prove it through their government-sucks politicians.
- cle 4y ago
  This goes back way before the 1950's. The sentiment that government is a "necessary evil" is effectively what many, but certainly not all, Founders espoused.
- danuker 4y ago
  Compare OP's story to, say, creating a Facebook account. Why is the government's solution so much crappier? Why can a private company streamline a web experience much better?
  - mint2 4y ago
    Many Government orgs are underfunded and pay worse than private sector. FB engineers make bank compared to being a federal employee. It’s not surprising creating Fb accounts are easy. Why do we as a society value accounts on an advertisement marketplace more than essential services?

joelhaasnoot 4y ago

That sounds like Google!

Aeolun 4y ago

This is kind of my experience with government (or any actor with too much power for their own good) anywhere.

agentdrtran 4y ago

This has been my experience with basically any large company in the country.

jokethrowaway 4y ago
The larger and prevalent a company is the more it tends to approximate a nation state in terms of bureaucracy and customer service.

diordiderot 4y ago

Try canceling a gym membership, getting your deposit back, rearranging a flight, changing utility provider or cable. The only difference is there are less opportunities for the bourgeois who are willing and able to pay to be on the other side of the velvet ropes

brewdad 4y ago

Ok, but if USPS loses your important document, what do you expect them to do about it? They have no idea where it is and, unless someone paid for special tracking, no way to locate it aside from dumb luck. Whatever agency was sending you your important document has to be the one to re-issue it and resend it. USPS has no role until it comes time to deliver it again.