The Tipping Syndrome

One of the pleasures from browsing through blog sites on the web is the occasional discovery of a new and unexpected insight. The insight that "Republicans are the dissatisfied and angry diners at the table of life." is something that never occurred to me. I keep puzzling over the irrationality of their economic ideas, their rejection of science and facts, and their evident disdain for people who actually work for a living, but I never thought about their general dissatisfaction with the world as it is.

The blog post by Aimai goes on: "We've seen a lot of weird reactions on the right wing to the Government Shut down. These range from "it doesn't matter" to "its terrible" but one thing that really strikes me is the rage and antipathy that has been displayed towards Federal Workers themselves.  It doesn't strike me as unusual, but it does strike me as significant.  Yesterday's on air rant by Stuart Varney makes it pretty explicit: Federal Workers and, indeed, the entire Government are failing Stuart Varney. They cost too much and they do too little.  In fact: they are so awful they don't even deserve to be paid for the work they have already done. Contracts, agreements, and labor be damned. If Stuart Varney isn't happy then they deserve to be fired."

And it all relates to tipping. You have to read the post to uncover the connection, but it calls to mind North Carolina Governor Pat McRory's announcement that he wants the state bureaucracy to adopt a "customer service" mentality. I never knew what he meant. Now I understand. He wants the bureaucracy to act like "wait staff" in a restaurant angling for a tip.

If they can't take bribes, they can at least take orders, and "the customer is always right" - if, that is, he has enough wealth, power or other high status.