Americans Hate the Government More Than Ever

[Chance]

From CBS News:

The federal government has joined the ranks of the bottom-of-the-barrel industries, according to a new survey from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Americans' satisfaction level in dealing with federal agencies --everything from Treasury to Homeland Security -- has fallen for a third consecutive year, reaching an eight-year low.

Because bureaucrats may not understand the implications of this, an ACSI analyst helpfully opined, "It's much more difficult to govern if the entire population dislikes you."

An eight-year low, you say? That period seems to correlate with something....

[Drang]

On a possibly related note:
It seems that I have made it almost to the end of Downton Abbey without actually seeing an episode until the last week or two. I wa vaguely aware that it was considered to be somewhat subversive by some because of it's tendency to show the British Upper Class, and specifically the landed, titled Upper Class, in a good light, but really, never had any interest.

So the last few weeks, what with my work schedule change, I have sat through a couple of episodes, not really watching them, as I have nearly no chance of really following what was going on, but there is a sub-plot in which there is a bid by a larger hospital to absorb the smaller, local one. Most people support the move on the grounds that it will result in better care locally. Professor McGonagall*, who has transformed herself into the current mother of the Earl of Grantham, and is therefore known as the Doawger Countess, OTOH, is fighting to maintain local control; everyone assumes that she simply does not want to lose power, despite the fact that she has said repeatedly that the move would result in worse care locally, notwithstanding the allegedly better equipment the move would bring.

The other day she expanded on that, using a line of reasoning one might not expect from a member of the gentry. Citing King John Lackland and the Barons, she said (transcript from Washington Examiner)

"For years I've watched governments take control of our lives, and their argument is always the same — fewer costs, greater efficiency — but the result is the same too," Violet said. "Less control by the people, more control by the state, until the individual's own wishes count for nothing. That is what I consider my duty to resist."

She went on to argue, "Your great-grandchildren won't thank you when the state is all powerful because we didn't fight."

Alas, not only may your great-grandchildren not know whether you fought or not, it will probably never occur to them that there was anything to fight about.

[Chance]

It seems that I have made it almost to the end of Downton Abbey without actually seeing an episode until the last week or two.

I can't understand why Downton Abbey isn't universally adored. It's a trashy soap opera draped in such extraordinary class and production value it doesn't seem juvenile.

On the third episode of the first season, one of the daughters does anal, and it kills the guy. Later, the heir-apparent to the estate is wounded in such a manner he's evidently both paralyzed, and sterile, but he's actually not for some reason. The valet to the Earl murdered his ex-wife to be with his lover (...or did he?) The secretly gay guy tries to destroy everyone for like, no reason. And if you can't appreciate Maggie Smith as the wisecracking, meddling grandmother with a heart of gold, we can't be friends.

But seriously, it does have some interesting discussions about class, and governance. It delves into how those that are legally entitled are not necessarily privileged.

[David S.]

And yet they keep voting for more of it. . .

[Rick_ICT]

Alas, not only may your great-grandchildren not know whether you fought or not, it will probably never occur to them that there was anything to fight about.

This seems likely unfortunately. I've read on more than one occasion stories about young Chinese (under 30) who have never even heard of the Tiananmen Square protests, and of those who have, they are generally of the opinion that their forebears were in the wrong. What were they even protesting about? It all sounds pretty doubleplusungood to them.

Those chains must be setting lightly indeed.

And then there's this: http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-compan...174752797.html